NCLEX Fee Increase 2027: $200 to $350 on February 1

The NCLEX fee goes up from $200 to $350 in the United States and Australia for every registration completed on or after February 1, 2027; in Canada it moves from $360 to $570 (CAD). What decides your price is the day you finish registering with Pearson VUE, not the day you sit the exam, and no other NCLEX fee is changing.

That makes the next few months a real budgeting decision for anyone graduating in late 2026 or early 2027. This guide gives you the official numbers, the one date that matters, the fees that stay the same, and a straight answer on whether registering early is worth it for you.

The new NCLEX fee: what changes on February 1, 2027

NCSBN's Delegate Assembly voted at its recent Annual Meeting to raise the registration fee, and NCSBN announced it on August 21, 2026. It is the first change to the NCLEX registration fee since 2000. NCSBN says the new fee reflects 25 years of inflation and the rising cost of running the exam, data protection and cybersecurity.

The increase applies to both exams, the NCLEX-RN and the NCLEX-PN, and to first attempts and retakes alike. Here is the full NCLEX fee schedule from nclex.com's Fees & Payment page, before and after the change:

The registration fee you pay depends on where you are seeking a license, not where you live. NCSBN's NCLEX FAQ gives the example of a candidate living in Canada who wants a U.S. license: they pay the U.S. fee.

The date that sets your fee

One sentence in NCSBN's announcement does most of the work: "The exam date does not affect the fee." If you complete your registration with Pearson VUE before February 1, 2027, you are charged the current fee, even if your exam is in March, May or later. Register on or after February 1 and you pay the new fee.

Three things do not set your fee: the date your board of nursing application is approved, the date your Authorization to Test (ATT) arrives, and the date you book a seat. Only the completed Pearson registration counts.

Planning a registration date? Check which side of the change it falls on:

NCLEX fees that are not changing

NCSBN is explicit: "No other NCLEX fees are changing." In practice that means:

• International scheduling fee: still $150 (USD for U.S. and Australian licensure, CAD for Canadian), on top of the registration fee, plus value added tax where it applies, and never refunded. Which centers count as international depends on where you seek a license (NCLEX testing locations). For U.S. and Australian licensure, it is any center outside the United States and the U.S. territories NCSBN lists, and that includes the centers in Australia. For Canadian licensure, it is any center outside Canada and the mainland United States. After February 1, a candidate seeking U.S. licensure who tests at an international center pays $350 + $150 = $500 before any VAT, up from $350 today.
• Change fees: $50 to switch the board of nursing you registered with, $50 to switch between RN and PN (U.S.), $50 CAD to switch language (Canada).
• Board of nursing fees: the licensure or registration fee you pay your board with your application is set by each board, not by NCSBN. Ask your board for its current amount.

One optional cost is worth knowing as well. The NCLEX Quick Results service lets candidates whose U.S. board takes part see unofficial results two business days after the exam for $7.95. Your board sends official results within six weeks.

Should you register for the NCLEX before February 1?

Locking in $200 saves you $150, but only if that registration actually turns into an exam. Two NCSBN rules decide whether it will.

First, Pearson holds a registration open for 365 days while it waits for your board to make you eligible. If your board has not made you eligible within that year, or denies eligibility, the registration and its fee are forfeited (NCLEX registration rules). Second, once you are eligible you must test within your ATT's validity dates, which average 90 days and cannot be extended for any reason.

Registering early makes sense if:

• you have finished, or will soon finish, your nursing program and expect your board to make you eligible well within 365 days;
• you are a repeat candidate who already knows you will retest in 2027 (repeat candidates can be offered a seat starting 45 days after their last attempt, per nclex.com's scheduling page);
• you are an internationally educated nurse whose board application is well under way.

It makes less sense if your graduation or board review is far enough off that the 365-day window is at risk, or if you are unsure which state or exam type you will apply for, since changing either later costs $50.

You also cannot hedge by holding two registrations. A second registration for the same exam type is processed, denied, and its fee kept. So register once, for the right board and exam.

If you decide to register now, the order is:

What the NCLEX will cost you in 2027

Use the calculator for the NCSBN fees that apply to you. It covers U.S. and Australian licensure, which share the same USD fees; Canadian fees are in CAD and are listed in the table above. Add your board's own application or licensure fee separately.

Why the NCLEX fee went up, in numbers

NCSBN points to 25 years of inflation. We checked that against the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price index (CPI-U, U.S. city average): the annual average was 172.2 in 2000 and 321.943 in 2025. At that rate, a $200 fee in 2000 equals about $374 in 2025 dollars. The new $350 fee is a 75% increase in dollar terms, while consumer prices rose about 87% over the same period.

That does not make $350 small for a new graduate, but it explains why the jump is so large at once: the fee stood still for a quarter century.

Candidates noticed right away. In DataForSEO's monthly U.S. data, searches for “nclex fee” ran between 590 and 880 a month from September 2025 to July 2026, then hit 1,900 in August 2026, the month of the announcement.

Don't pay the NCLEX fee twice

From February 1, every lost registration costs $350 to replace, and NCSBN refunds nothing. The fee policy and scheduling rules list the ways candidates lose their fee:

• Missing the appointment or cancelling inside the notice window. Change or cancel at least one full business day (24 hours) ahead; for a Saturday, Sunday or Monday exam, do it by Friday.
• Letting the ATT expire. Book early: waiting can leave no seats before the expiry date.
• ID problems. An ID that does not meet the rules means being turned away and paying again.
• A duplicate registration for the same exam type.
• Failing the exam. A retake is a new registration at the fee in force on the day you register, and repeat candidates wait at least 45 days for a seat.

The cheapest NCLEX is the one you pass the first time. Here is the kind of prioritization question the exam is built around:

And one to check the fee rule itself:

Frequently asked questions

Sources