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All applicants who wish to earn an American Society for Clinical Pathology Board of Certification (ASCP BOC) credential must complete the online application process. As a program director, we want to ensure you are clear on the process to best help your students.
We invite you to review the online application to better answer your students' questions. Log in to your ASCP account to apply and Save for Later. Take screenshots to share with students and highlight any potential difficulties. Once saved, your application will remain in your account for six months. If you need assistance or have questions, email us at PDInfo@ascp.org.
All NAACLS, CAAHEP, and ABHES-accredited programs will appear on the Accredited Program Lookup feature of the online application.
If your program’s name does not appear in the drop-down menu, please contact us at PDInfo@ascp.org. Students must choose their program to ensure that they will appear on your Examination Eligibility Verification (EEV) and Program Performance Report (PPR).
The ASCP BOC provides free content guidelines and suggested reading lists for all credentials. The ASCP offers a variety of paid examination preparation resources.
To be eligible to take an ASCP BOC examination, students must have completed your program and all degree requirements, even if a missing course is not related to the laboratory training program. Encourage your students to verify with the Registrar's office that they have completed all courses required for graduation before they apply.
A student who wishes to request modifications to the examination environment due to a documented disability must notify the ASCP BOC in writing before submitting an application. This request for modifications must come from the applicant themselves, not a third party.
Students must have a personal ASCP account (ASCP Customer ID) in order to apply for an ASCP BOC examination. They should not create a duplicate account.
All communication from the ASCP BOC will be sent to the email address that the applicant verifies when starting their application. Students are responsible for reading all communications from the ASCP BOC and ensuring the ASCP BOC has a current email address on file. When logged in to their ASCP account, after an application has been submitted, students will see a “BOC Activities” card where they can find information regarding their application status.
Students should apply for an ASCP BOC certification examination no more than six weeks before program completion. If a student is uncertain about when they will be able to complete all components of the program, including clinical rotations, they should hold off on applying until they have a clearer timeframe.
Within 24 hours of their application being submitted
Ensure that the student will successfully complete all program components by the date indicated, including clinicals and final exams or projects, before verifying their program completion.
Within two business days of EEV sign-off. They can access their Admission Notification, which includes:
10 business days after the student takes the examination
Upon initial submission, an applicant receives a confirmation email. Whenever the status of an application is updated, the applicant receives a notification to log in to their ASCP account for specific details and next steps.
At any time, an applicant can log in to their ASCP account and view the status of their application.
All applications must be completed online. Applicants can pay immediately by credit card or follow the instructions to pay by check.
Make sure your students are applying for certification, not only for licensure. Licensure-only examinations are intended for individuals who do not meet the ASCP BOC eligibility requirements.
Institutions may pay for students' application fees by check or by credit card.
Graduates of NAACLS, CAAHEP, and ABHES-accredited programs must verify two educational requirements have been met:
We understand that you would like your students to test as soon as possible after program completion. As soon as they receive their Admission Notification, your students should go online to schedule their examination appointment through the Pearson VUE website. It is reasonable to expect that students should be able to schedule an examination on their preferred date/location within 30 - 45 days of program completion.
All available testing dates and locations will be found through the Pearson VUE website. Candidates should schedule the first available examination appointment they can secure and continue to check back via their VUE web account regularly to see if there have been any cancellations. Testing appointments are filled on a first-come, first-served basis.
Any rescheduled examination appointments must be within the original eligibility window noted on the student’s Admission Notification. Students must contact Pearson VUE at least one full business day (24 hours) prior to their scheduled examination date and time to reschedule.
Immediately after completing their certification examination, your students will see their preliminary results on the computer screen, indicated as “Pass” or “Fail.” Within four business days, students will receive an email notification to log in to see their score report if their transcript has been fully processed by the ASCP BOC.
Students will not receive access to their score report until an official academic transcript has been received and processed by the ASCP BOC, verifying that they have met all academic requirements. Students have one year after taking the examination to submit their final transcripts verifying completion of the academic requirements. As a courtesy, monthly email reminders are sent reminding them to submit their official transcript to the BOC office. If their transcript is not received within one year of the examination date, their examination scores will be invalidated, and they will not be certified.
The ASCP BOC is pleased to announce that a certification examination candidate may now schedule a retake examination as early as 30 days after the date of an unsuccessful examination attempt. This is in place of the previous 90-day waiting period. Qualification examination candidates will be able to retake their examination as early as 30 days after the date of an unsuccessful examination attempt. This is in place of the previous 60-day waiting period.
This data driven enhancement removes barriers to workforce challenges by allowing candidates to retake their examination sooner while taking advantage of employment opportunities more expediently and effectively.
If a candidate requires additional time to prepare for their next examination attempt, they may submit their retake application within a time frame that works best for them. As a reminder, applicants must still meet all eligibility requirements at the time of re-application.
Please inform your students not to post images of their wall certificates or ASCP BOC documentation on social media. While we appreciate their enthusiasm and pride in becoming certified, these images can be used by unscrupulous individuals to misrepresent themselves as being certified. To protect the integrity of ASCP BOC credentials and records, and for patient safety and welfare, it is important for individuals to protect their certificates from misuse.
Beginning in 2026, encourage your students to share their digital badges widely!
If a student would like verification of their credential sent to a third party, such as a state licensing board or employer, they must wait until they have received their score report. At that time, they may go online and purchase verification of their credentials be sent to a third party.