What does the PgMP cost in the USA?

What does the PgMP cost in the USA?

One fee decides it. The PgMP examination costs US$1,000 if you are not a PMI member and US$800 if you are. That single payment covers both evaluations — the panel review of your application and the exam itself — so nothing else is billed along the way.

The application is free to submit. The panel review is free. Being audited is free. You only spend again if you have to retake the exam, if you move your appointment late, or when the certification comes up for renewal three years later.

So the money to plan for is the exam fee, whatever you choose to spend on preparation, and $60 every three years to keep the credential alive.

What does PMI charge, and when do you pay it?

Everything PMI can charge you for a PgMP is in this table. Nothing is hidden behind the application.

What it is PMI member Non-member When you pay it
Application No charge No charge Submit it and wait; PMI checks it for completeness first
Examination fee — covers the panel review and the exam US$800 US$1,000 After PMI accepts your application, before the panel sees it
Exam retake — second and third attempt US$600 US$800 Only if you do not pass
Moving or cancelling your appointment inside 30 days US$70 US$70 Charged by the test vendor when you reschedule
Not turning up for a booked exam You forfeit the whole exam fee Nothing more to pay now, but you buy the retake to sit again
Renewal, every three years US$60 US$150 At the end of each three-year cycle
PMI membership — optional, and it pays for itself About US$154 a year, plus a one-time US$10 joining fee Before you pay the exam fee, or the member rate will not apply

Read the last row before the others. Membership costs less than the $200 it takes off your exam fee, so joining first leaves you better off on day one.

Fees checked against PMI’s United States store listings and the PgMP and PMI Certification Handbooks on 9 September 2026. PMI prices by region, so the figure at your checkout follows the country on your PMI profile, and membership rates are confirmed at checkout.

Should I join PMI before I apply?

Join first, then apply. The member rate applies only if your membership is active on the day you pay, and PMI will not refund the difference afterwards.

Joining takes $200 off the exam and $90 off every renewal for as long as you hold the credential. It also gives you The Standard for Program Management as a free download — the book the exam is written around — so that is one purchase you never make.

Read the PgMP guide

Does the panel review cost extra?

No. The panel review sits inside the exam fee you have already paid.

If the panel is not satisfied, you get one chance to rewrite your experience summaries and resubmit. If it turns you down a second time, PMI closes the application and refunds the exam fee. A weak application costs you months rather than money — and months are the expensive part, because your one-year eligibility clock is already running.

How the PgMP panel review works

What happens to my money if I fail the exam?

You pay again, but less. A retake is US$600 for members and US$800 for everyone else, and you may sit up to three times inside your one-year eligibility period.

Fail all three and you wait a full year before reapplying, with the whole fee starting over. That is the real argument for booking the date only once your mock scores hold steady: the cheapest exam is the one you sit once.

How hard is the PgMP exam?

What else can quietly add to the bill?

  • Your eligibility year running out. Pay, then let twelve months pass without sitting, and the fee is gone with nothing to show for it. Book the date as soon as the panel clears you.
  • Late changes to your appointment. Move or cancel inside 30 days and the test vendor charges US$70. Inside 48 hours you cannot move it at all, and missing it forfeits the fee.
  • The refund window. You can ask for a refund within 30 days of paying, but only if you have not scheduled and sat the exam. After that the money is committed.
  • An audit. It costs nothing, but you need your degree copy and signatures from managers who may be slow to reply. Warn them before you apply and this costs you days instead of weeks.
  • Getting to the test centre. The PgMP is a centre-based exam, so add travel, and a night away if the nearest centre is not close.

What should I budget for preparation?

This is the one number you control. The exam content outline, the PgMP handbook and — for members — The Standard for Program Management are free, so a disciplined self-study candidate can prepare for very little.

What candidates usually pay for is the part that catches them out: writing three experience summaries a panel of strangers will accept, and getting used to 170 scenario questions in four hours. If you would rather not learn that by trial and error, a guided class does it with you.

See the PgMP class

What does it cost to keep the PgMP after I pass?

Sixty PDUs every three years, and a renewal fee of US$60 as a member or US$150 if your membership has lapsed. PDUs themselves can cost nothing — reading, mentoring and volunteering all count — though the education portion has to be taught, so most holders buy at least part of it.

