Completing the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU®) program is one of the best ways to advance your insurance career, but the program can be expensive and challenging. In this post, we’ll go over everything you need to know about the CPCU program.

What’s in this post

• About the designation
  • What is the CPCU program?
  • Is getting a CPCU worth it?
  • What are the requirements for CPCU?
  • How much does a CPCU cost?
• About the exams
  • What is the exam format?
  • How do you register for an exam?
  • How much does the CPCU exam cost?
  • What is the CPCU exam pass rate?
  • Tips for passing your exams
• Study materials
  • What study materials should you use?
  • How to save money on study materials
  • Learn more about our study materials
• Other helpful resources
  • What order to take your courses in
  • How to decide on your concentration
  • How to choose your CPCU elective
  • Top five rookie mistakes to avoid
  • CPCU-related benefits your employer might offer
  • CPCU Candidates Facebook group

Ace your AINS® & CPCU® exams with the help of our study materials!

What is the CPCU program?

The Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU®) is a professional designation offered by an organization called The Institutes. After completing the program, you will have a solid understanding of how the insurance industry works and can display the CPCU designation on your business cards, resume, etc.

Having this designation shows that you have done extra education, which can make you a stronger candidate for hire or promotion. Also, this might give customers, colleagues, and business partners more confidence in working with you because they know you have this foundational knowledge.

Is getting a CPCU worth it?

Getting the designation is not cheap, and you will need to invest a lot of study time to complete the program. As such, it is important to think about whether the benefits of the designation will outweigh the costs.

We have an entire article dedicated to helping you decide if pursuing the designation would be worth it for you. The article covers:

• What benefits are associated with the designation
• How likely you are to actually realize those benefits
• Who SHOULD pursue the designation
• Who SHOULD NOT pursue the designation

To read the full article, click here.

What are the requirements for CPCU?

Traditional path

The traditional path, which most students take, requires you to pass individual exams for each of the following courses:

• Five foundational courses (CPCU 500, CPCU 520, CPCU 530, CPCU 540, CPCU 550)

• Two concentration courses, with either a commercial lines concentration (CPCU 551, CPCU 552) or a personal lines concentration (CPCU 555, CPCU 556)

• One elective course (see The Institutes’ website for a full list of eligible electives, which changes periodically)

• One ethics course (ETHICS 311)

ARM to CPCU path path

There is also an alternative path called the ARM to CPCU program that allows you to bypass some of the core CPCU courses from the traditional path. Once you are done with this path, you will have two designations:

• Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) designation
• Associate in Risk Management (ARM) designation

This path requires you to pass individual exams for each of the following courses:

• Three ARM courses (ARM 400, ARM 401, ARM 402)

• Two foundational CPCU courses (CPCU 530, CPCU 540)

• Two concentration courses, with either a commercial lines concentration (CPCU 551, CPCU 552) or a personal lines concentration (CPCU 555, CPCU 556)

• One elective course (see The Institutes’ website for a full list of eligible electives, which changes periodically)

• One ethics course (ETHICS 311)

Matriculation

Regardless of which path you choose, in addition to passing the required exams, you must also complete an online matriculation program. This is basically an additional course that explains the CPCU Canons, which are the professional values and code of conduct that apply to the CPCU designation.

As part of the matriculation program, you will need to:

• Pass a short quiz on the CPCU Canons

• Pay a matriculation fee

• Attest that you have at least two years of work experience in risk management or insurance

If you do not have two years of work experience yet, you can still complete the other exams and simply hold off on completing the matriculation program until you have met the two year requirement.

Course Waivers

If you have an advanced degree (ex: MBA or law degree) or have already earned certain professional designations (ex: CPA, CFA), you may qualify for certain course waivers. To take advantage of these waivers, you must submit a waiver request form and pay a small fee.

To see a full list of courses that can be waived and learn more about the waiver requirements, please see The Institutes' course waiver form.

How much does the CPCU program cost?

