Capital Prep — by Career Employer

SurePass Guarantee — money back if you don't pass + $150 retake fee on Lifetime.

CPCE prep

From $69

CPCE · Counselor Preparation Comprehensive Examination

Pass the CPCE — or get every dollar back. Guaranteed.

Don't pass? Full refund — and Lifetime pays your $150 retake fee

Eight CACREP areas, one sitting, and the exam your program grades you on. Know what to study and when you're ready.

Enter your email — we instantly send a link to your cheat sheet. One tap opens your study portal with your trial; a 6-digit code comes as a backup. No card.

  • 1,280 exam-style questions, every one with a written explanation
  • Free cheat sheet + 24 hours of the full Fast Track Study System on your trial
  • A readiness score that tells you when you're actually ready to sit
  • Works offline — study anywhere, no signal needed
The CPCE study guide open in the reader on a phone
The CPCE cheat sheet — cover

What’s free on your trial

Your CPCE cheat sheet — free, instant to download.

Instant access to download the full cheat sheet. Start your free trial — one tap on the emailed link opens your study portal with the sheet waiting, plus 24 hours of the full Fast Track Study System. No card.

You'll get further in these 24 hours than in a week anywhere else.

  • Your CPCE cheat sheet — the highest-yield facts as a PDF, instant to download with your trial
  • The full Fast Track Study System, open for 24 hours from the moment you start
  • Every practice question — Tutor, Timed and Quiz modes — with Miles, the AI tutor
  • Every flashcard deck and a full-length mock exam, with narrated audio
  • The whole study guide, plus your readiness meter and study plan paced to your exam date

The Capital Prep Method

What to study, when to study it & the exact moment you're ready.

Cut out the months of studying you don't need. CPCE prep that adapts every day — no guessing what to do next.

SurePass readiness

A readiness score built from your own answers — not a progress bar. It moves as you answer, and recent work counts most.

SurePass readiness — CPCE

See what's included →

Anywhere Mode · Study from your pocket

Ten minutes of scrolling — or ten minutes closer to passing.

Your phone is already in your hand. Two taps, no signal needed.

  • Quick Ten — One tap. Ten questions, with the rationale on every one.
  • It downloads itself — No button, no setup, nothing to remember.
  • No bars? Still works — Airplane mode, the subway, a cabin in the woods.
  • Nothing gets lost. Ever. — Saves as you tap, syncs when you're back.

Flashcards and practice questions work offline. The study guide, audio and full-length mocks need a connection.

CPCE — flashcards that work offline, on a phone

Flashcards that work offline

SurePass Guarantee

Pass the CPCE — or get your money back.

  • Every pass: full refund — and you keep Lifetime access, free.
  • Lifetime (SurePass Pro): we also pay your $150 CCE retake fee.

cheat sheet, instant downloadNo payment info required

What you get with each CPCE pass

Every pass includes the full study system. Only the length of access and the guarantee payout change.

Lowest price

7-Day Pass

$69

one-time · 7 days of access

Cram-ready full access for the final week before comps.

Click any feature to see it.

SurePass Guarantee
  • Full refund if you don't pass
  • Keep full access, free, until you do

One payment · no subscription · secure checkout by Stripe

Strong guarantee

30-Day Pass

$89

one-time · 30 days of access

A full month to prep — backed by our guarantee.

Click any feature to see it.

SurePass Guarantee
  • Full refund if you don't pass
  • Keep full access, free, until you do

One payment · no subscription · secure checkout by Stripe

Most popular

Best guarantee

Lifetime

$149

one-time · never expires

Study at your pace — and if you retake, we cover the $150 fee.

Click any feature to see it.

SurePass Guarantee ProBest protection
  • Full refund if you don't pass
  • We pay your full $150 retake fee — one funded retake

One payment · no subscription · secure checkout by Stripe

  • Instant access
  • Full study system on trial

Don't pass? Full refund. On Lifetime, your retake fee is covered too. Terms apply

CPCE · Features and Pricing

How Capital Prep compares

Tap any i to learn more about a feature.

How Capital Prep compares with Pocket Prep, Mometrix, Counseling textbooks
Click an i to learn moreCapital PrepPocket PrepMometrixCounseling textbooks
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Prices and features verified on each company's own site in September 2026; their terms may have changed since, so check before you buy. Mometrix's course price is not published on its course page, so only its study-guide prices are shown. The textbook column is a shelf of independently published titles rather than one product — treat its prices as indicative. AATBS, Study.com and Exam Edge are excluded because their live pages could not be read to verify a price. Capital Prep is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by the Center for Credentialing & Education or the National Board for Certified Counselors; CPCE is their trademark and is used here descriptively only. CCE does not endorse any test preparation course and publishes no official CPCE study guide.

Questions about our CPCE prep?
Ask a real person.

Ask about the CPCE guarantee, the free trial, or how the study system works. We read every message and answer as soon as we can.

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The Capital Prep team, ready to answer your question

Questions, answered

What do I get for free?

The full Fast Track Study System, free for 24 hours with no card — every practice question, every flashcard deck, Cram Mode, Focus sessions, narrated audio, a full-length mock exam sat as timed practice, your own flashcards from any highlight, and the entire study guide, every chapter readable and highlightable. Instant access to download the full cheat sheet. Your cheat sheet always stays yours. A pass keeps all of it open, backed by the SurePass Guarantee.

