Become a Certified Information Professional (CIP)

The exam itself has no formal prerequisites, though we recommend that candidates have at least five years of experience in at least one major domain of the exam. 

Currently, the CIP is only available in English. 

The Certification exam price is US$450 for all candidates. 

If you do not pass, we offer a one-time retake fee of US$75. We recommend you retake the exam 30-90 days after your initial attempt. If you do not pass after that one retake attempt, the regular exam price will apply. 

The exam consists of 100 multiple-choice questions. Candidates have 120 minutes to complete it. (When scheduling for your exam slot, we recommend you reserve 2.5 hours, to allow for adequate login and setup with ProctorU.) 

Candidates must score 60% or higher to pass. 

The CIP is an online proctored exam that you can take at your convenience, 24/7, year-round. 

Candidates may take the exam as many times as they need to pass. However, there's a $75 re-take fee; if you do not pass after one retake, the regular exam price will apply.

We'll send an email outlining your next steps, including how to set up your account, scheduling your exam with our online proctor, and what to expect. 

No. Once you begin your exam you'll have 120 minutes to complete it, with no breaks. 

No. This is a closed-book, proctored exam. 

No. The results will display your overall score and the percentage correct per domain. It will not display your incorrect responses or those correct answers. 

While the desire to review incorrect answers is understandable, CIP exam questions are considered secure material, and cannot be distributed outside of the testing environment. This policy is meant to ensure the integrity of our exams by preventing content from being circulated. 

Immediately. Once you complete the exam, the answers are calculated and the overall grade is delivered within the testing environment.  

The CIP complements the CRM very well. The CRM is a very deep dive into records management practices, but it doesn't cover some of the other aspects of information management that are important. CIP addresses records management as one of many information management functions/processes within an organization and helps to provide a broader contextual picture. Many information professionals hold both the CRM and CIP, as well as other certifications.

IGP focuses more on strategy, planning, analysis, and developing and managing a program, while the CIP is more operational and focused on the tools, processes, and tactics required to execute against a strategy. The two certifications are complementary, and many information professionals earn both.

We partner with ProctorU for this service. Here's a link to their FAQ page. 

Our partner, ProctorU outlines equipment requirement specs here. 

We partner with ProctorU. Their What to Expect on Exam Day page contains your checklist. 

If you schedule with less than 72 hours notice to the Proctoring company there may be a fee charged by the proctoring company. 

The CIP is valid for 3 years from the date you passed the exam. About 6 months before the end of that cycle we'll send reminders to submit your Continuing Education Units (CEUs) to renew your certification. 

To maintain your certification, you must submit 60 contact hours of approved Continuing Education Units (CEUs), over 3 years from the date of your exam or last renewal. You will also need to pay a renewal fee. 

The price to renew is US$175, along with 60 qualifying CEUs within 3 years from your exam/last renewal. 

CIPs who do not complete the renewal process, either by retaking and passing the exam or by completing the continuing education requirements, will have their CIP status lapse. Lapsed CIPs are not permitted to use the CIP acronym or logo or present themselves as CIPs, and their Accredible badge will reflect a status of Expired.  

If it’s been within twelve (12) months of your CIP lapsing, you may renew by submitting the required CEUs earned within the previous three (3) years of the current date, and by paying the renewal fee. Your renewal date will be from your original renewal date (not the current one). 

If it’s been longer than twelve (12) months, lapsed CIPs can regain their active status by sitting for and passing the current CIP exam. Standard exam fees will apply.  

You can submit your CEUs anytime during your three years of certification by filling out this form. We recommend that you do this regularly. We'll keep track of your total hours for you. 

Unfortunately, not at this time. We are working on providing this. We do track your total CEU's very carefully, and recommend you do the same.

Absolutely, you can! Once we have confirmed your 60 CEU's, you can go ahead and make your payment, and we will move your renewal date by 3 years from your current renewal date.

Continuing education units, or CEUs, are earned by participating in educational activities, provided it aligns to the CIP exam.  

Credits are awarded at the rate of 1.0 credit per contact hour of education, rounded to the nearest half-hour or 0.5 credits.  

Educational content comes from a variety of sources including, but not limited to: 

• The AIIM Conference 
• Other AIIM events such as seminars, webinars, and virtual events 
• AIIM affiliate meetings (not socials) 
• Other industry conferences or meetings, e.g., chapter meetings, regional conferences, webinars from ARMA, IAPP, etc. 
• Institutions of formal education including adult learning centers 
• Workforce learning centers 
• Consultants, vendors, and solution providers 

Consult this outline for a comprehensive overview of CIP CEUs. 

https://332414.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/332414/CIP/CIP%202023%20CEU%20Documentation.pdf  

If you're running an event and would like pre-approval for CIP continuing education credits, submit your details through our online pre-approval request form. We'll review your submission and respond with the pre-approved number of AIIM CIP CEUs.

Note: This form is not for CIP holders submitting personal CEUs for renewal. CIP submit CEUs by filling out this form.