CNA Programs & Classes in AZ

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To become a CNA in Arizona, you complete a training program approved by the Arizona State Board of Nursing, pass Headmaster’s knowledge and skills exams within two years of finishing training, and apply to the Board to be placed on its CNA Registry. Federal rules require at least 75 training hours, including 16 hours of supervised practical training; confirm Arizona’s hour requirement with the Arizona State Board of Nursing before you enroll. On the exam you need 75% or better on a 75-question knowledge test, and you get unlimited attempts within two years of finishing your program.

Arizona CNA requirements at a glance

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Free CNA training in Arizona

Federal rules protect nurse aides who train for jobs in nursing homes that take Medicare or Medicaid. If one of those facilities employs you, or has offered you a job, on the day your approved program starts, it can’t charge you for any part of it, including textbooks and required materials. If you pay for a program yourself and a facility hires you, or offers you a job, within 12 months of finishing, the state must reimburse your costs on a pro-rata basis for the time you work there as a nurse aide (42 CFR 483.152(c)). Ask nursing homes near you whether they sponsor students.

What to check before you pay for a CNA program in Arizona

  • It’s on the state’s approved list. Only an approved program makes you eligible for the competency exam.
  • Its hours meet the state minimum, including the supervised clinical hours, and it tells you where the clinical training happens.
  • The price is complete: tuition, textbooks, uniform, background check and the exam fee.
  • It explains how you register for the exam and when you can test after you finish.
  • It doesn’t promise 100% online certification. Supervised hands-on training is required, so a course with none can’t lead to certification.

Arizona law requires two things from your program: you must complete its basic curriculum and receive a valid certificate from it. If you don’t schedule a test within two years of finishing, you must complete another AZBN-approved program first.

The Arizona CNA exam

Headmaster provides CNA testing and certification services for Arizona, and its candidate handbook (version 29) took effect February 1, 2026. You must schedule a test within two years of your training program’s completion date.

The knowledge exam has 75 questions, and you have 60 minutes to finish it; you need a score of 75% or better to pass. An audio (oral) version costs $10 more ($45 total), and only the first 63 questions are read aloud unless you have an approved ADA accommodation. In the skills test, you get 3 or 4 randomly selected tasks, each with a scenario, and 35 minutes to complete them.

You have unlimited attempts at both parts within two years of finishing your program, but if you fail the knowledge exam a third time or later, you wait 45 days before you can schedule a retest. If you don’t pass both exams within two years of finishing your program, state law requires you to complete another approved training program before you test again.

The Arizona nurse aide registry and renewal

The Arizona State Board of Nursing keeps the CNA Registry. After you pass both the knowledge and skill exams, go to AZBN’s website, choose “Apply for an Arizona License or Certificate” and complete the online application to be placed on the registry as a CNA.

Ask AZBN how employers verify a certificate and when and how you renew. Under federal rules, if you go 24 months in a row without doing paid nursing or nursing-related work, you must complete a new training and competency evaluation program, or a new competency evaluation, before you work as a nurse aide again.

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Moving to Arizona with a CNA from another state

Arizona law lets the Board register as a CNA someone listed on another state’s nursing assistant registry, if you provide current proof of registration (or an equivalent document from that state) and file the CNA application. Ask the Arizona State Board of Nursing which form and fee apply and whether you need to take Arizona’s exam.

Colleges in Arizona that reported CNA completions

These 13 institutions reported 1,444 nursing assistant completions (CIP 51.3902) to the federal IPEDS survey for July 2024 to June 2025. Many approved CNA programs, such as those run by nursing homes, private training schools and the Red Cross, don’t report to IPEDS, so check the state’s approved-program list too.

Institution City Type Completions
Mesa Community College Mesa Public 345
GateWay Community College Phoenix Public 213
Glendale Community College Glendale Public 210
Pima Medical Institute-East Valley Mesa Private for-profit 141
Regional Center for Border Health Somerton Private nonprofit 104
Paradise Valley Community College Phoenix Public 102
Yavapai College Prescott Public 92
Cochise County Community College District Sierra Vista Public 79
Coconino Community College Flagstaff Public 76
Eastern Arizona College Thatcher Public 44
Scottsdale Community College Scottsdale Public 22
Arizona Western College Yuma Public 9
Brookline College-Phoenix Phoenix Private for-profit 7

Source: IPEDS 2024–25 Completions and Institutional Characteristics, National Center for Education Statistics (provisional release); awards to first majors at all award levels.

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Sources

Last reviewed November 2026.