NCMA certification
- Exam fee
- $119
- Questions
- 125 scored + 25 pretest
- Time
- 3 hours
- Renewal
- Every year: 12 CE contact hours and $89 recertification fee
NCMA certification, or National Certified Medical Assistant certification, is a credential from the National Center for Competency Testing (NCCT). You earn it by passing one exam. Staying certified takes a bit of continuing study plus an annual fee.
CMA vs RMA vs CCMA vs NCMA, side by side
Who can take the NCMA exam?
There are three main paths to eligibility with NCCT, and meeting just one is enough.
- Student or recent graduate. You're enrolled in, or completed within the last 5 years, an MA program authorized by NCCT. Registered Apprenticeship programs recognized by the U.S. Department of Labor also fit the current-student route (NCCT eligibility routes).
- Work experience. You can show 1 year of full-time medical assistant employment from the past 5 years. NCCT counts 1 year as 2080 hours supervised by a doctor or primary care provider who is certified or licensed (NCCT eligibility routes).
- Military training. You completed an MA program or similar training while serving in the U.S. military sometime in the last 5 years (NCCT eligibility routes).
Still picking a school? Confirming that a program carries NCCT authorization is a smart move, since it keeps the student route available.
Exam fee and format
You'll pay $119 to sit for the NCMA exam (NCCT candidate handbook). Prefer testing at home? Add $44 for the remote option (NCCT support).
There are 125 scored questions plus 25 pretest questions, with 3 hours on the clock (NCMA test plan). The 25 pretest questions do not count toward your score.
An official NCMA practice exam costs $24.95 from NCCT. One purchase gives you 3 attempts (NCCT practice exam), handy for measuring where you stand before and after extra study.
NCCT vs NHA for medical assistants
The other widely used option is NHA's CCMA, short for Certified Clinical Medical Assistant, offered by the National Healthcareer Association. Both credentials certify medical assistants at a national level, but pricing, exam size and renewal terms are not the same.
| NCCT (NCMA) | NHA (CCMA) | |
|---|---|---|
| Test cost | $119 | $169 |
| Questions that count | 125 | 150 |
| Trial (unscored) questions | 25 | 30 |
| Testing time | 3 hours | 3 hours |
| Experience path | 1 year of full-time MA work within 5 years | 12 months of supervised work in the past 3 years) |
| Keeping it active | $89 plus 12 study hours annually | $195 plus 10 study credits each 2-year cycle |
For people qualifying through employment, NCCT lets you count work from further in the past. NCCT renewal is a smaller yearly bill, while NHA bills a larger amount on a two-year cycle.
Renewing your NCMA each year
Starting in 2024, anyone holding the NCMA must complete 12 contact hours of continuing education annually (NCCT recertification). Recertifying one credential runs $89 per year.
Since renewal happens every year, spreading those 12 hours out over the months beats cramming them in at the deadline.
Common questions
Is online NCMA certification possible?
Yes, the exam itself can be taken remotely for $44 extra, so no trip to a test center is needed. On the training side, our list includes 30 medical assistant programs that teach their classes online, with the clinical hours in person, 14 of which hold accreditation (IPEDS).
Is the NCMA better than the CCMA?
Neither one is ranked above the other. The NCMA exam costs $119 and the NHA CCMA costs $169, and the NCMA experience route accepts work from the past five years instead of three. Before you choose, it's worth checking which credential your program prepares you for and which one local job ads ask for.
What do certified medical assistants earn?
Median annual pay for medical assistants came to $45,690, or $21.97 hourly, as of May 2025 (BLS). Keep in mind this covers all medical assistants, not just people holding the NCMA.