How to Earn 35 Contact Hours of PMP Exam Prep

The Project Management Institute (PMI) requires 35 hours of formal project management education, or “contact hours,” before you sit for the Project Management Professional (PMP) exam. Every hour you sit in a class, training program, seminar, or another similar learning activity gives you one contact hour.

This prerequisite can cause a lot of confusion and stress. You may be wondering how to guarantee the validity of your PMP 35 contact hours or the best way to get the 35 contact hours of formal project management education. Project Management Academy’s experts are here to help.

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What Qualifies as a Contact Hour?

Only instructional training specifically related to project management performance qualifies toward contact hours. This includes project management classroom training, online or virtual training, workshops, and seminars. While an MBA does not automatically meet the 35 contact hours requirement, you can document each relevant class and receive credit for those hours.

PMI randomly selects applicants for audits, so ensure you can provide documentation for each contact hour if needed. This is easy if you take an online training or in-person PMP exam prep class taught by PMI Authorized Training Partners (ATPs) such as PMA. ATPs are evaluated and approved by PMI, so you are guaranteed to fulfill your 35 contact hours with quality, approved instruction.

What Does Not Qualify as a Contact Hour?

Any training unrelated to project management does not qualify, even if it provides other essential skills and knowledge. For example, although courses on leadership skills can be useful, they will not count towards formal project management education hours.

Exam simulators and self-assigned study hours also do not count; while you should study The PMBOK Guide, this is not enough to qualify for the PMP exam. The good news: contact hours never expire! Even if your hours are from many years ago, they still count.

Why Are the PMP 35 Contact Hours Important?

You can use the 35 contact hours to refresh or update your expertise. While active project management experience is a great thing to have, it doesn’t mean you are trained on PMI-approved project management protocols or ready for the PMP exam. Getting 35 contact hours of formal project management education is a chance for you to make sure your knowledge is up to date.

These 35 contact hours are also an opportunity for exam preparation. For example, PMA’s online and in-person exam prep class is designed to provide the knowledge, tools, and resources to pass the PMP exam successfully. Besides fulfilling the PMI-required 35 contact hours as an ATP, our instructors teach complex topics tested on the PMP exam in an approachable way.

You can use your contact hours strategically as you study for the rigorous PMP exam. Fulfilling the contact hours requirement as you start your exam preparation provides a strong foundation for the rest of your studies. In contrast, if you time these contact hours to fall right before your exam, you can get a refresher on PMI-approved materials.

Classroom training. Access an in-depth, interactive learning experience and community. Some classroom training is more general, while others are designed for exam preparation.

Online training. Take your classes remotely for your convenience. Check that your online course tests your knowledge before awarding your contact hours certificate; this is a requirement for online classes.

Check with your local PMI chapter. If you are a PMI chapter member, you can attend courses, conferences, and chapter dinner meetings. Dinner meetings only count towards contact hours if at least one hour is spent in a learning activity such as a seminar.

Check local or online community colleges. Many community colleges offer project management courses that qualify for the contact hours requirement.

How to Earn 35 Contact Hours for PMP

There are plenty of ways to fulfill your requirement of 35 contact hours. The easiest and most strategic way is to take a PMP exam prep class, such as the options offered by PMA. This guarantees high-quality, PMI-approved content and training. Here are some other options to consider:

Ultimately, the most important thing is you receive quality instruction that aligns with the latest PMP exam content and structure and you have documentation if you need it.

Not sure where to get started fulfilling your 35 contact hours? The experts at PMA have designed in-person and online courses that provide all the benefits that come with project management education and more. These PMP exam prep classes fulfill the PMI-required 35 contact hours, are taught by PMI ATP instructors, are guaranteed to run on the dates listed, and provide a 100% money-back guarantee.

In addition to the PMP exam prep class, you will receive 6 months of access to our online PMP training portal with resources such as supplemental video lectures, application resources, practice PMP exams and questions, and more.

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