Healthcare Administration Degrees

Credentials in healthcare administration

FACHE Certification: Requirements and Cost

Edited by Taylor Rupe, B.A. Psychology, University of Washington Seattle · B.S. Computer Science, Oregon State University

Last updated

FACHE is the credential you see after the names of hospital executives, and it is routinely described as something a graduate can work toward. It is not. Two of its six requirements are a current executive post and 5 years of healthcare management, so eligibility describes a career you have already had.

Key facts for the FACHE credential
What it is Voluntary certification
Awarded by ACHE
Open to ACHE members with a master's, 5 years' management and an executive post
Headline fee $225 for the exam, plus $250 to apply
Keeping it Continuing education and continued ACHE membership
Renewal cycle Every 3 years

Why FACHE Certification Cannot Be a Plan

Most credentials are things you go and get. You decide, you study, you sit an exam, you have it. FACHE does not work like that, and understanding why saves a reader from building a timeline around it.

Of ACHE's six requirements, four are things you can arrange: join, accumulate the credits, do the volunteering, take the exam. The other two are not. A master's degree takes two years and is at least under your control. But 5 years of experience in the field and, crucially, a current executive healthcare management position are not qualifications you obtain. They are a description of a job you already hold.

So the correct order is the opposite of the one people assume. You do not earn FACHE certification and become an executive. You become an executive, and then it becomes available to you. For someone choosing a degree now, the consequence is indirect but real: it is a reason to care about the master's decision and the hospital administration route, because those are what eventually produce eligibility.

The Two Requirements Nobody Mentions

The degree and the experience get discussed. Two others are quietly substantial and appear in no summary of this credential.

The first is 36 education credits within 3 years. ACHE allows all of them to come from its own in-person events, with a limited number available through virtual and qualifying activities, so this is a commitment of both time and money on top of the fees below, spread across three years rather than paid once.

The second is more unusual: 4 volunteer activities, two civic and two in healthcare, within the past three years. That is a participation requirement rather than a competence one, and it is the part most likely to be missing when an otherwise qualified candidate goes to apply. It cannot be completed retroactively in a fortnight, so it is worth knowing about several years before you intend to apply, which is the main reason it is on this page.

What FACHE Certification Costs, and the Window Worth Waiting For

The direct costs are $250 for the Fellow application and $225 to register for the Board of Governors Exam, payable before each attempt. A first-time pass therefore costs $475.

ACHE states that a completed Fellow application submitted between 1 March and 30 June, with the application fee and supporting documents, has the $225 exam fee waived on approval. If you are close to ready in January, waiting until March is worth $225 for doing nothing differently.

Retakes are permitted as often as needed within a 2 year eligibility window, with the registration fee due each time and the application fee not repeated. The larger cost is not on this list: it is the continuing education and membership behind the requirements, which run for years before the application is submitted at all.

Questions About FACHE Certification

What are the requirements for FACHE?
Six of them, all at once: a master's or other post-baccalaureate degree, a current executive healthcare management position, at least 5 years of healthcare management experience, 1 year of tenure as an ACHE member, 36 continuing education credits within the past 3 years, and 4 volunteer activities, two civic and two in healthcare.
Can you get FACHE straight out of a master's degree?
No. Two of the requirements describe a career rather than a qualification: 5 years of healthcare management experience and a current executive-level post. Someone finishing an MHA is years away from eligibility no matter how strong the degree, which makes FACHE a milestone to reach rather than a plan to follow.
How much does FACHE cost?
$250 for the Fellow application and $225 to register for the Board of Governors Exam before each attempt, so $475 for a first attempt that passes. ACHE states it waives the exam fee for completed applications submitted between 1 March and 30 June, which is worth timing.
How many times can you take the Board of Governors Exam?
As many as needed within a 2 year eligibility window, though the $225 registration fee is payable before each attempt. The application fee is not charged again.
Is FACHE worth it?
It is the recognized senior credential in hospital administration and it appears after the names of a great many health system executives, so within that world it carries weight. It is not a way to get there. Since eligibility already requires an executive post, FACHE confirms a position rather than creating one, and the reader it genuinely helps is someone already senior who wants the recognition formalised.

What to Pursue Before You Qualify for FACHE

Readers who cannot yet meet these requirements, which is most, have two realistic alternatives now: CPHQ, which has no eligibility requirement at all, and CMPE, whose first pathway opens on a bachelor's plus two years. The hospital administration route sets out how the executive post that FACHE requires is usually reached.

Sources for This FACHE Certification Data