Cisco CCNA Costs $125 to take the test.  It's 2 hours long.
Cisco CCMP is $500 -- Four tests at $125 each.  It's HARD.
Cisco CCIE's make $100k/year, routinely.

A+ Hardware (or A+ OS) is $145.  This is a test on Desktop.  Avoid
Desktop.  Desktop doesn't go anywhere, is underpaid and poorly
treated.

Network+ is $207 -- I've seen folks who pass this.  They stink.  The
ones I meet routinely don't understand how IP networking works.

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Companies who advertise about Certs are ALWAYS trying to sell a
Boot-Camp, or a training, and these may cost as much at 20x the cost
of the test.  That's kind of crazy, unless we're talking CCIE.

Call around, and (with difficulty) you'll find who's actually peddling
the TEST itself.

I found a nice lady in Minnesota at 651-406-4754 who does the test.
The numbers above come from her.  Finding one in Chicago will be
annoying, but doable.