There are three types of expenses that you will incur while pursuing your designation:

• Exam fees
• Study materials
• Matriculation fee

As of this writing, The Institutes charges a $90 matriculation fee to all students that can be paid at any time. The purpose of this fee is to cover the administrative costs of maintaining your student records. It is usually best to wait until you’ve passed all of your exams, just in case you decide later down the line that the program isn’t right for you.

What is the CPCU exam format?

• All CPCU exams are administered online by The Institutes
• Time limit: 65 minutes
• Number of questions: 50 questions
• Question types: Multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, drag-and-drop
• Passing score: 70% of higher

Before you can take an exam, you must first register for it (see next question). Once you have registered for your exam, you can access it by logging in to your account on The Institutes’ website and then clicking on the appropriate button in the “My Courses & Exams” section. You will be prompted to digitally sign an attestation that you will abide by all ethical guidelines, then the exam will begin. Upon submitting your answers, you will see a screen indicating whether you passed or failed, but the score is subject to review by a proctor. The exam may be recorded and reviewed after-the-fact by a virtual proctoring software and/or team, who can overturn your score if they find any activity of concern.

How do you register for a CPCU exam?

Before you take each exam, you must register for it first and pay the exam fee. This can be done online at The Institutes’ website or by phone though their customer service line.

Exams must be taken sometime during the four available testing windows:

• Quarter 1: January 15 to March 15
• Quarter 2: April 15 to June 15
• Quarter 3: July 15 to September 15
• Quarter 4: October 15 to December 15

When you register for an exam, you must indicate which window you plan to take your exam in. For any given test window, you can register at any time before or during that window, but The Institutes will typically offer students a significant discount for registering before the first day of the testing window.

If you want to reschedule your test to a different test window, you can do so for an extra fee ($95, as of this writing). It is best to plan carefully so you can avoid incurring this extra charge.

CLICK HERE TO GET STARTED

How much does the CPCU exam cost?

As of this writing, the exam fee for each CPCU course is $380, but you can get an $80 early bird discount by registering for your exam before the first day of the testing window (ex: if you plan to take your exam during Quarter 1 and register before January 15, you will receive the discount).

The cost of the exam for your elective will vary depending on which elective you choose, but the exam fees for elective courses tend to be slightly cheaper than the exam fee for a CPCU course. The fees for elective exams tend to range from $210 to $285 for most of those courses.

What is the CPCU exam pass rate?

The Institutes no longer publishes pass rates for each specific course, but according to their frequently asked questions, the average pass rate between all exams is 72.5%. Keep in mind that this includes non-CPCU exams, which tend to be easier than the CPCU exams, so the pass rate for the CPCU-specific courses is likely to be slightly lower than that. In order to pass your exam, you need a score of at least 70% or higher.

If you do not pass your exam, you can retake it subject to the following limitations:

• You must pay the exam fee again (if you schedule your retake for the same test window or a future one that hasn’t opened yet, you may qualify for the early bird discount again)
• You may only reattempt the same exam up to four times per year
• If you wish to reattempt the exam in the same test window, you are only allowed one extra retake per window

Tips for passing your CPCU exams

The best way to prepare for your exam is to thoroughly study the material, but we do have a few additional strategies that can give you an extra edge. Check out our “Ultimate Guide to CPCU _” blog series to see a list of strategies for each specific course. 

What CPCU study materials should you use?

You are NOT required to use The Institutes’ study materials to prepare for your exam.

In fact, many students prefer using our study materials instead because they are much cheaper, provide more learning tools, and are easier to understand.

CLICK HERE TO GET STARTED

How to save money on CPCU study materials

Between the exam fees and paying for study materials, pursuing your designation is not a cheap endeavor. Fortunately, there are many ways to save money and make the journey more affordable. Click here to see a list of our top tips for saving money on your study materials.

