How much does the ISA Certified Arborist exam cost?
The fees ISA lists for the application, the exam, a retake, a reschedule and renewal, with the member and standard rates side by side and one place where two ISA pages differ.
Checked against the sources at the bottom of this page on October 8, 2026. Rules, fees and pay change: the source has the last word.
ISA publishes its fees on its common questions page, on its exam information page and in each credential's program guide. For the ISA Certified Arborist credential the amounts below are what those pages say. ISA lists them in US dollars. The deeper guide to each credential is ISA credentials, one by one.
The fees ISA lists
| Fee | ISA member or credential holder | Standard rate |
|---|---|---|
| Application | US$40 | US$50 |
| Exam enrollment | US$295 | US$369 on the exam information page and in the program guide; US$396 on the common questions page |
| Retake | US$120 | Not listed |
| Recertification, base fee | US$220 | Not listed |
| Each additional recertification | US$95 | Not listed |
The common questions page says members and current credential holders get 20 percent off certain fees. The same page lists the standard exam enrollment fee as US$396, while the exam information page and the program guide both give US$369. The table shows both figures because the pages disagree, and the member rate of US$295 is the same on all three.
Other charges named in the program guide
Charges beyond the main fees are listed in the program guide.
- The exam enrollment fee is the same whichever exam setting the candidate picks.
- ISA does not give refunds for exam enrollments.
- For a computer-based exam, moving the appointment outside the 120-day authorization period costs US$50. Moving it inside the period, at least one US business day ahead, costs nothing.
- Moving a paper-based exam costs US$50 and the request has to reach ISA at least 16 days before the exam date.
- A candidate who does not show up or does not schedule inside the 120-day period is counted as a no-show, loses the fees, and pays the US$120 retake fee to enroll again.
- Regrading a paper-based exam by hand costs US$50 for each score report.
What the fee covers
ISA says the fees pay for checking applications, writing and delivering exams, watching ethics and compliance, handling CEUs and renewals, and backing local chapters and certification partners. Training or study material is not listed in the fee. ISA's common questions page says there are no practice exams and that suggested study materials are sold in the ISA Store.
Renewal costs over a three-year period
The program guide says the credential is valid for three years and that recertification is either a retake of the exam or 30 continuing education units plus the recertification fee, which the guide gives as US$220. The guide on keeping a credential current sets out the CEU rules.