ANCC Certification 2026: NP Exams, Fees and Retests

Which NP exams does ANCC certification cover?

ANCC’s NP credentials are:

FNP-BC, Family Nurse Practitioner
AGPCNP-BC, Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner
AGACNP-BC, Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner
PMHNP-BC, Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (across the lifespan)

To keep using a credential, you keep your license and meet the renewal rules in force when you renew.

ANCC certification fees

ANCC lists the same prices on each NP exam page, with discounts for ANA members and for members of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) and the Gerontological Advanced Practice Nurses Association (GAPNA):

Applicant	Fee
Non-member	$395
ANA member	$295
AANP member	$340
AANP student member	$290
GAPNA member	$340

The ANA price excludes ANA e-membership and can’t be combined with other discounts. You can claim a discount for up to 5 business days after ANCC receives your application. On ANCC’s psychiatric-mental health NP page, American Psychiatric Nurses Association members pay $220 and International Society of Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurses members $340.

How do you apply for ANCC certification?

The steps on ANCC’s exam pages are:

Read the Certification Handbook and ANCC’s policies, then apply online for your exam.
Upload your registered nurse license, clinical hours documentation and transcripts. Unofficial transcripts put you in Authorization to Test status.
Schedule on Prometric’s ANCC site, using your certification number.

Exam length, eligibility and ANCC’s 5-year limit →

Scores and results

ANCC reports a pass or fail. Your raw score, the number of scored questions you got right, is converted to a scale with a top score of 500. If you fail, your report shows your scaled score and high, medium or low feedback for each content area.

You see your result on Prometric’s score report site, after an email with instructions. ANCC gets results 24 to 48 hours after you test, and it never gives them by phone, fax or email.

Retests and missed windows

If you don’t pass, you can retest 60 calendar days after you last tested. Wait 5 days after the exam before you send the retest application, and meet the eligibility rules in force then.

Can’t test inside your window? You can ask once for a new 120-day window, for $100, starting within 6 months of the old one ending. Cancel less than 2 days before your test date and you lose the testing fee.

Renewing ANCC certification →ANCC’s Readiness Tests and sample questions →

Sources: ANCC and 6 more. Checked November 2026.