Should I Take the AANP or ANCC Certification Exam?

  • April 7, 2025
APEA staff
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AANP or ANCC Certification Exam?

As nurse practitioner students near the end of their programs each year, they inevitably confront the same question: Which certification exam should I take?

As the leader in NP certification preparation since 1997, APEA has developed a deep understanding of the differences among the certification exams for nurse practitioner practice.

This article provides an overview of certification exams from the organizations that certify the majority of new NPs and identifies particular differences between the two. Your decision about which exam to take depends on your general preferences, your career plans, and your comfort level with certain question types.

The 2 Primary Certifying Bodies for Nurse Practitioners

Two credentialing bodies award the most commonly sought NP certifications: the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Board (AANPCB) and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC).

Other NP certification bodies are the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, the National Certification Corporation, and the Pediatric Nursing Certification Board.

This article focuses only on AANPCB and ANCC, which award certifications for the majority of nurse practitioners in 2025.

American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Board

The AANP Certification Board is an independent nonprofit organization incorporated separately from American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP), a membership and advocacy organization for nurse practitioners in all specialties. The AANPCB is affiliated with AANP as well as another membership organization, the American Academy of Emergency Nurse Practitioners (AAENP). AANPCB developed its emergency nurse practitioner exam with AAENP.

AANPCB national certification examinations are entry level competency-based exams for nurse practitioners. The exams test a candidate’s clinical knowledge of the role and patient population for the education they have completed. Certifications available from AANPCB are:

Find an overview of nurse practitioner certifications awarded by AANPCB here.

American Nurses Credentialing Center

The American Nurses Credentialing Center is a subsidiary of the American Nurses Association (ANA), a membership and advocacy organization for all types of nurses. ANA provides credentialing programs for nurses through ANCC. ANCC is not a membership organization.

ANCC's credentialing programs certify and recognize nurses in primary care and specialty practice areas. In addition to certifying nurses and advanced practice nurses, ANCC recognizes healthcare organizations that promote nursing excellence and quality patient outcomes, most notably through its ANCC Magnet Recognition Program.

The ANCC certifications available to graduates of nurse practitioner programs are:

Find an overview of ANCC certifications for new NPs here.

Graduating nurse practitioners can only sit for a certification exam that reflects the track they studied during their academic program. For example, a graduate of a family nurse practitioner program can sit for an FNP certification exam but not for an adult-gerontology acute care exam. If they want to pursue an AGACNP certification, they must complete an AGACNP education track.

Now that you know about the two primary certifying bodies and the exams they offer, what else is important? The chief thing to know is that whether you decide to take an AANPCB exam or an ANCC exam, you achieve the same goal: national board certification. Neither certification outweighs the other, nor does one convey a different scope of practice.

What should factor into your decision then? For many people, it’s the structure of the exam or the fees. For others, it might be the time limit for the exam. Let’s take a look at 5 of the most common issues:

5 Things to Consider When Selecting Your NP Certification Exam

  1. Your career plans
  2. Your testing style
  3. Your testing content preference
  4. The number of questions on the exam
  5. The time limit for the exam

Your Career Plans

Do you want to work as a clinician? Or do you envision someday working in a teaching or leadership role?

AANPCB certification enables NPs to work in any role-appropriate clinical setting in any state, and to be reimbursed by insurers including Medicare and Medicaid. ANCC certification assures the same. ANCC-certified NPs can work in any role-appropriate clinical setting in any state, and be reimbursed by third-party payers.

At one time, ANCC’s exam content was viewed by some as more appealing for NPs pursuing academic positions because it included questions on nursing research and theory. However, ANCC test content has since shifted considerably, and it no longer contains a significant amount of theory questions. (For more information on this change see this NP Insider blog post.)

If you are interested in working in an academic role, we recommend talking with nurse practitioner faculty and program directors to determine whether ANCC certification may be preferred for that career track.

A question our team sometimes hears at APEA live review courses is about whether ANCC certification is required to work at a Magnet hospital. Magnet eligibility requirements do not state that ANCC certification is required of nursing leaders at Magnet hospitals. The published requirement for nurse leaders at Magnet hospitals is for a BSN degree or higher.