Other helpful resources

• Is getting the designation worth it?
• What order to take your classes in
• How to decide on your concentration
• How to choose your CPCU elective
• Top five rookie mistakes to avoid
• CPCU-related benefits your employer might offer
• CPCU Candidates Facebook group

CLICK HERE TO GET STARTED

Earning your CPCU® designation can help you advance your insurance career, but you must first complete a number of courses that can be quite challenging. In this post, we’ll go over everything you need to know about the CPCU 500 course and give you tips on how to pass this exam.

What’s in this post

• About CPCU 500
  • What is the CPCU program?
  • What is CPCU 500?
  • How difficult is CPCU 500?
  • About the CPCU 500 exam
  • Topics covered in CPCU 500
  • Topics you are most likely to see on the CPCU 500 exam
• Tips for passing CPCU 500 exam
• Learn about our CPCU 500 online study program
• Buy our CPCU 500 online study program

Get Your CPCU 500 Study Materials NOW!

Looking for our printables-only package? Click here.

What is the CPCU program?

The Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU®) is a professional designation offered by an organization called The Institutes. After completing the program, you will have a solid understanding of how the insurance industry works and can display the CPCU designation on your business cards, resume, etc.

Having this designation shows that you have done extra education, which can make you a stronger candidate for hire or promotion. Also, this might give customers, colleagues, and business partners more confidence in working with you because they know you have this foundational knowledge.

 What is CPCU 500?

CPCU 500 is one of the five core courses that you are required to complete if you are following the traditional path to earn your CPCU designation.

This particular course is about the various types of risk and how they can be managed. The knowledge you gain from this course will help you understand different types of risks that an insurer or their insured’s might face, what kinds of strategies they can use to prevent losses or reduce the severity of those losses, and the role that insurance plays in helping insureds manage and minimize their risks.

How difficult is CPCU 500?

Compared to the other CPCU courses, many consider CPCU 500 to be the “easiest,” although you shouldn’t take that to mean that it won’t require you to diligently study. All of the CPCU courses are very challenging, so you still need to carefully prepare for your CPCU 500 exam.

If you are using The Institutes’ online course for CPCU 500, you may find that some sections can be tough to read through. Many students find more success using a different set of study materials, such our online course for CPCU 500, that teaches the concepts using plain language that is easier to understand.

About the CPCU 500 exam

In order to demonstrate that you have understood the material from this course, you will need to pass an online exam administered by The Institutes.

You must go through The Institutes' website to purchase and formally register for your exam. When registering, you must indicate which test window you plan to take the exam during. The four test windows that are available every year are:

• January 15 to March 15
• April 15 to June 15
• July 15 to September 15
• October 15 to December 15

You may pay for your exam fee at any time, and those who register before the test window opens will usually receive a discount. However, you can only launch the exam and complete it during the test window you chose at the time of purchase. If you need to reschedule your exam, a new fee will apply.

The exam consists of 50 questions that cover all the chapters from the course, with a time limit of 65 minutes. The exam is done online, and you must get a score of 70% or better to pass. You may retake the exam (and pay a new fee) if you do not pass, but please check The Institutes' policies regarding how often and how soon you can retake the exam, as that may change from time to time.

Topics covered in CPCU 500

• Challenges that insurers have faced
• Risk management process
• Ways to classify risks
• Enterprise risk management
• Overview of various types of personal & commercial insurance
• Critical thinking process
• Collaborating & communicating with others
• Strategic management

Topics you are most likely to see on the CPCU 500 exam

The following list is based on student feedback regard what topics they felt were most heavily-featured on their exam.

Please remember that this is not a comprehensive list of all the topics that will be tested, and each person’s exam may different. Any of the material covered in the course may potentially appear on your exam, so you should prepare accordingly.

• Strategic management
• Distinguishing between different types of risks
• Steps in the risk management process
• Ways to value physical property
• What coverages apply to sample situation

Get Your CPCU 500 Study Materials NOW!

Looking for our printables-only package? Click here.

Tips for passing CPCU 500

1) Don’t underestimate this course just because it is the “easiest” one

Even though most students will say this is the “easiest” course, you still need to study diligently because the course is still challenging in many ways. There is a lot of material to cover, and there are quite a few statistical and mathematical concepts in CPCU 500.

