- CAEd stands for Certified Alzheimer Educator, issued by the National Certification Board for Alzheimer Care (NCBAC).
- The exam is 100 multiple-choice questions in 150 minutes, taken on a remotely monitored browser platform.
- Passing requires a scaled score of 664 on a 300-900 scale - not a raw percentage.
- Behavior (18-22%) and Communication (15-20%) are the two heaviest-weighted of the nine exam domains.
What CAEd Actually Stands For
CAEd stands for Certified Alzheimer Educator. It's a specialty credential built for people who teach, train, or supervise dementia-care staff and family caregivers rather than for direct bedside caregiving alone. If you've landed here searching "what is CAEd," the short answer is: it's a certification that verifies you can both understand Alzheimer's and related dementias at a clinical level, and translate that knowledge into effective instruction for other caregivers.
This distinction matters because the acronym "CAEd" gets used loosely online, and mixing it up with an unrelated credential leads to wrong exam fees, wrong content outlines, and wasted study time. Everything in this article - and across this site's CAEd Study Guide and CAEd Exam Domains Guide - refers specifically to the Certified Alzheimer Educator credential.
Who Certifies CAEd Holders
The Certified Alzheimer Educator credential is administered by the National Certification Board for Alzheimer Care (NCBAC). NCBAC publishes the eligibility rules, the exam handbook, and the current testing instructions that govern how candidates register, sit for the exam, and maintain the credential over time.
One important nuance: NCBAC's exam handbook (dated September 30, 2019) still lays out the nine-domain content outline candidates are tested on, but the organization's current web-based registration and testing instructions have since superseded some of the handbook's older logistics - most notably references to a fixed 30-hour training requirement and physical testing centers. If you're comparing sources, treat the live NCBAC site as authoritative for logistics, and the handbook as authoritative for the content blueprint and passing score. For a deeper breakdown of exactly which handbook details still apply, see CAEd Requirements 2026.
Exam Format and Registration Mechanics
The CAEd exam consists of 100 multiple-choice questions to be completed in 150 minutes. There's no essay component, no practical skills demonstration, and no oral defense - it's a pure knowledge-and-application multiple-choice format, which means your prep should center on recognizing correct terminology and applying concepts to short scenario-style questions.
How the Test Is Delivered
Testing now happens on NCBAC's remotely monitored browser platform. There's no need to book an appointment at a physical testing center weeks in advance - you test from your own space once you're ready. That said, the setup requirements are strict:
- A camera-enabled PC, laptop, or Chromebook - tablets and phones are explicitly excluded
- Reliable internet connection for the duration of the exam
- A valid photo ID for identity verification
- A quiet space, since browser activity and your camera feed are actively monitored throughout
The handbook is explicit that books, notes, and calculators are prohibited during the exam - this is a closed-book assessment. After you finish, results typically follow within 2 business days while NCBAC reviews the recorded session.
What It Costs
The exam fee is US$365. There's also an optional educator course priced at US$530, which brings the combined package to US$895 if you choose to bundle exam and coursework together. Course access runs for 90 days or until you sit the exam, whichever comes first. For a full line-item breakdown of fees, renewal costs, and what's actually optional, see CAEd Certification Cost 2026.
Key Takeaway
Because there's no fixed testing-center calendar, scheduling flexibility is one of CAEd's biggest practical advantages - but you still need the right hardware (camera-enabled computer, not a tablet or phone) lined up before you register.
The Passing Score
Passing requires a scaled score of 664 on a 300-900 scale. This is not a percentage of questions answered correctly - it's a scaled score, meaning the raw number of correct answers needed can vary slightly depending on question difficulty calibration. Candidates sometimes misread this number as a percentage requirement, which leads to a false sense of how many questions they can afford to miss. For a full explanation of how the scaled score works and what it implies for how many questions you can miss, read CAEd Passing Score 2026.
The Nine CAEd Exam Domains
The CAEd exam handbook lays out nine content domains, each with its own published weight range. Two domains dominate the exam and deserve a disproportionate share of your study time.
Domain 4: Behavior (18-22%)
The single largest domain on the exam. Covers understanding and responding to behavioral expressions common in dementia - agitation, wandering, resistance to care, and repetitive behaviors - and how to coach other caregivers through non-pharmacological response strategies.
- Expect scenario questions asking you to identify the most appropriate first response to a described behavior
Domain 2: Communication (15-20%)
The second-largest domain. Focuses on adapting communication techniques as cognitive decline progresses, and on teaching family members and staff how to communicate effectively with someone living with dementia.
- Questions often test recognition of stage-appropriate communication strategies
Domain 9: Adult Learning Theory & Techniques (12-17%)
This is the domain that distinguishes CAEd from a purely clinical caregiving credential - it tests your ability to design and deliver training for adult learners, not just your dementia-care knowledge itself.
- Expect questions on how adults retain and apply new information in workplace training settings
Domain 1: Knowledge of Disease (12-16%)
Foundational content covering the progression, types, and clinical features of Alzheimer's and related dementias.
