Pharmacy technician license and certification: what each state charges

Registration with the state, certification with a national body

Two different things are often called a pharmacy technician license. The state credential, a registration, license, permit or certificate depending on the board, is what lets you work in a pharmacy in that state, and only the board of pharmacy issues it. National certification, the CPhT, comes from a private certifying body: PTCB through its PTCE exam, or NHA through its ExCPT exam. PTCB lists $129 to apply for certification and take the PTCE. The NHA fee for the ExCPT could not be read on the official page, so where a state accepts either exam the calculator counts the PTCB price.

A board may require certification, accept it as one route among several, or ignore it. That choice decides most of what you will pay, so the sections below sort the 24 priced states by what their rules say.

States where national certification is a condition

In Louisiana, New York, Texas, Virginia and Washington, the board's rules require a passed national certification exam for the technician credential. Texas wants a current certification before the application is filed and charges $84 for a two-year registration; candidates not yet certified can hold a non-renewable trainee registration in the meantime. New York charges $175 for licensure and first registration of the title "registered pharmacy technician" and accepts only PTCB and NHA certification. Virginia asks for both a training program and the exam, with a registration fee of $40. Louisiana uses two steps: a candidate registration at $50 while training, then a technician certificate at $100 once the exam is passed. Washington combines the exam with a mandatory commission-approved program, at least 520 hours on the on-the-job route, and charges $140 for the initial credential. Arizona requires a board-approved exam or graduation from a board-approved program, usually after a trainee license; the calculator counts the exam route.

In these states the PTCB fee is the largest single line. A failed PTCE is paid again, so set the number of attempts in the calculator if you want to plan for a retake.

States where certification is one route among several

California, Indiana, Maryland and Massachusetts accept certification as one way to qualify, next to a training course or a board-approved program. California, for example, accepts a training course of at least 240 hours of instruction, an associate degree in pharmacy technology or PTCB or ExCPT certification, and charges $120 to apply. Maryland accepts current national certification without Maryland training hours, or a board-approved program with work experience followed by an exam. Because the applicant chooses the route, the totals for these states leave out the national exam; add $129 yourself if certification is the route you take.

States that register without an exam

Connecticut, Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri, New Jersey, Tennessee and Wisconsin register technicians without training hours, an exam or national certification in the rules read. Fees there stay low: $25 in Kentucky, $30 in Wisconsin, $40 in Missouri. Certification still matters on the job: in Georgia the pharmacist-to-technician ratio requires some certified technicians, in Kentucky and Tennessee certified technicians may perform more tasks, and Missouri and Wisconsin require it only for administering vaccines or medication. Several other states impose a training program without an exam: Florida requires a board-approved program, at least 160 hours when an employer runs it, and Minnesota an employer-based program of at least 240 hours by the first renewal.

Background checks and renewals

Some boards bill a background check you can see in the total, such as Alabama's $40 or Oregon's $48 board fee plus a Fieldprint appointment fee. In Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, Tennessee and Texas, a check is required but its vendor price is not printed on the board pages read, so it is not in the total. Renewals run from every year in Connecticut, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Oklahoma and Virginia to every two years in most other states and every three years in New York. Texas renews for $81 with 20 hours of continuing education. At 20 hours a week, Washington's 520 training hours take about 26 weeks. The renewal costs page compares what each state charges to keep the credential.