CHA Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify

Who Sets the Certified Hospice Administrator Requirements

The Certified Hospice Administrator credential is offered through the National Board for Home Care and Hospice Certification (NBHHC). Professional Testing (PTI) coordinates exam administration, using Pearson VUE computer-based test centers and approved onsite paper testing. Unlike many clinical credentials, this one is built for people who run hospice operations, so the requirements measure management and leadership experience rather than clinical hours or a specific degree.

If you are still orienting yourself to the credential, our explainers What Is CHA Certification? and What Does CHA Stand For? cover the basics. This article focuses on the practical question: do you qualify, and how do you prove it?

The Three Education-and-Experience Routes

The NBHHC candidate handbook sets out eligibility as a sliding scale. The more formal education you hold, the less supervisory or administrator experience you need. For hospice, the routes are:

Read the table as an either/or in each row: you satisfy the requirement with either the longer stretch as a supervisor or manager or the shorter stretch as an administrator. Administrator-level time is weighted more heavily, which is why it requires far fewer years.

The health-related license shortcut

A health-related professional license also supports the 3-year administrator route. For a licensed nurse, social worker, or other licensed clinician who has moved into an administrator role, this can be the cleanest path to eligibility, because it does not depend on your degree level.

Which route fits which career path

• Clinician-turned-director: A nurse with a bachelor's degree who has managed a hospice team for five years fits the first row. If that nurse has served as administrator for a year, the shorter path applies instead.
• Operations climber without a degree: A billing or business-office leader with a high-school diploma can qualify through nine years of supervisory or management work, or three years as an administrator.
• Licensed professional: A licensed clinician with three years as an administrator may use the license-supported route regardless of degree level.

The 12-of-48-Months Work Rule

Separate from the years-of-experience routes, applicants must show relevant management or leadership work for at least 12 of the last 48 months. This is a recency requirement. Someone with a decade of management history who stepped away from leadership roles four years ago may satisfy the cumulative years but still fall short on recency.

If you are between jobs or have moved to a purely clinical role, check whether your recent months still count. Consultants, interim administrators, and project-based leaders should document the leadership portion of their work carefully, since this is where applications most often need clarification.

Documentation: Evidence, Prorating, and References

Qualifying on paper is only half the task; the application requires evidence. Plan to assemble three categories of material.

Education and experience evidence

You will be asked to back up your claimed degree level and your management or administrator history. Gather diplomas or transcripts, position descriptions, and employment records that show your title, dates, and scope of responsibility. Vague job titles are a common stumbling block: a "coordinator" role may or may not carry real supervisory duties, so a clear description of what you managed helps.

Prorated management experience

Management experience is prorated for management-duty time. If you split your week between clinical work and managing staff, only the portion spent on management duties counts toward your total. Someone who spent half of their time managing for four years would be credited roughly accordingly, not for four full years. Build your timeline with honest percentages, and be prepared to explain them.

Three healthcare-industry references

The application requires three references from the healthcare industry. When applicable, your current employer should be listed first. Choose references who have directly observed your management work, such as a board member, a supervising executive, a medical director, or a peer administrator. Let them know in advance so they can respond promptly.

Application Mechanics, Fees, and the 12-Month Window

Once you have confirmed eligibility, the application process follows a predictable sequence.

1. Submit the application with your education and experience evidence and references, along with the application fee.
2. Receive approval. Approved applications remain valid for 12 months, which gives you flexibility to choose among testing windows.
3. Receive your Authorization to Test. Pearson VUE appointments require this authorization, so you cannot simply walk up and schedule without it.
4. Schedule and sit the exam within an available testing window.

What initial certification costs

The optional CAHSAH administrator course carries separate tuition and is not part of the US$598. For a deeper look at what you might spend beyond exam fees, see our CHA certification cost breakdown, and if you are weighing the investment, Is the CHA Certification Worth It? walks through the return side.

The 12-month approval window matters strategically. It means a qualified applicant who is not quite ready for the first window can still use a later one without reapplying, as long as the approval has not lapsed.

2026 Testing Windows and Deadlines

Computer-based testing is offered in four windows in 2026, each with its own application deadline. Missing a deadline pushes you to the next window.

Notice how tight the April deadline is relative to its window: only about a week separates the April 7 cutoff from the April 14 window opening. Because your application must be approved and your Authorization to Test issued before you can book a Pearson VUE appointment, treat the deadline as the real start date of your timeline, not the window itself. Our dedicated CHA exam dates guide covers scheduling in more detail.

What You Qualify to Sit: Format and Content

Meeting the requirements gets you into an exam with a specific structure, and knowing it helps you decide when to apply.

• Length and time: The candidate handbook gives a range of 80 to 100 questions with a 2-hour limit.
• Question style: Single-answer selected response.
• Rules: Closed book, with no guessing penalty, so you should answer every question.
• Reporting: Pass/fail.

Because results are pass/fail, there is no score to compare across attempts. For more on what that means, read our piece on the CHA passing score, and for realistic expectations see How Hard Is the CHA Exam? and the CHA pass rate discussion.

Together, Business Operations and Finance account for 65% of the exam. Our CHA exam domains guide breaks down all four areas in depth.

If You Don't Qualify Yet: Closing the Gap

If you fall short today, the requirements themselves point to practical ways forward.

• Count your role honestly. If you are a clinical supervisor, ask whether you could document a larger share of management-duty time, since experience is prorated.
• Consider the education trade-off. Each step up in formal education reduces the years required. A candidate a year or two short on the associate-degree route might compare that against the bachelor's route, though a degree is a big investment to make for eligibility alone.
• Seek administrator-level exposure. Because administrator years are weighted more heavily, even an acting or assistant administrator role may shorten your path. Confirm with NBHHC how such roles are credited.
• Watch the recency rule. Keep at least 12 months of qualifying leadership work within any rolling 48-month period.

While you build experience, you can still prepare. Candidates who are not yet eligible often start with foundational reading and our CHA practice test to learn the exam's content ahead of time. Our CHA training overview and CHA jobs page give context on where the credential is used, and the CHA salary guide discusses earnings qualitatively.

Keeping the Credential: Renewal Requirements

Eligibility is not only an entry question. The credential lasts 4 years, and renewal has its own requirements, which are worth understanding up front because they shape how you track your work and learning over time.

• Points: 50 points are required.
• Continuing education: At least 36 continuing-education contact hours count within those points.
• Other points: No more than 14 points may come from other categories.
• Employment: Relevant management or leadership employment for 12 of the preceding 48 months.

Note that the same 12-of-48-months employment idea that gates your initial application also gates renewal, so the leadership-work requirement follows you throughout your certification. See our CHA certification overview for the broader picture.

Sequencing Prep Around Domain Weights

Once your application is approved, your preparation should mirror the blueprint. One efficient way to schedule it is to weight your weeks by domain percentage and by how unfamiliar each domain is to your background.

For a full plan, see the CHA study guide, and keep our CHA cheat sheet handy for last-week review.

Frequently Asked Questions

Meeting the requirements is the first gate; passing is the second. When your eligibility is settled, start working through realistic questions on the main CHA practice test site so the domain weights and question style are familiar long before your testing window opens.