2) Memorize the CPCU 500 formulas the easy way

While there is debate about whether or not it is necessary to memorize the formulas, many students find that it gives them a boost of confidence that is very comforting. Memorizing the formulas from CPCU 500 can seem very daunting, but it’s totally doable if you have a system. Every day, focus on memorizing just one new formula, then practice writing down all the prior formulas you learned plus the new formula from that day. When it comes to test time, take a moment at the start of the exam to write down all the formulas you memorized onto your scratch paper, which should be easy to do because you have been practicing. By doing this, you will have a handy cheat sheet AND can free your mind to concentrate on the test.

Keep in mind that simply memorizing the formulas is not enough. You need to understand what the formula is intended to measure and how to interpret the results, so you should practice doing the calculations and be able to explain what the results are revealing.

3) Learn how to identify the main categories of risk

In CPCU 500, you will learn that there are many different types of risks, and there are lots of ways to categorize or label them. You are almost certain to get exam questions that give you an example of a risk and then ask you what category it falls under. Be sure to study the various types/categories of risk and what their main characteristics are so that you can identify which labels would be most fit for describing a particular risk, because you are bound to encounter this type of question on your exam.

4) Spend time to master the calculation-based questions

Students are often intimidated by exam questions that require them to apply a formula or otherwise calculate a number, but we believe that it is actually ideal to encounter these types of questions on the exam because you will know pretty much right away that you got it correct if the result you got is one of the answer choices. Knowing that you scored those points can help you move through the rest of the exam with a boost of confidence.

5) Don’t waste too much time on long questions or questions that you are stuck on

Every test question is worth only one point, no matter how simple or complex it is. If you find that you are spending a lot of time on one particular problem, you are better off guessing for now and using the option to flag the question so you can return to it later. You don’t want to spend so much time that you run out of time before you can get to all the other questions that might have been easier for you to score points on.

6) Put an answer for every question

You do not get minus points for getting a question wrong, so don’t leave any questions blank.

Get Your CPCU 500 Study Materials NOW!

Looking for our printables-only package? Click here.

7) Get as much practice as possible

The best way to ensure that you know how to apply the concepts you learning is to practice doing so, and practice quizzes are the perfect way to do this. 

Our online study program for CPCU 500 includes tons of practice questions, as well as a simulated exam that you can reattempt as many times as you want.

The Institutes’ online course also includes practice quizzes and a simulated exam, but you are only allowed one attempt at the simulated exam and you cannot review your answers once you close that browser tab. The Institutes used to have a Smart QuizMe app that also provided practice questions, but they have since removed the question banks for all the current CPCU & AINS courses from the app. At this time, we do not think that The Institutes will be updating their app to include new CPCU & AINS question banks, since The Institutes has not announced any specific plans to do so.

8) Aim to understand the practice questions and not just memorize them

The questions on the actual exam are not made up of the practice questions, so you cannot just rely on memorizing those answers for any practice quizzes and simulated exams you take. Read each explanation and re-review the material until you understand why you got a question wrong.

9) Don’t rely solely on The Institutes’ study materials

The Institutes’ way of explaining things is not necessarily the best way, so take advantage of other resources available to you. Some students don’t use The Institutes’ study materials at all and prefer to go with another study option, such as our comprehensive online study programs. We use plain English to explain all of the concepts, include helpful illustrations that help you see how a concept works, and show you how different elements of something relate to one another.

You can also turn to Google and YouTube to look for explanations and examples from other sources too.

10) Join the CPCU Candidates Facebook group

One of the best things you can do during your CPCU journey is to join the CPCU Candidates Facebook group, which is a wonderful community of current and former CPCU students. Here, you can get help with test questions that might be stumping you, ask for advice on propelling your insurance career, and find a healthy dose of moral support and motivation.

CPCU 500 Study Materials

• For buyer's personal use only (non-transferrable and not for resale)

• Based on CPCU 500: Becoming a Leader in Risk Management and Insurance (1st edition)