ANCC certifications: what they share, what they cost

On November 6, 2026 the certification catalog listed 17 credentials under "New Candidate", with the National Healthcare Disaster certification on a tab of its own:

• Nurse practitioner (4): FNP-BC, AGPCNP-BC, AGACNP-BC and PMHNP-BC.
• Clinical nurse specialist (1): AGCNS-BC.
• Specialty (12): ambulatory care (AMB-BC), cardiac-vascular (CV-BC), gerontological (GERO-BC), informatics (NI-BC), medical-surgical (MEDSURG-BC), nurse executive (NE-BC), nurse executive advanced (NEA-BC), case management (CMGT-BC), nursing professional development (NPD-BC), pain management (PMGT-BC), pediatric (PED-BC) and psychiatric-mental health (PMH-BC).

Older credentials whose exams have closed sit on a separate "renewal only" list: holders can keep them, but nobody new can earn them. Separately, NPDA-BC is a portfolio credential from the Competency & Credentialing Institute, closed to new applicants; it is neither an ANCC exam nor the NPD-BC.

This site covers the four specialty exams for nurse leaders, hospital educators and informatics specialists. The practitioner and CNS exams are outside its scope.

The four exams share these rules:

• Length: 150 questions, of which 125 count; the rest are unmarked pretest items. 3 h to finish.
• Where: Prometric test center. Version 5 of the certification handbook names no remote option.
• Pass mark: 350 of 500 (scaled), set by a standard-setting study rather than a published count of right answers.
• Testing window: 120-day window after approval.
• Retakes: 60 days; 3 in 12 months, each with a new application.
• Valid for: 5 years, then renewal by continuing education and one professional development activity (renewal rules).

Each exam has its own eligibility, built on an RN license and practice hours in the specialty: NE-BC, NEA-BC, NPD-BC, NI-BC.

1. Check the eligibility criteria of the specific exam; the credentialing center checks them again on every retest.
2. Apply online and pay. To pay the member price, ANA membership has to be claimed no later than five business days after ANCC receives the application.
3. Once approved, schedule at a Prometric center before the 120-day window closes. Moving to a second window once costs extra.
4. Sit the exam. The pass or fail result appears on the Prometric score portal; a failing report shows a scaled score and feedback by domain.

The handbook behind these steps is the certification handbook.

On the catalog page all 17 credentials, practitioner exams included, show the same list price of $395 and member price of $295 (checked November 6, 2026). Both include $140 that is not refunded if you withdraw. The informatics exam adds a third price for members of the American Nursing Informatics Association; whether joining pays off is worked out on the NI-BC cost page.

No retest fee is printed in any of ANCC's exam information (exam pages, handbook, retest page), so this site does not give a number for it. Full cost of each path, with renewal: NE-BC, NEA-BC, NPD-BC, NI-BC.