ANCC NP certification: the four exams still given

The count of four comes from the center's 2025 certification data, where these are the only NP credentials with first-time testers (2025 certification data, p. 1, read Nov 7, 2026). The psychiatric exam has a full section here, PMHNP-BC; the other three are listed with their facts until their practice sets are ready.

• Length: 175 questions in 3.5 h; 150 count toward the score.
• Where: Prometric test center, inside a 120-day window after approval.
• Passing: 350 of 500 (scaled), the same scale for all four.
• Retesting: 60-day wait; 3 per 12 months.
• Fee: $395 list; ANA members pay $295, and PMHNP candidates in APNA pay $220. Exact prices are on each exam's cost page, for example PMHNP-BC cost.

What differs is the outline. Each one weights professional content differently, from 16% in adult-gerontology primary care to 33% in acute care.

These are no longer tested, but current holders can renew them every five years (2025 certification data, p. 1; the PPCNP-BC page, read Nov 7, 2026):

• ANP-BC, Adult NP: 14,058 certified.
• ACNP-BC, Acute Care NP: 8,779 certified. New acute care candidates sit AGACNP-BC.
• GNP-BC, Gerontological NP: 2,152.
• PPCNP-BC, Pediatric Primary Care NP: 2,208. Pediatric NP candidates now test with PNCB; see CPNP-PC.
• ENP-BC, Emergency NP: 113. The open emergency exam is ENP-C.
• Adult Psychiatric-Mental Health NP and School NP are renewal only as well.

Lists that still show PPCNP-BC or ANP-BC as open exams predate the change.

Verifications are ordered online and only for a credential with the status "certified". None is sent to a board of nursing automatically, but one addressed to a board costs nothing. For an individual the first one is free and later ones cost $40; institutions pay $50 per request (verification page, read Nov 7, 2026). You need the certification number and the nurse's last name.

Each of these credentials lasts 5 years. Until January 31, 2027 renewal means 75 CE hours, 25 of them in pharmacology, plus one of the center's eight renewal categories; from February 1, 2027 the categories give way to three pathways. Both rule sets are laid out on ANCC renewal for NPs, and the other big board's rules next to these on AANP vs ANCC.