KNAT Certification

What Is the KNAT Certification?

The Kaplan Nursing School Admission Test (KNAT) is an entrance exam used by nursing programs to screen applicants before they're accepted into a nursing cohort. Calling it a "certification" is a bit of a misnomer in the traditional sense - you don't walk away with a credential you list on a resume. Instead, a passing score on the KNAT is a gatekeeping requirement that determines whether you're admitted to a specific school's nursing program at all. For a broader introduction to the exam's purpose and origin, see What Is KNAT? and KNAT Meaning.

Because this guide is specifically about the Kaplan Nursing School Admission Test, every fact below reflects that exam's structure, fee ranges, and scoring practices - not any other test that happens to share the same acronym.

Who Develops and Administers It

Kaplan develops and delivers the KNAT, but the exam itself is administered directly by individual nursing programs - usually at the school's own assessment and testing center rather than through a commercial third-party test center network. This is an important distinction: you won't register through a national testing chain. Instead, you'll typically schedule your test date directly with the admissions or testing office of the nursing program you're applying to.

This decentralized administration model explains why so many KNAT policies - fees, retake limits, score validity windows - vary from school to school rather than following one fixed national standard. If you're comparing multiple programs, it's worth reviewing KNAT Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify before you commit to a testing date.

Exam Format and Section Breakdown

The KNAT consists of 91 online multiple-choice questions divided into four separately timed sections, for a total testing time of 165 minutes. Each section has its own clock, so you cannot borrow extra time from one section to finish another.

An on-screen calculator is built directly into the testing interface for the Math section, and proctor-supplied scratch paper and pencils are permitted. Candidates are generally not allowed to bring their own calculator, so don't plan on using a personal device or a calculator you've practiced with at home - it's worth getting comfortable with an on-screen tool ahead of time.

The Four Content Domains

The KNAT's four sections map to four weighted content domains. Understanding the weighting helps you decide where to spend limited study hours.

For a deeper section-by-section breakdown with sample question styles and study priorities, see KNAT Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 4 Content Areas.

Registration, Fees, and Retake Rules

Because each nursing program administers its own KNAT sitting, the exam fee is set by the individual school rather than by Kaplan. Documented fees include $25 at Clayton State University, $50 at the University of Southern Mississippi and Jackson College, and $70 at Delgado Community College. That means your actual cost depends entirely on which program you're applying to - always confirm the current fee directly with your target school's admissions or testing office rather than assuming a flat national price. A full pricing breakdown by scenario is available in KNAT Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown.

Attempt limits, waiting periods, and score validity are also set at the program level rather than centrally by Kaplan. Common published policies include:

• One or two attempts allowed per application period
• A minimum 30-day wait required between retest attempts
• Score validity windows ranging anywhere from six months to three years

There are no formal prerequisites for taking the KNAT beyond whatever application requirements the nursing program itself sets. Some programs restrict testing to applicants who are in their final semester of prerequisite coursework, so timing your test date around your own academic schedule matters. See KNAT Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling for scheduling considerations.

How Scoring and Cutoffs Work

Results are returned immediately after testing, giving you a percentage score for each of the four sections plus a cumulative overall score. There is no single universal "passing score" for the KNAT - each nursing program sets its own admission cutoff based on its own standards.

Published institutional benchmarks illustrate how much this can vary:

• Jackson College's AAS-N program requires a 62 percent cumulative score
• MSU Billings City College requires 65 percent

Because cutoffs differ by school, the "passing score" you actually need depends entirely on where you're applying. For a full explanation of how programs calculate and apply these cutoffs, read KNAT Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass. If you're trying to gauge overall difficulty relative to your own academic background, How Hard Is the KNAT Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026 and KNAT Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows break down what the section timing and question density mean for real test-takers.

Who Requires the KNAT

The KNAT is used exclusively by nursing programs as part of their admissions screening process - it isn't a workplace credential or licensing exam. Community colleges and universities that offer associate or bachelor's-level nursing tracks use it to evaluate whether applicants have the academic foundation to handle the coursework ahead, particularly the math-heavy and physiology-heavy portions of nursing curricula.

If you're wondering how a KNAT score connects to eventual employment prospects, note that the exam itself doesn't determine job placement - it determines admission into the training pipeline. What happens after you're admitted and licensed is a separate question covered in KNAT Jobs and KNAT Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis. For a broader look at whether investing time and money into KNAT prep pays off relative to your specific program goals, see Is the KNAT Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026.

Preparing Around the KNAT's Actual Structure

Because the KNAT's four sections are weighted unevenly and timed separately, an effective prep schedule should mirror that structure rather than treating all four sections as equal. Math carries the heaviest weight at 31% and the most questions (28), so it deserves proportionally more review time - especially unit conversions and multi-step word problems, which tend to eat the most minutes per question. Science, by contrast, has the tightest time pressure (20 questions in just 30 minutes) and requires memorization of specific physiological systems rather than general reasoning, so it benefits from concentrated flashcard-style review closer to your test date.

A more detailed week-by-week study plan, including how to prioritize based on your own diagnostic results, is available in KNAT Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt. For a condensed reference you can review the night before your test, check the KNAT Cheat Sheet 2026: One-Page Review of Must-Know Facts. And if you want structured practice questions modeled on the real section format, you can start with the practice tests on the main KNAT practice site.

Frequently Asked Questions