CAPM^® Certification Requirements

1. CAPM Certification Eligibility Criteria
2. Certified Associate Project Manager Certification Application Process
1. Certified Associate Project Manager Certification Application Submission
2. CAPM Application Fees
3. CAPM Application Audit Process
4. Approval & Eligibility Period
3. CAPM Examination Process
1. Certified Associate Project Manager Exam Language Information
2. CAPM Exam Question Breakdown

This document outlines the eligibility criteria, application process and fees, and the examination process for the CAPM certification. This is a resource designed towards helping you to earn your CAPM Certification from Project Management Institute (PMI)^®. If you are looking for information about the PMP Certification, please refer to our PMP Certification Requirements page.

The Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)® Certification is targeted towards professionals who are just starting or are yet to start their project management career. This certification is an ideal way to demonstrate knowledge in project management methodologies and best practices.

Between 2010 and 2020 an estimated 15.7 million new project management jobs will be added globally... reaching an economic impact of over $18 trillion, across seven project-intensive industries. In the United States, the demand for project management professionals will grow by nearly 700,000 jobs. Strong demand will be reflected in average salaries far higher than non-project-oriented professionals.

CAPM Certification Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Requirement	Option 1	Option 2
Academic Education	Secondary Degree*	Secondary Degree*
Secondary Requirement	1,500 Hours of Professional Experience on a Project Team	23 Contact Hours of Formal Education

* A secondary degree is defined as a high school diploma, associate's degree, or global equivalent.

Requirement Details

Academic Education

• Indicate whether you have secondary diploma or a degree. You will need the name of the institution, the year you graduated, and your major.

Secondary Requirement Options

Option 1: Project Management Experience

• Experience hours must be as part of project group(s) that are non-overlapping and must be documented by project and summarized by process group to be counted on the PMI CAPM application. Refer to the above table for full CAPM experience requirements.

Option 2: Project Management Education

• You will need to show 23 contact hours of project management education, preferably covering initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing. PMTI plans ahead for our students and provides an inclusive online course so you qualify for this requirement even prior to attending the class.
• Approved CAPM Project Management Education Sources
1. A. PMI Registered Education Providers (R.E.P.s)
2. B. PMI chapters
3. C. Employer/company-sponsored programs
4. D. Training companies or consultants (e.g., training schools)
5. E. Distance-learning companies, including an end-of-course assessment
6. F. University/college academic and continuing education programs
• Non-qualififing CAPM Project Management Education Sources
• PMI chapter meetings
• Self-directed learning (e.g., reading books, watching instructional videos or sessions with coaches or mentors)

Tip: If you are unsure which of the two secondary requirement options are best for you, we recommend submitting Education documentation, as it is significantly easier to compile and also prepares you to pass the CAPM exam. To learn more about our CAPM courses view our CAPM course page here:

Tip: It is incredibly important that you do not falsify any of the information in your application. PMI has a random audit process which requires anyone being audited to present evidence to validate all information submitted with their application. Falsifying application documentation will result banishment from all future attempts to obtain any PMI certification.

To simplify the entire process of CAPM application, you can optionally use the PMTI CAPM Application Exam Prep Tool after you register for one of PMTI’s CAPM Exam Prep classes to help facilitate your application documentation.

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CAPM Certification Application Process

CAPM Application Submission

You can submit your CAPM application on PMI's certification website, certification.pmi.org. You will need to submit the following information:

• Contact Address
• Home Address
• Work Address
• Contact Information
• Email Address
• Phone Number
• Attained Education
• School or University
• Address
• Highest Level of Education Attained
• Year Degree Awarded
• Field of Study
• Requirements - Only One Option Necessary
1. Project Management Experience - All Items For Each Project
• Project Title
• Start Date
• End Date
• Project Role
• Primary Industry
2. Project Management Education
• Course Title
• Institution Name
• Course Start Date
• Course End Date
• Hours
• Qualifying Hours
• Certificate
• Full Name for Certificate

CAPM Application Fees

Cost Category	PMI® Member	Non-Member
PMI® Membership Fee	$139	N/A
CAPM Exam Fee	$225	$300
CAPM Re-Examination Fee	$150	$200

Certified Associate Project Manager Certification Application Audit Process

Why Does PMI Audit CAPM Applications?

In order to maintain the integrity of the CAPM certification and enhance the credibility of CAPM certification holders, PMI routinely conducts random audits of a certain percentage the CAPM exam applications. Although PMI does not publish what percentage gets audited, our 14 years of experience shows about one in four or five of the applications get audited.

How Will I Know If I'm Being Audited?

Generally, you will not know you are audited until your application has been accepted and you have been authorized to pay. Once you complete the payment, you will be informed if you have been selected as an audit candidate within a few minutes via email or the online application portal. If you receive an email with an approval code or receive an approval code within your PMI application portal then you have not been audited and can schedule your CAPM exam at your convenience.

I'm Being Audited by PMI, What Do I Do Now?

While the auditing process may appear intimidating just from the phrase, it is not as long as you follow the steps outlined by PMI. As part of our application prep tool assistance process we provide several tips that will simplify this process and will make it easy for you to navigate.