How does the SurePass Guarantee work?

Score 80%+ on one full-length mock, sit the CPCE, and if your program fails you we refund what you paid. On Lifetime, clear two mocks with your readiness meter at "Getting close" or above and we also pay your full $150 retake fee. You file the claim in your study portal.

My program sets the passing score. So what counts as not passing?

Your program's own written result — the letter, the portal, or your CCE score report together with your program's published cut. CCE does not decide this and neither do we: its handbook says your report "will not include a pass or fail status", and that "the university sets the cut (passing) score for the CPCE and determines a pass/fail result". That is exactly why the guarantee reads your program's verdict rather than a number we picked — a number would pay out on students their program passed and refuse students their program failed. Our 80% mock target is a different thing entirely: it is our readiness bar, not a CPCE score.

How many full-length mocks do I get?

Four scored full-length sittings, each a brand-new 160-question paper with 20 items from every CACREP area and timed to the real 225 minutes. Practice questions and timed practice are unlimited and never use one. The bank is 1,250+ questions — eight times a full form — so even after four scored sittings there are hundreds of questions you have never seen.

Which pass should I buy?

Match it to your comps date. Sitting within a week, the 7-Day Pass is built for that. A month out, the 30-Day. No date yet, and Lifetime. Every paid tier carries the refund. Lifetime is the only one that also funds a retake, and on this exam that is its whole argument — there is no recertification to keep access for; there is a second sitting that costs the full fee again, at least thirty days later.

What does the exam itself cost, and what if I have to sit it again?

CCE publishes three prices on its own site: $75 a student when your school proctors it on campus, and $150 through a Pearson VUE test center or online with a remote proctor. In practice most students pay $150 — schools that run the on-campus version generally add their own proctoring fee on top, and CCE's brochure puts the cost on the candidate: "Exam candidates are responsible for all costs of the examination administration." A retake is a separate registration and a full fee again; there is no discount anywhere. That is why our Lifetime tier covers your full $150 retake fee if you qualify. ⚠️ The bigger cost is the calendar: a retake waits at least 30 days (90 for the online version), and only two attempts fit your six-month authorization window.

What is on the exam?

160 multiple-choice questions, 20 from each of the eight CACREP core areas: Professional Counseling Orientation and Ethical Practice, Social and Cultural Diversity, Human Growth and Development, Career Development, Counseling and Helping Relationships, Group Counseling and Group Work, Assessment and Testing, and Research and Program Evaluation. Seventeen of each area's twenty are scored and three are unmarked pretest items, so 136 count. You get 3 hours 45 minutes of exam time inside a 4 hour 15 minute session that also holds a tutorial and one scheduled break after question 80. Our bank is weighted to exactly those eight equal shares.

How is it scored, and what is a good score?

You get a raw score — the number of the 136 scored items you answered correctly — plus a score for each of the eight areas, and CCE sends your program national comparison data alongside it. There is no national passing score and no national pass rate, because every program sets its own cut. Some use a fixed number of the 136, others a distance below the national mean for that version. Ask your program what its cut is; it is the only number that decides your result, and it is why we will not print one here.

Are the questions like the real exam?

Every item is written to CCE's own published content outline, 160 across the eight areas in CCE's own proportions, with four options and a rationale on each. We also run a construction audit nobody else in this category runs: a reader who cannot see the question, only the options, is measured against pure guessing, and we publish the result rather than claim it. On this bank that reader scores 25.6% against the 25% a coin-flip gives — as close to no signal as the measurement can show, and the reason this exam carries our standard 80% bar rather than a stricter one. What we will not suggest is that these questions appear on the real exam. They do not, and no practice score can promise you the result you want.

What happens when my pass expires?

Your account stays; the paid features stop. Your notes, highlights and flashcard history are all still there if you come back, and Lifetime never expires.

My comps date moved. Does the plan adjust?

Yes. Change the date and the Game Plan rebuilds around the new one — it works backwards from your date, so a move forward compresses it and a move back spreads it out. Nothing is lost.

Can I use it on my phone, and does it work offline?

Yes to both. Add it to your home screen and it behaves like an app. Your due flashcards and a set of practice questions download automatically, so you can revise with no signal. The whole study guide downloads too, narrated audio included; scored mocks and the tutor still need a connection.

Do you offer refunds if I change my mind?

Yes, separately from the pass guarantee: 24 hours on the 7-Day Pass, 48 hours on the 30-Day Pass, or 72 hours on Lifetime, measured from your purchase (or from your upgrade, if you upgraded) — no questions asked, as long as you haven't sat your exam yet. EEA and UK buyers also keep their 14-day statutory right. The SurePass Guarantee is the other promise — that one is about your exam result, not about changing your mind.

Why are SurePass guarantees limited each week?

Because we honor them. Every guarantee is a real financial commitment, so we cap how many are live in a given week and the counter you see is a count of genuine commitments — purchases and held checkouts — never a display number. If a week sells out, yours activates the following Monday.

Still deciding?

Start your free trial — instant access to download the CPCE cheat sheet, plus 24 hours of the full Fast Track Study System. No payment info required.