VTNE Exam Cost: The $375 Fee, the $90 Window Change and Every Other AAVSB Charge

The VTNE application fee is $375, and for a candidate who tests once, in the window they applied for, that can be the whole AAVSB bill. The other charges only appear when something changes: you move your window, buy an official practice test, ask for a rescore, retake the exam, or send your score to a second state. This guide lists each one, with the rule that triggers it.

VTNE fees at a glance

Every amount below was read on AAVSB's or PSI's own pages on November 6, 2026. All are in US dollars.

Your score goes to the jurisdiction you named on your application without any of the VAULT services. The handbook says so directly: you don't need VAULT to send your score to the jurisdiction you selected when you registered.

What the $375 VTNE fee covers and when you pay it

AAVSB's application page says you pay the $375 application fee, or redeem a voucher, when you submit your application, and that all sales are final and nonrefundable. The candidate handbook fills in the rest:

• How you pay. By card, or with a pre-paid VTNE voucher code entered on the final screen of the application
• Who has vouchers. The handbook says businesses and schools can buy voucher codes and hand them out to applicants, so ask your program or employer before you pay yourself. Vouchers are nonrefundable too
• What it buys. One attempt, in the window you select. It isn't a registration that carries over

Payment comes late in the process: you finish the application and pay only after AAVSB has reviewed your eligibility. The guide to applying for the VTNE walks through the steps before that point.

How a VTNE candidate loses the fee

The fee is tied to your window and your appointment. The handbook and AAVSB's rescheduling page list the ways it's forfeited:

• You don't test in your window. Testing later then takes a new application and the full fee
• You miss the appointment, or don't reschedule at least 48 hours ahead, without an excused absence
• You arrive late at the test center and are denied entry
• Your ID doesn't match the name on your application
• You can't launch a remote exam because you tried to use an unsupported device

Some situations don't cost you the fee. AAVSB's excused absences are a serious illness (yours or an immediate family member's), a death in the immediate family, and a disabling traffic accident on the way to the exam; with approved documentation, the appointment can move to the following window at no charge. And if a test center closes for weather or an emergency, PSI reschedules you inside the current window.

Most of the avoidable losses happen at check-in. The guide to taking the VTNE at home or at a PSI test center covers the ID and device rules behind them.

The $90 VTNE window change

If you won't be ready, or can't attend, you can move to the very next window once per application for a $90 administrative fee. The request has to arrive at least 48 hours before your appointment, or before the window ends if you haven't scheduled. The $90 is nonrefundable, and after that one move you can't move again: the next change means a new application and another $375.

Passy's arithmetic, not an AAVSB statement: moving costs $90, and skipping the window costs $375. If you already doubt your date, decide before the 48-hour line. The VTNE testing windows guide lists the four windows and their application deadlines, and the free VTNE study planner shows whether your weeks fit the one you picked.

What a VTNE retake costs

A retake isn't discounted. AAVSB's Retake the VTNE page says a retake takes a new online application and the full application fee, so a second attempt brings the AAVSB total to $750 and a third to $1,125. The handbook allows a retake no sooner than 31 days after the previous attempt and no more than three attempts in a calendar year.

The same page tells you to check your state or provincial agency's website for its retake requirements and fees, because a board can add its own. The VTNE retake guide covers the attempt limits, and the free VTNE retake planner builds a schedule for the weeks in between.

Since every attempt costs the full fee, a rehearsal is cheap insurance. A 170-question timed mock exam, 3 hours long, is part of the full VTNE prep planned for launch; it isn't on sale yet.

Optional AAVSB costs: practice tests and a rescore

Official practice tests. AAVSB's study page prices each online practice test at $50 per attempt for 75 questions in 90 minutes, and PSI's store listed four forms, A to D, at $50.00 each on November 6, 2026. AAVSB says it offers group pricing for bulk orders, so a program may already have bought tests for its students. The guide to AAVSB's official VTNE practice tests explains what each form includes.

Free official material. The same page links 10 sample questions, the content outline, an abbreviations list and a reference list at no charge.

A manual rescore. The handbook sets a $50 rescoring fee, with the request due within 48 hours of your exam appointment and a result in up to four weeks. It also calls a changed score "extremely unlikely," so treat this as a cost with a low chance of return.

VAULT fees: sending a VTNE score to another jurisdiction

You need VAULT only when a board other than the one on your application has to receive your score. AAVSB's VAULT page listed these prices for veterinary technicians on November 6, 2026:

AAVSB describes the First License Service as the one for people who have taken the national exam but have never been licensed, the Basic Service as the option for people who've held fewer than three licenses, and the Premium Service as the one that also gathers license verifications and transcripts. The handbook says there are no refunds for any VAULT service. The guide to RVT, LVT and CVT credentials explains when a move between jurisdictions calls for a transfer.

VTNE costs that AAVSB doesn't set

• Your state or provincial fees. License, registration or certification fees, and any jurisprudence exam, are set by each board, not by AAVSB. They differ from one jurisdiction to the next, and this guide doesn't list them. Read them on your own board's website, which you can find through AAVSB's Regulatory Board Look-Up
• Study materials. Anything beyond AAVSB's free documents is your choice. Passy's free VTNE practice questions cost nothing and need no account, and full VTNE prep is planned as a one-time payment for 30, 90 or 180 days of access, with no subscription; checkout isn't open yet

One way to pay that candidates often miss: AAVSB announced on October 10, 2025 that tax-exempt withdrawals from 529 education savings plans can now be used for qualifying expenses related to the VTNE. AAVSB's own advice is to talk to your tax advisor or your state's 529 plan, so confirm that your fee qualifies before you count on it.

Five VTNE budgets, added up

These totals are Passy's arithmetic from the fees above. They cover AAVSB charges only.

The fourth row is the one worth planning against: a second attempt costs more than a window change, a practice test and a rescore put together. That is the case for spending study time on your weakest domains before the first sitting, and practice across all 10 domains with an explanation for every answer is what full VTNE prep is planned to include at launch.

Will the VTNE fee change in 2027?

The handbook says AAVSB's Board of Directors evaluates fees every year and can change them. On November 6, 2026, the application page still showed $375 and $90, and AAVSB's newsroom carried no fee notice for 2027. That's the state of things on that date, not a promise: check the application page on the day you pay.

For everything else about the exam, the VTNE guides cover the format, the passing score and a study plan.