EXHIBIT 31.1

                            CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO
                  SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002

I, Peter Karmanos, Jr., Chief Executive Officer of the Company, certify that:

      1.    I have reviewed this annual report on Form 10-K of Compuware
            Corporation;

      2.    Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue
            statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact
            necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances
            under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect
            to the period covered by this report;

      3.    Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
            information included in this report, fairly present in all material
            respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash
            flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in
            this report;

      4.    The registrant's other certifying officers and I are responsible for
            establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as
            defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the
            registrant and have:

            a. designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such
               disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our
               supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the
               registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made
               known to us by others within those entities, particularly during
               the period in which this annual report is being prepared;

            b. evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure
               controls and procedures and presented in this report our
               conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls
               and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this
               report based on such evaluation; and

            c. disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's internal
               control over financial reporting that occurred during the
               registrant's fourth fiscal quarter that has materially affected,
               or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant's
               internal control over financial reporting and;

      5.    The registrant's other certifying officers and I have disclosed,
            based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over
            financial reporting, to the registrant's auditors and the audit
            committee of registrant's board of directors (or persons performing
            the equivalent functions):

            a. all significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the
               design or operation of internal control over financial reporting
               which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant's
               ability to record, process, summarize and report financial
               information; and

            b. any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or
               other employees who have a significant role in the registrant's
               internal control over financial reporting.

/s/ Peter Karmanos, Jr.
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Peter Karmanos, Jr.
Chief Executive Officer
June 4, 2004