The remaining five domains - Patient Rights (5-8%), Activities (10-14%), Health (5-10%), Caregiver Needs (2-5%), and Safety (4-6%) - carry smaller individual weights but still contribute a meaningful share of total questions when combined. A full walkthrough of every domain, with sample question styles for each, is available in the CAEd Exam Domains Guide.
| Domain | Weight |
|---|---|
| Behavior | 18-22% |
| Communication | 15-20% |
| Adult Learning Theory & Techniques | 12-17% |
| Knowledge of Disease | 12-16% |
| Activities | 10-14% |
| Health | 5-10% |
| Patient Rights | 5-8% |
| Safety | 4-6% |
| Caregiver Needs | 2-5% |
Who Can Sit for the CAEd
Eligibility is tiered by education and experience, and every path requires being at least 21 years old. The general routes are:
- High-school diploma + CAC + 4 years of qualifying experience
- 2 years of college, or an LPN license, + 3 years of qualifying experience
- Bachelor's degree, or RN license, + 2 years of qualifying experience
- Graduate degree + 1 year of qualifying experience
- A stated 5-year experience/teaching exception pathway for candidates outside the standard tiers
The handbook specifies that qualifying experience must be direct-care or supervisory work performed at least 25 hours weekly - part-time or occasional caregiving hours don't count toward this requirement. On top of the experience tiers, current live instructions require 35 dementia-specific training hours completed within the preceding 2 years before you sit for the exam. This 35-hour figure reflects the current requirement; note that it supersedes an older 30-hour figure referenced in the 2019 handbook. For a full breakdown of which tier applies to your background, see CAEd Requirements 2026, and for where to log qualifying hours, see CAEd Training.
Who Hires CAEd-Certified Educators
Because the credential is built around teaching, not just direct care, CAEd holders tend to work in roles where their job is training other staff or families rather than providing hands-on care themselves. Typical settings include memory care communities, assisted living and long-term care organizations that run internal dementia-training programs, home care agencies building caregiver onboarding curricula, and hospice or community education programs that offer family caregiver workshops. If you're evaluating whether the credential fits your career goals, CAEd Jobs looks at the kinds of roles that specifically value this credential, and Is the CAEd Certification Worth It? weighs the cost against the career benefit.
A Domain-Weighted Approach to Preparing
Given that Behavior and Communication together can represent well over a third of the exam, and Adult Learning Theory & Techniques adds another significant slice, your study plan should allocate time roughly in proportion to those weights rather than spreading evenly across all nine domains.
Behavior & Communication
- Work through behavior-response scenarios and stage-based communication techniques - these two domains alone can account for over a third of all questions
Adult Learning Theory & Disease Knowledge
- Study how adults acquire and retain training content, alongside core disease progression facts
Activities, Health, Safety
- Cover mid-weight domains with targeted review rather than deep-dive study
Patient Rights, Caregiver Needs & Full Review
- Finish the smallest-weight domains, then run full-length timed practice under the 150-minute constraint
Because this is a closed-book, camera-monitored exam with no notes or calculator allowed, practicing under realistic time pressure matters more than it might for an open-resource assessment. For question-style practice mapped to this exact weighting, use the CAEd practice tests here on this site, and pair that with the structured plan in the CAEd Study Guide 2026.
Keeping the Credential Active
CAEd certification isn't permanent-and-done. Maintaining it requires annual renewal, which costs US$65 and requires completing 12 continuing-education hours each year. Budgeting for this ongoing cost matters when weighing the credential's total value - it's a recurring line item on top of the initial exam fee. Details on renewal timing and CE requirements are covered in the official renewal reference, and cost planning across the full certification lifecycle is broken down in CAEd Certification Cost 2026.
Key Takeaway
Factor the US$65 annual renewal fee and 12 CE hours into your long-term cost planning - CAEd is a maintained credential, not a one-time exam.
For the exact dates, scheduling windows, and how the remote testing model changes traditional "exam date" planning, see CAEd Exam Dates 2026. And if you want a condensed, single-page reference of every fact covered in this article for last-minute review, bookmark the CAEd Cheat Sheet 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
CAEd stands for Certified Alzheimer Educator, a credential administered by the National Certification Board for Alzheimer Care (NCBAC) for professionals who train dementia-care staff and caregivers.
The exam has 100 multiple-choice questions to complete within 150 minutes, delivered through NCBAC's remotely monitored browser platform.
You need a scaled score of 664 on a 300-900 scale, per the NCBAC handbook. This is a scaled score, not a raw percentage of correct answers.
The exam fee is US$365. An optional educator course adds US$530, for a combined total of US$895 if bundled, with course access lasting 90 days or until the exam is taken.
No. Current testing uses a remotely monitored browser platform with no advance appointment required, though you need a camera-enabled PC, laptop, or Chromebook - tablets and phones are not permitted.