The Certified Grants Management Specialist (CGMS) credential is the flagship professional certification of the National Grants Management Association (NGMA). It is designed for people who administer grants on the funder or recipient side — grants specialists, grants managers, program officers, compliance officers, and grants accountants — and it certifies competency across the full grants lifecycle, from guidance and awards through fiscal management and program oversight.
This guide covers what NGMA and the CGMS actually are, who is eligible to sit the exam, what the exam covers and costs, how recertification works, and how CGMS relates to the other credentials research administrators encounter — particularly the GPC (Grant Professional Certified) credential and the Certified Research Administrator (CRA) credential.
What Is NGMA?
The National Grants Management Association (NGMA) is a U.S. professional association founded in 1978, dedicated to grants management training and professional certification. It is not a grant-making or grant-distributing body itself; its role is developing standards, training, and certification for the people who manage grants on behalf of government agencies, nonprofits, higher education institutions, tribal governments, and private industry. NGMA reports more than 5,000 members with chapters across the United States and Puerto Rico.
What Is the CGMS Credential For?
CGMS is a role-based, competency certification rather than a degree or training-completion certificate. NGMA states that it exists to “elevate professional standards, enhance individual performance, and designate professionals who demonstrate the knowledge essential to the practice of grants management,” giving holders formal, third-party recognition of competency across the full grants lifecycle rather than in a single specialty like proposal writing or post-award accounting alone.
It is most relevant to practitioners whose work sits on the administration and oversight side of grants — reviewing and issuing awards, managing compliance with grant guidance and terms, administering fiscal and reporting requirements, and monitoring program performance — as distinct from the pre-award, proposal-development-focused work that the GPC credential targets (see the comparison section below).
Eligibility Requirements
Candidates qualify to sit the CGMS exam through one of two pathways, based on NGMA’s published eligibility criteria:
- A bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution plus a minimum of three (3) years of full-time grants management experience within the preceding 10 years; or
- No college degree, but a minimum of five (5) years of full-time grants management experience within the preceding 10 years.
NGMA membership is not required to sit the exam — non-members can take it, at a higher fee (see Costs below).
Exam Format and Content
The CGMS exam runs three hours, with one scheduled ten-minute break. It is scored on a scaled range of 200–1000, and a scaled score of 650 is required to pass. NGMA’s exam blueprint organizes content into four domains:
- Grant Guidance — understanding and applying the regulatory and policy framework governing grants (for U.S. federal grants, this includes the Uniform Guidance at 2 CFR 200).
- Fiscal Management — budgeting, financial reporting, cost principles, and audit-related fiscal controls.
- Grant Awards — award issuance, terms and conditions, and award-stage administration.
- Program Management — monitoring grant-funded program performance and compliance over the life of the award.
Cost
Per NGMA’s published fee schedule:
- Initial exam: $500 for NGMA members, $674 for non-members.
- Retake: $175 for members, $250 for non-members.
- Recertification (every 3 years): $299 for members, $473 for non-members.
Fees are set by NGMA and are subject to change; confirm current pricing directly on NGMA’s certification pages before budgeting.
Retake Policy
Candidates who do not pass may retake the exam after a 90-day waiting period from their test date, and are limited to three attempts within any 365-day period.
Accreditation
The CGMS program holds accreditation from the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA) — the accrediting body operated by the Institute for Credentialing Excellence — through September 30, 2030. NCCA accreditation means the program has been independently evaluated against standards for exam development, psychometrics, and governance that apply across professional certification programs generally, not just to grants management.
Recertification
CGMS is not a one-time credential. Holders must recertify every three years, which carries its own fee (see Costs above). NGMA’s certification pages detail the specific continuing-education or renewal-activity requirements for maintaining the credential between exam cycles; check NGMA’s current “Maintaining Certification” guidance directly, since renewal mechanics are the part of any certification program most likely to change over time.
How CGMS Compares to Other Grants and Research-Administration Credentials
CGMS is one of several credentials a research administration or grants professional might encounter, and they are not interchangeable — each certifies a different slice of the funding lifecycle:
- CGMS (NGMA) certifies grants management broadly — guidance, fiscal management, awards, and program oversight — and is open to both funder-side and recipient-side practitioners across government, nonprofit, education, tribal, and industry settings. See eligibility and exam details above.
- GPC (Grant Professional Certified), administered by the Grant Professionals Certification Institute, certifies competency in grant development — the pre-award work of researching funding sources, writing and packaging proposals, and managing the proposal process — rather than post-award administration.
- CRA (Certified Research Administrator), administered by the Research Administrators Certification Council (RACC), certifies research administration specifically within the context of sponsored research at universities and similar research-performing organizations, spanning proposal development, compliance, financial management, and general research-office management.
A grants professional whose work spans development, sponsored-research administration, and post-award compliance may reasonably hold more than one of these credentials over a career; which one to pursue first depends on which side of the grants lifecycle — developing proposals, administering research awards, or managing grants operationally — best matches the current or target role. For broader career context, see CASRAI’s guide to what a research administrator does and, for professionals working specifically in research development, what NORDP is.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is NGMA membership required to take the CGMS exam?
No. Non-members can sit the exam, though the fee is higher than the member rate ($674 vs. $500 for the initial exam, per NGMA’s published fee schedule).
How is the CGMS exam scored?
On a scaled range of 200 to 1000, with a scaled score of 650 required to pass.
How long is the CGMS credential valid before recertification is required?
Three years. Recertification carries its own fee ($299 for members, $473 for non-members, per NGMA’s published schedule).
What happens if I fail the CGMS exam?
You can retake it after a 90-day waiting period, with a maximum of three attempts allowed in any 365-day period.
Is CGMS the same as the GPC or CRA credential?
No. All three are legitimate, distinct grants-related certifications from different administering bodies, covering different parts of the grants lifecycle — see the comparison section above.
