What the CCMA Costs: Exam Attempts, Lost Fees, Retakes, and the $195 Renewal

The CCMA has three kinds of cost: the exam fee you pay for each attempt, the fees you can lose through avoidable mistakes, and what it costs to keep the credential every two years. Only the first depends on a price list. The rest are set out in NHA's Candidate Handbook (updated 10/05/2026) and its renewal pages, summarized below as checked on October 28, 2026.

The CCMA exam fee, and who usually pays it

The handbook says candidates "must pay an examination fee for each exam attempt" and that the fees are shown on NHA's website: in the Shop, under the profession, on the certification exam item. NHA's site couldn't be opened for this guide on October 28, 2026. The most recent copy of NHA's own shop listing that Passy could read, an Internet Archive capture from October 10, 2025, priced the CCMA exam application at $165. Earlier captures show $160 in November 2023 and May 2024, then $165 from September 2024, so the price does change. Treat $165 as a planning figure and pay the amount your NHA account shows at checkout.

You may not be paying it yourself:

• Schools. NHA's Help Center says most schools include the exam fee in tuition and are invoiced for it; others have students pay NHA directly
• Sponsors and access keys. NHA's CCMA page tells you to select your school or employer when you create your account, to reach any pre-purchased exams and "possible discounts." If your organization gave you an access key, you enter it during the exam application
• Paying yourself. Unless a school or employer pays, payment is due when you apply, and you have two hours to finish it before the application is voided

CCMA costs at a glance

Six ways to lose a CCMA exam fee

The PSI candidate bulletin (updated 6/15/2026) and the handbook list the situations in which your registration is invalid and the fee is gone:

1. Late cancellation. You didn't cancel or reschedule a PSI or remote exam at least 24 hours before the appointment. A voicemail doesn't count as a cancellation with PSI
2. No-show. You didn't appear
3. Late arrival. You arrived after the exam start time
4. Wrong ID. You didn't present one current, government-issued photo ID with your signature and a name matching your registration (a military ID isn't accepted for remote exams). NHA's handbook says that when a proctor can't verify your identity you can usually reschedule without an extra charge, but PSI's bulletin treats missing or improper ID as a forfeited fee, so don't count on the exception
5. Rescheduling too far out. You tried to move the exam more than six months past the original date
6. Misconduct or a false attestation. The handbook says no refund is given when NHA disallows, invalidates or revokes on these grounds

Two eligibility routes add a deadline that can cost you a second fee. If you test under your school's pre-externship agreement, the externship must be completed and reported to NHA within 90 days of the exam; under an employer training agreement, the on-the-job training within 180 days. Miss it and NHA voids the score, so you retake and pay again. A provisional certification that lapses before you convert it also means a new exam. The CCMA eligibility and application guide explains both routes.

When NHA refunds an exam fee

Rarely. The handbook says that if NHA, PSI or a remote proctoring provider cancels your exam date and you don't reschedule, you're entitled to a refund, and "there are no other circumstances under which refunds are offered." If severe weather or another emergency closes a PSI site on your date, PSI reschedules you at no extra charge.

NHA's study products follow a separate refund policy: requests within 28 days of purchase, for unused products only. Opening any online content counts as using it.

A CCMA retake costs the full price

NHA allows three attempts at least 30 days apart, then a one-year wait after each further failure. For every retake, the handbook says, "you must re-register and pay the full examination price." The handbook describes no discounted retake fee.

In budget terms (Passy's arithmetic), a pass on the second attempt costs two exam fees ($330 at the October 2025 price), and three attempts in one season cost three. The CCMA retake guide covers the dates and a re-study plan. The cheapest attempt is the one you take when you're ready, and a timed 180-question CCMA mock exam is planned for launch to help you judge that.

What keeping the CCMA costs every two years

A CCMA lasts two years. NHA's renewal page says renewing "costs $195 every two years," which it puts at about $8 a month, plus 10 continuing education credits. Since July 2026, NHA enrolls new and renewing certification holders in NHA One. Its NHA One article gives two ways the renewal gets paid:

• NHA One kept current: $95 a year, including unlimited NHA continuing education (specialty courses excepted), and the two-year renewal "at no additional cost"
• NHA One not kept current: $195 at renewal, plus the cost of any continuing education you buy

Over one two-year cycle, two NHA One payments come to $190 against the $195 renewal (Passy's arithmetic), so the practical difference is unlimited continuing education and paying yearly. NHA doesn't say when the first $95 payment falls for someone who has just renewed at $195, so check your account after renewing. NHA also gives all certified professionals some continuing education courses at no charge and accepts credits from other providers that you upload. The renewal page notes "a separate fee for stacked certifications" if you hold more than one NHA credential, but the same 10 credits count toward all of them.

If you miss the date, the renewal page sets the price of lateness:

Study materials: optional costs

NHA's handbook says buying its preparation materials "is not required to become eligible to sit for an NHA exam and does not guarantee a passing score." NHA sells a CCMA online study guide, a set of three online practice tests with two attempts each, and a package of both; the test plan itself is free. Passy's free tools cost nothing either: the 20 CCMA practice questions, the study planner and the retake planner. For full prep, you can see the one-time CCMA prep periods planned for launch, with no auto-renewal; checkout isn't open yet.

Before you pay for the CCMA

• Ask your school or employer whether it pays, has pre-purchased exams, or gave you an access key
• Check the exam price in your NHA account at checkout, and finish payment within two hours
• Pick a date you can keep inside the six-month window, and note the 24-hour cancellation rule
• Make sure the name on your ID matches your registration exactly
• For a remote exam, run PSI's compatibility check on the computer you will use

Then spend the weeks before your date where the questions are: work through planned CCMA practice by domain before your first attempt, or start with the free questions today.