Gail - In response to your comment in your post - what about abstractors who have been in the business for many years - I would like to relate a similar type of quandary that I faced about 23 years ago.  I had been working in law firms for 7 years as a paralegal, even though that term was not as widely accepted as it is today.  In order to be compensated for my experience, I had to go back to school for a year (at night after working all day in a law firm) just to be able to receive certification from the American Bar Association as a paralegal.  NALTEA acknowledges that experienced abstractors will be able to "test out" to receive the certification.  Hopefully this certification designation will quickly become as accepted as the certification of paralegals were so many years ago.  I truly feel that the people who have put their blood, sweat and tears into compiling this certification test (after putting in full weeks worth of work), and bringing it out to the various clients and organizations we, as abstractors deal with on a daily basis, deserve everyone's gratitude, not a hurling of "what's in it for me".  You are merely voicing the standard, albeit, attitude of most of the mindset of the current mores of our society.  No one is willing any more to bust their butts for what they earn or receive.  I don't know how long you have been abstracting, but a 6 week course and obtaining a "certification" seems an awfully short period of time.  As a paralegal in a law firm, I was abstracting and examining (reading) titles under the supervision of an attorney for more than 2 years on the job training.  After 30 years, I am still learning since laws are fluid and constantly changing and every state has its own oddities in title.  Perhaps with a different viewpoint and analogy, you might reconsider your position.

Anita