Budget renewal the way you budget a passport. It is small and predictable, and missing the deadline is what makes it expensive: once a credential expires, the only way back is the exam.

How PMI renewal works

What does the whole thing add up to?

Three honest versions of the same journey, counting only what goes to PMI.

Paid to PMI Member, passes first time Non-member, passes first time Member, needs one retake
Membership and joining fee About US$164 — About US$164
Examination US$800 US$1,000 US$800
Retake — — US$600
Total before you pass About US$964 US$1,000 About US$1,564
Renewal, three years later US$60 US$150 US$60

The member column is cheaper on the day and cheaper every cycle afterwards. The third column is what a rushed exam booking costs, which is why the date you choose matters more than the discount you get.

Upcoming PgMP Class

Times in India (IST)
PgMP class
26
Dec 2026
Sat · 11:00 am IST

PgMP® Class By Kavita Sharma

When
Sat · 11:00 am–3:00 pm IST · 4 weekends
Dates
26 Dec – 16 Jan 2027
Live
16 hours · 4 sessions
Session details
  1. 1. Sat 26 Dec11:00 am–3:00 pm
  2. 2. Sat 2 Jan11:00 am–3:00 pm
  3. 3. Sat 9 Jan11:00 am–3:00 pm
  4. 4. Sat 16 Jan11:00 am–3:00 pm
See your PgMP journey

Target exam window

35 hours · 4 pre-work + 16 live + 15 homework
  1. Pre-work
    before 26 Dec
    4 h
  2. Class 1
    Sat 26 Dec
    4 h live
  3. Home Work
    27 Dec–1 Jan
    5 h
  4. Class 2
    Sat 2 Jan
    4 h live
  5. Home Work
    3 Jan–8 Jan
    5 h
  6. Class 3
    Sat 9 Jan
    4 h live
  7. Home Work
    10 Jan–15 Jan
    5 h
  8. Class 4
    Sat 16 Jan
    4 h live
  9. Test-prep kit
    21 days after the last class
    4 h practice a day
  10. PgMP passed
    from 6 Feb

Pre-work opens the moment you register — finish it before Class 1 on Sat, 26 Dec 2026.

Starts in 62 days Original price was: $799.00.Current price is: $439.45.More details

Is that a lot of money for a PgMP?

It is the smallest of the three things the PgMP asks of you. The fee is under a thousand dollars. The application asks for weeks of careful writing about programmes you ran years ago. The exam asks for study time taken out of your evenings.

Candidates rarely regret the fee. They regret paying it before the application was ready.

Is the PgMP worth it? · How to pass the PgMP

Questions people ask about the cost

Most employers do, and PMI issues the receipt in your name with the certification on it, which is what a reimbursement claim needs. Ask before you pay: some reimburse only on a pass, and that changes when you want to sit.

Not always. PMI prices by region and charges in the currency of the store your PMI profile points at, so a candidate in India or the Gulf sees a different figure. The amounts on this page are the United States rates.

Within 30 days of paying, yes, provided you have not scheduled and taken the exam. PMI then closes the application and your eligibility ends with it. After 30 days the money stays with PMI.

No. The audit costs nothing. It costs time — you have 90 days to send your degree copy and signed verifications, and your eligibility year only begins once you clear it.

There is no bundle. The saving comes from membership, which discounts every PMI exam and every renewal you hold, so one membership works across both credentials.

No, membership is optional. Dropping it costs you $90 more at each renewal and your free copies of the standards, which is why most holders keep it.

Not sure your experience will clear the panel before you pay?Message me →

Who checked these numbers

Kavita Sharma coaches PgMP and PMP candidates, and has taken PMI’s fees, audits and renewals through several cycles of her own.

  • Significant Contributor to the PMBOK® Guide Sixth Edition and Contributor to the Eighth Edition
  • Author of Pass PgMP in 21 Days and Pass PMP in 21 Days – Study Guide
  • Holds PMP and PgMP
  • Sixteen years delivering projects and programmes, and the last ten coaching candidates through PMI credentials
Start with the PgMP guide