Project Management Training, PMP® Requirements – updated on 9-23-2025. Exam fees can change often. You can see the latest price of the PMP® Exam by doing this: Check it on PMI®’s site under certifications.
See 4-day or Two Weekend PMP® Certification with Exam Prep schedules. (https://www.smartpathllc/pmcert.html) We are mostly doing only week day training as most people don’t want to attend on weekends any more. If we have enough demand, we may offer a weekend training once or twice a year.
Education Contact Hours & Other Requirements for PMI’s PMP® Exam Approval:
To be accepted by the Project Management Institute to sit for the PMP® Exam, you need to fulfill the 35 project management contact hours of project management training. This class is designed to give you your project management 35 training hours for exam approval, as well as prepare you to take the PMP® Exam, and the class provides you with the skills to drive successful projects using industry’s best practices. You will receive a Certificate of Completion for the 35 contact hours.
See All Class content Information (link to class materials – https://www.smartpathllc.com/pm-materials-descriptions.html), including the class content with full descriptions of each workflow.
Other Education Requirements If you have a four-year college degree or equivalent or greater, you need 3 years of experience; or 5 years of experience if you have less than a four-year college degree or equivalent or you have a high school diploma or equivalent. You do not need a project manager title in order to qualify to sit for the PMP® Exam. However, for the PMP® exam you need to show that you led and directed all of your projects, and you should have led a cross-functional team. PMP® exam applicants can go back 8 years to gather their experience for the PMP Exam, to report the required years. Start at your most current year of project work and count the number of years you have of project management experience. You can only go back 8 years to gather your project management experience. Call Nereda Haque, PMP at 360-584-8614 or her. If you have any questions about your project management experience. Nereda Haque, PMP will be happy to help you understand the requirements further if you are considering doing your training at SmartPath LLC. At SmartPath LLC, we help by reviewing your resume before you pay for training, and we answer all of your questions. We also provide application guidance in the classroom. If you already know that you satisfy the requirements, that’s good. We will help you understand what a project is, and what operational work is. You cannot claim operational management as a project. That is operations.
PMI® Fees: For updated information on exam fees go to the PMI® site. Last time we read the PMI® fees, they were $425 for PMI members and $675 for non-members. Exam fees can change without notice. You can only take 2 retakes within any eligibility 12-month eligibility period or extended period (for which you may need an explanation to get it), however, you will pay for each retake of the PMP® Exam; however, will be less even if you are not a PMI member and even less again if you are a member. If you took one exam and did not pass, the Membership is helpful to maintain PDU options after you attain your credential. In order to be able to sit for the PMP® Exam and schedule it, you must first submit your experience and training to the Project Management Institute. This means you will need to create an account to apply for exam approval. Most people do this during their training. It usually takes 3 to 5 business days for PMP® Exam approval. At that point you will be emailed that you are approved, or that you have been selected for audit, or schedule your Exam. Once submitted, a small percentage of Exam applicants are selected for audit. You will be provided with instructions of what to do next. This is part of the ISO quality control requirement. It is random. When filling in your application, use your managers or supervisors who are easy-to-find managers or supervisors, so you can exit audit as quickly as possible.
Take your PMP® Exam at a Pearsons’ Vue Exam site or only take it 100% Live Online but only if you are confident that someone or some animal won’t interrupt or that it is highly unlikely that your electricity will be cut off, and that you are sure that you won’t look up from your laptop, or turn yourself around as you are watched even minute, and you might lose your exam fee if any of these things happen. You will be given a direct link in your PMI dashboard after your exam is paid for so you can schedule your PMP® exam. There is no price difference between online and onsite options. Here’s the timeline:
(1) Take your 35 hours for exam approval
(2) Submit your application
(3) Upon receiving your PMP® exam approval, pay the Project Management Institute for your exam
(4) Schedule your Exam following the instructions you are given following after you make your exam payment.
PMI, PMP, PgMP, PfMP, CAPM, PMI-ACP, PMI-PBA, PMI-SP, PMI-RMP, the PMI Logo, the PMP Exam Content Outline, PMI-ACP Exam Content Outline, and PMBOK are the registered marks of the Project Management Institute, Inc.
