This makes a lot of sense, certification as an alternative to college.
For Most People, College is a Waste of Time
First, we will set up a single goal to represent educational success, which will take four years to achieve no matter what is being taught. We will attach an economic reward to it that seldom has anything to do with what has been learned. We will urge large numbers of people who do not possess adequate ability to try to achieve the goal, wait until they have spent a lot of time and money, and then deny it to them. We will stigmatize everyone who doesn't meet the goal. We will call the goal a "BA."
You would conclude that your colleague was cruel, not to say insane. But that's the system we have in place.
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The incentives are right. Certification tests would provide all employers with valuable, trustworthy information about job applicants. They would benefit young people who cannot or do not want to attend a traditional four-year college. They would be welcomed by the growing post-secondary online educational industry, which cannot offer the halo effect of a BA from a traditional college, but can realistically promise their students good training for a certification test -- as good as they are likely to get at a traditional college, for a lot less money and in a lot less time.
Certification tests would disadvantage just one set of people: Students who have gotten into well-known traditional schools, but who are coasting through their years in college and would score poorly on a certification test. Disadvantaging them is an outcome devoutly to be wished.
The most important part, I think, is the use of CPA as a model and the suggestion that only about 50% should pass. That's what makes it valuable, now that our school systems are handing out inflated grades to promote customer satisfaction (and further attendance).
Separating the testing function from the training function is an interesting idea, although I can see how scams to promote repeat business could arise (with quantifiable exams, this would be less of a problem, but anything with grey areas is open to manipulation). Over-reliance on multiple choice exams are part of the current problem, although this would also reduce the chance of manipulation.
There's also the question about whether or not a general education is valuable. It used to be thought of as a cornerstone of democracy -- without a broad education (which certification would not provide), how can you make informed democratic votes?