Faculty Toolkit
Help your students achieve success when applying for an APRN certification examination with ANCC!
Help your students achieve success when applying for an APRN certification examination with ANCC!
Help students navigate through the steps to ensure success.
Student must:
Students may apply prior to graduation. If they decide to do so, they must:
Recommendation for students:
Where documents should be sent:
Mail |
ANCC recommends the following order for displaying credentials:
ANCC offers the APRN nursing certifications in five nurse practitioner (NP) specialties and one clinical nurse specialist (CNS) specialty. Each certification web page delivers eligibility criteria, online application, and exam preparation resources. For more information, please visit the Our Certifications. Each certification provides a number of resources to help students achieve success! Check out the:
When ready, students can schedule a time and place most convenient for them to take their ANCC exam through the Prometric website.
Students must wait 5 days after examination to submit a restest application online. Students may retake a certification exam as soon as 60 days from the last testing date. All candidates who retake the exam must submit a retest application and meet eligibility requirements in effect at that time. They will be given a new 120-day window for testing.
Students have three opportunities to successfully pass an exam within a 12-month period. Here is how you can help them succeed.
Successful tips for retesting:
Renewing an ANCC certification demonstrates a continuing commitment to life-long learning. ANCC certifications are renewed every five years. We make every effort to notify certified nurses of upcoming renewal dates. However, it is the responsibility of each nurse to be aware of his or her expiration date and submit renewal documents on time.
Encourage your students to store their professional development activities in their ANCC account. It will make the renewal process easier.
ANCC recommends renewal applications be submitted up to three months before the expiration date to ensure seamless certification.
Exciting News! ANCC now offers the option for faculty to log in to the APRN Faculty Veriification Portal and check their students’ certifications for free.
Contact us at certificationoutreach@ana.org to register and set up an account. The following information is required to set-up the initial account:
Please Note: The school email address that you provide will be the designated User ID for the APRN Faculty Verification school account. It must not be an email address that is already associated with another ANA/ANCC account (for example a personal account).
The aggregate data reports are generated on an annual basis, usually at the end of the 1st quarter the next year. ANCC has a policy, in order to protect confidentiality, to only generate reports for schools that have had a minimum of 3 or more graduates to (1) graduate and (2) test within a given year. For example, if your school had fewer than 3 graduates for a calendar year who tested within that calendar year, there will not be a report generated.
School requests for a copy of their specific program’s aggregate data report must be sent in writing to Certificationoutreach@ana.org
Schools/Universities requesting to be added to the school code list, or for official school name changes/updates, must complete the ANCC School Code Add_Change School Name Form. The completed form must be submitted electronically to CertificationOutreach@ana.org
The school code listing designation makes it easier for your APRN graduate students to correctly select their school name from the scroll list under “My Education” on the ANCC online application system. The school code designation is also a unique identifier for your ANCC school aggregate data report information.
ANCC extends to APRN Faculty and graduate students complimentary webinars on topics relevant to their APRN certification journey. Please send an email request to CertificationOutreach@ana.org to schedule these complimentary webinars.