Once PMI informs you of your audit, you will be able to download the audit package. This audit package will contain instructions for providing verifications for the various items submitted with your CAPM application. PMI will require you to provide proof of:

• Academic Education:
• This could be a copy of your education stated in your application. If you do not have a copy of the certificate or if the certificate is too big to copy, PMI will accept transcripts. Most schools and universities will provide a means of verification upon request.
• Project Management Education: - Only if you select this option to be your secondary requirement
• This refers to the 23 contact hours of training you have included in your CAPM exam application. Most companies will provide a certificate and a copy of this certificate should suffice. If you did not receive a certificate as part of the training, a letter from a manager and/or training group indicating the DETAILS of the training will be required. Please ensure it states the number of hours you spent in training. The training must be in areas related to project management in the 5 process groups.
• Tip: If you have used PMTI’s CAPM exam prep training (online or classroom) for the 23 contact hour PM Education requirement, all you have to do is inform PMTI about the training requirement and we will send you a certificate after verification.
• Project Management Experience: - Only if you select this option to be your secondary requirement
• As part of the PMI audit package stated above, you will be able to download individual Adobe Acrobat (PDF) version of files of each of your position experience to verify. This document details your experience, requests the supervisor’s contact information, and provides PMI’s contact information.
• When verifying your experience, it is essential that the supervisor:
• Legibly signs all the position(s) experience
• Puts the signed document in an envelope
• Seals the envelope and signs across the flap
• And, sends the signed envelope back to YOU and not to PMI!
• The last step is critical since PMI states on their website that they sometimes get individual envelopes from supervisor. PMI prefers all experience verification envelopes are sent at one time.
• Tip: If there is one supervisor who was your manager at many positions, they can fill-out the information and sign one of the position verification forms and initial the rest.
• Tip: Make sure you put all your verification forms in one single big envelope and overnight it with signature required. This will ensure you have proof it has been received.
• Send the information to PMI's Global Operations Center:
• PMI Global Operations Center
• Attn: Certification Audit
• 14 Campus Blvd.
• Newtown Square, PA 19073-3299 USA

How Long Is The Audit Approval Process?

Although PMI’s official line is that it will take then 5-7 days to approve the application, we have seen that applications verifications sent overnight get approved within only a couple of days.

Approval & Eligibility Period

It generally takes PMI^® 24 hours to review your application and respond. Once your application is approved you will receive an invitation to pay for and schedule the exam. You will schedule your exam with Pearson VUE at https://home.pearsonvue.com/. You will have one year to take the exam after your application has been approved and may take the exam up to three (3) times during the eligibility period.

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CAPM Examination Process

Scheduling the Exam

Once you have been approved to take the CAPM certification exam, you will need to schedule, take, and pass the test at a Pearson VUE test center near you. You can find a complete list of testing locations on the Pearson VUE website. You will need the testing code PMI has provided you to successfully schedule your exam. This code should be included in your application acceptance email as well as in your PMI.org account, if you do not receive your Pearson VUE testing code contact PMI directly.

Taking the Associate Project Manager Certification Exam

The CAPM Exam is taken at your nearest Pearson VUE test center. The exam is only administered in English; however, there are 14 languages (listed below) supported via language aids. Keep in mind that these language aids are for the test only and not the pre-exam tutorial session.

CAPM Language Aids

Arabic
Brazilian Portuguese
Chinese (Simplified)
Chinese (Traditional)
French
German
Hebrew
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Polish
Russian
Spanish
Turkish

CAPM Exam Format

The exam is 150 questions with a 3 hour time limit. 135 questions are scored while 15 questions are pretest questions. Pretest questions are questions that are used by PMI to test the validity of future exam questions. The table below brakes down the question pool by chapter in the Guide.

One of the advantages of the computer based exam is that you will receive your score immediately!

If your test results show that you received a passing score, congratulations! You are now a CAPM! You may use the CAPM credential immediately for the next 5 years! After this period you must re-take the CAPM certification exam to maintain your CAPM certification.

I Failed my CAPM exam, Now What?

The CAPM certification exam is a difficult exam and non-passing scores are no need for alarm. If you have failed an attempt it is extremely important not to get discouraged. You have 3 attempts during your eligibility period to pass the CAPM certification exam. Here are some simple next steps you can take to get ready for your next attempt.

If you are a PMTI student, simply let PMTI know and we will assist you with preparations to retake the test. With the PMTI guarantee backed by our dedicated instructors, our detailed retake study plan, and our online learning tools, you can feel confident you will be ready before your next test. After following your customized study plan, you simply need to schedule your 2nd CAPM exam attempt through Pearson VUE.

If you are not a PMTI student, you should take your detailed score report and note the areas where you scored below proficient. Re-read the PMBOK Guide, paying particular attention to areas you noted. When you feel you are ready, you can re-schedule your exam with Pearson VUE.

The fee to retake the test is $150 for PMI® members and $200 for non-members. Please visit the PMTI guarantee for details.

CAPM Course Rating