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AACE CST Exam Overview

Overview of what AACE CST tests, how the exam is structured, and how candidates should approach preparation.

Use this page for a compact orientation to AACE CST (Certified Scheduling Technician) before you move into the syllabus, study plan, or practice routine.

What this credential signals

AACE CST is aimed at early-career or transitioning scheduling professionals building toward planning and scheduling competence. It sits in AACE’s Technician certification lane and should be studied through the language of cost engineering, total cost management, project controls, and defensible professional communication.

What stronger answers usually do

  • identify the controlling project-control problem before choosing a method
  • connect the method to scope, cost, schedule, risk, estimate, earned value, claim, or decision context
  • use AACE terminology consistently without reducing the answer to memorized labels
  • show evidence quality, assumptions, limitations, and recommendation logic
  • communicate the conclusion in a way a project manager, owner, executive, or dispute stakeholder could act on

Current exam snapshot

3 hours maximum; 100 simple multiple-choice questions; domains: Input & Data (19), Creating Schedule (48), Maintain Schedule (15), and Input & Deliverables (18); open book using AACE CST Primer and PSP Study Guide only; calculator permitted; 70% overall score to pass.

Use Resources for the official AACE links before you schedule, buy study material, or rely on policy details.

Revised on Monday, April 27, 2026