AICP Exam Information & Preparation
The American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) is the American Planning Association's professional institute, with responsibilities for accreditation, compliance, certification, ethics and continuing education.
- To become a certified planner and use the AICP designation, one must be a current member of the American Planning Association, submit an application meeting certain education and experience requirements, pass an examination, and be a fully paid member of APA and AICP. Learn more about the One Path to AICP.
- AICP members must earn a total of 32 credits each two-year reporting period under AICP's Certification Maintenance (CM) program.
Exam Preparation
There are dozens (hundreds?) of websites that provide resources for preparing for the AICP exam. We will not deluge aspiring AICP planners with all of the links but rather we will highlight a few that we feel have been particularly helpful:
- Tips from the American Planning Association
- Chapter Presidents Council Study Manual for the AICP Certification Exam
- Virginia APA Chapter AICP Exam Overview Recording
- Pennsylvania APA Chapter's AICP page
- Location Quotient Video
- APA Virginia belongs to a consortium that conducts Planning Webcasts - the exam prep sessions have been uploaded to the Planning Webcast YouTube Channel (If you put “AICP Exam Review series” in the search box it will link to the list of review sessions without having to sort through the entire list of webinars).
- Some test questions in flash card form can be found here and here.
- APA Policy Guides
Florida APA Chapter Study Class: Henry Bittaker, FAICP, offers a free weekly online prep class for exam takers from any state. In addition to live sessions, the class includes recorded sessions and practice tests. The class schedule is posted a few months before each exam testing window, so check here for updated information: https://florida.planning.org/professional-growth/aicp-exam-preparation/.
Online Study Group: Several you have expressed interest in finding a study buddy or participating in an online study group with other Virginia planners. Please email pdo@apavirginia.com if you would like your contact information to be shared with other exam takers, and we will do our best to connect you.
AICP Certification Diversity Scholarship
Each exam cycle, APA offers scholarships to APA members who are interested in taking the AICP exam or who are interested in submitting their experience assessment. Please visit the AICP Certification Diversity Scholarship webpage for more information.