What is the Cost of Attaining the PMP Certification?

Attaining the Project Management Professional (PMP) certification is not easy. It will take your time, effort and money. The outlay cost is considerable, and there are many hidden expenses.

For ease of discussion, I will group the cost required for the PMP exam into three categories:

◈ Fixed Cost
◈ Variable Cost
◈ Other Costs

The expenses involved in acquiring this certification will vary from person to person, depending on their situation and requirements.

Fixed Cost

The PMP exam fee is 555 USD for the first attempt. If you do not pass, then you are allowed two more attempts during your one year eligibility period, at the cost of 375 USD for each attempt.

However, if you are a Project Manager Institute (PMI) member, the initial exam fee is only 405 USD, and only 275 USD for any retesting.

A new PMI membership is currently 139 USD with a yearly renewal fee of 129 USD.

I recommend you join the PMI before applying for the PMP, since the discounted exam fee is greater than the cost of PMI membership.

Cost Required: 405-555 USD

Variable Cost

The cost of PMP training is highly variable. There are several options available from many training providers, including online, virtual, and classroom training.

Online training is the most affordable, with costs starting at 150 USD. Classroom training programs are the most expensive and start at 1,000 USD. In between those two, you’ll find the price of live virtual training

Cost Required: 150-1,000+ USD

Other Costs

Here I will cover optional expenses that may arise, depending on how you approach studying for your exam.

Some training programs will provide you with study notes and practice questions, but most of the time you will have to buy your own or supplement the materials you’re given. These costs include:

◈ Cost of books
◈ Cost of sample questions
◈ Cost of PMI membership
◈ Cost of other tools

Cost of Books

For PMP exam preparation, I recommend you buy at least two good PMP exam reference books, in addition to the Project Management Body Of Knowledge Guide (PMBOK).

If you are a PMI member, you can download a digital copy of the PMBOK Guide for free. Non-members will have to purchase it.

Cost Required: 100-180 USD

Cost of Sample Questions

The PMP exam consists of two-hundred questions, which have to be completed within four hours. This is no easy feat and you will need a lot of practice.

You can get additional practice by subscribing to some simulators, buying question banks, and checking your readiness by using mock tests.

Cost Required: 50-150 USD

PMI Membership Cost

As I recommended earlier, you will recoup the 139 USD spent on a PMI membership on the exam fee alone. The free digital copy of the PMBOK Guide only adds to your incentives.

Cost of Other Tools

These are some additional tools and books available as study support materials that will ease your PMP exam preparation and leave you better armed for the exam.

One good example of study support materials is ‘The PMP Exam Preparation Tool’ which contains study notes, flashcards, true/false statements, the Formula Guide, practice questions, and many more resources.

Cost required: 50 -100 USD

Total Cost for the PMP Certification

The costs associated with the PMP Certification Exam is as follows:

Note: I have not added the “Cost of Other Tools” to the minimum cost listed above, because you may or may not decide to purchase these materials. They are useful, but not necessary for PMP exam preparation.

So, you can see that the total cost required for the PMP exam certification can vary between 844 USD and 1,715 USD or more.

The costs stay low if you go for an online program but it increases significantly if you opt for a classroom or live virtual training.

Please note, in my calculations I did not add the cost of staying in a hotel, transportation, food, or other expenses associated with traveling to a classroom training program in another city.