Your Testing Style

When selecting a certification exam provider, another common consideration is your testing style. Which question types are you most comfortable with? Do some question types make you a little uneasy?

The certification exams from AANPCB evaluate candidates using multiple choice questions. The ANCC exams, on the other hand, contain several question types: multiple choice, multiple response, drag and drop, and hot spot. (If you took your NCLEX between April 2023 and now, you’re already familiar with these question types.)

Bottom line: If you are uncomfortable with question formats that are not multiple choice, AANPCB testing may be a good choice for you.

Testing Content Preference

The content focus of a certification exam is perhaps the most influential factor when new NPs are making a decision about their certification body. It’s also the area where the most notable difference exists.

AANPCB exams focus on clinical content. What does this mean? The questions on AANPCB tests reflect the domains of assessment, diagnosis, planning, and evaluation and how they are used in the delivery of patient care by an advanced practice nurse.

ANCC exams focus on clinical information and decision making and NP professional practice. The questions reflect the domains of assessment, diagnosis, clinical management and professional role. Questions on professional role may address topics such as licensure, scope of practice, and prescribing privileges.

In addition to the content focus of an exam, it’s important to become well acquainted with the blueprint for the exam you select. Test blueprints provide a percentage breakdown of the content areas on the exam.

Test blueprints change every few years, so it’s important to find the blueprint that is in effect for your exam. Find blueprints for current exam content in the candidate handbook for your specialty. Go to this landing page for AANPCB candidate handbooks and this landing page for ANCC candidate handbooks.

To recap:

  • AANPCB exams are focused on clinical content.
  • ANCC exams are focused on clinical content and professional practice information.

Numbers and Details

What else should you consider when comparing AANPBC and ANCC exams? Details like the number of questions and the length of time permitted for testing are common questions we hear from students.

How Many Questions Are on Each Exam?

The AANPCB exams contain 150 questions. One hundred thirty-five of these are scored; the remaining 15 are “pretest” questions that are being considered for inclusion for scoring on future exams.

The ANCC exams contain 175 questions. One hundred fifty of these are scored; the remaining 25 are “pretest” questions that are being considered for inclusion on future exams.

What Are the Time Limits for Each Exam, and Where Do I Go?

With regard to time, a certification candidate sitting for an AANPCB exam has 3 hours to answer 150 questions. A certification candidate sitting for an ANCC exam has 3.5 hours to answer 175 questions.

This means that for either exam, answering 50 questions an hour will get you to the finish line before time is up. But this pace is not ideal — you need time to review. APEA faculty advise a pace of answering 1 question per minute, so that you have time to go back and look again at the questions you have flagged for review.

To recap:

  • AANPCB exams: 150 questions, 3 hours
  • ANCC exams: 175 questions, 3.5 hours

AANP and ANCC exams are both administered at contracted testing centers where timed, computerized testing is available. When you apply to take your certification exam, the certifying body will provide location options. In 2025, AANPCB and ANCC administer exams at Prometric Testing Centers. Find locations for AANPCB exams here and ANCC exams here.

And Finally, How Much Does It Cost to Take an Exam?

We’ve got one more feature to cover: How much does it cost to sit for a certification exam?

  • The testing fee for an AANPCB exam is $240 for AANP members. For nonmembers, it is $315.
  • The testing fee for an ANCC exam is $295 for ANA members and $395 for nonmembers. For AANP members, ANCC provides a discounted rate of $340.

Before You Schedule Your Exam, Here’s Some Advice

No matter which certifying body you select, thorough preparation is necessary to earn the valuable board certification you seek. Since 1997, APEA has prepared many thousands of new NPs to pass a certification exam on the first attempt. We do this by:

  • providing comprehensive review courses that reflect current exam content and use teaching methods that help you understand and apply key knowledge
  • developing banks of study questions to increase your knowledge, your confidence, and your ability to answer correctly questions at the quick pace required for the exams
  • assessing your readiness to sit for a certification exam using the only predictive exam for nurse practitioners.

To learn more about how APEA can help you pass your certification exam:














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APEA staff