Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert is the highest level of professional certification that Cisco currently provides and is considered one of the hardest certifications in the world. There are six active CCIE tracks, as shown below. As of October 6, 2010 there are 25,810 people with active CCIE certifications in the world. and from 2002 to 2005 it was voted as such in CertCities magazine. It has also been voted the most technically advanced IT certification by CertMag, and is generally reported as the highest salaried certification in IT salary surveys. Cisco began its CCIE program in 1993 originally with a two day lab, later changing it to the one day format used today. Fewer than 3% of Cisco certified individuals attain CCIE certification, and on average will spend thousands of dollars and 18 months studying before passing. Many candidates build training-labs at home using old Cisco equipment, selling it again to other candidates after passing. Alternatively candidates may rent "rack time" online and practice lab scenarios on Cisco equipment hosted on the Internet for that purpose.