1.2 Eligibility, PSI Delivery, Fees, Scheduling & Rescheduling

Passing the ARE is partly an administrative exercise. Eligibility flows through your NCARB Record, appointments are booked with PSI, and the fee, reschedule, and cancellation rules have real money attached to them.

Establishing and Maintaining Eligibility

You cannot buy an ARE seat on impulse. The sequence is fixed:

1. Establish an NCARB Record at my.ncarb.org.
2. Open the Exams tab and click Request Eligibility, selecting the jurisdiction where you intend to be licensed.
3. Accept the ARE Candidate Agreement, which legally binds you to keep exam content confidential.
4. Your board of architecture grants eligibility if you meet that jurisdiction's requirements — or NCARB grants it directly if your board participates in NCARB's Exam Eligibility Services.
5. Verify that the first and last name in your NCARB Record exactly matches your government photo ID before scheduling. A mismatch will cost you the appointment and the fee.

Because eligibility is granted by the jurisdiction, education and experience prerequisites vary. Some boards allow you to begin testing early in the Architectural Experience Program (AXP); others require AXP completion first.

Two Delivery Modes, One Vendor

NCARB delivers ARE 5.0 through PSI, in two modalities that use the same content, the same clock, and the same security standards:

• PSI test center. A proctored workstation at a physical site. Staff handle identity verification and security screening, and you are insulated from your own bandwidth and power problems. During a break you must remain inside the test center — leaving may cancel your exam with no refund.
• PSI Proctoring Platform (online). Remote delivery from a private room you control. You supply the hardware, the bandwidth, and a space that stays clear and quiet for the full appointment. A technical failure or an interruption in your space is your risk, not the proctor's.

Whichever you choose, run the PSI test run before exam day if you are testing online. Discovering a camera or firewall problem at the start of a 5-hour PPD appointment is an avoidable disaster.

Fees

Source: NCARB fee schedule and ARE 5.0 Guidelines (June 2026).

Budget the Record renewal for every year you are testing, not just the first. A candidate who takes three years to finish pays $1,578 in seat fees plus roughly $315 in Record fees, before any retakes. Every failed division adds another $263.

An exam seat you purchase in advance is valid for one year. Payment is made inside your NCARB Record with Visa, MasterCard, or American Express; third-party payment is available only when buying seats in advance, not at the end of scheduling. NCARB does not refund exam, rescheduling, or cancellation fees.

Rescheduling and Cancellation

The reschedule window is tied to the delivery mode:

• In-person appointment: reschedule up to 48 hours before your appointment.
• Online-proctored appointment: reschedule up to 24 hours before your appointment.
• Cancellation: you may cancel up to one hour before the appointment time for a fee. You receive a replacement exam seat that expires one year from the transaction date.

Reschedule and cancellation fees are set on NCARB's published fee schedule and have been revised more than once; confirm the current amounts on NCARB's fees page before you move an appointment, because the charge depends on how much notice you give. If you fail to appear, you are marked absent and the entire test fee is forfeited.

One useful mechanic: if you need to retake a division after failing, or your appointment is canceled, the rescheduling count resets for the next attempt.

Identification and Security

Bring a valid, unexpired, government-issued photo ID whose first and last name match your NCARB Record exactly. Expect security screening at check-in and re-admittance screening every time you come back from a break. Personal calculators are prohibited in both modalities — the exam supplies an on-screen calculator, and using your own can void your scores.

Exam Tip: The 48-hour and 24-hour reschedule cutoffs are hard. Inside that window there is no reschedule — only a cancellation (with a fee, up to one hour before) or a no-show that forfeits the full $263. If you know a week out that you are not ready, move the appointment then, not the night before.