The Comprehensive Exam is the in-person, one-day, open-book final step of the CCIM Designation. Before registering, confirm you have finished the CI 101–104 courses, negotiations and ethics training, elective credits and an approved Portfolio of Qualifying Experience. Then prepare across all four course areas, since the exam validates concepts drawn from all of them.
What the Comprehensive Exam is and when you can take it
The Comprehensive Exam is the last step to earning the CCIM Designation, validating your knowledge of the CI 101–104 concepts after every education, portfolio and elective requirement is complete.
Once you have finished all educational, portfolio and elective credit requirements, you are eligible to register. The exam runs at scheduled national sessions; the next published sitting is October 6, 2026 in Los Angeles.
Registration for that session closes on September 18, 2026, so if you are targeting the October date, confirm your place on the Institute's registration page right away. If you miss it, later sessions are scheduled nationally and the Institute lists them on the same page.
Official sources: The Comprehensive Exam | The CCIM Institute — ccim.com/education/pursue-ccim-designation/comprehensive-exam
Requirements you must finish before you can sit
You need the four CI courses in sequence, negotiations training, the online ethics course, elective credit, at least one course in an instructor-led format, and an approved Portfolio of Qualifying Experience.
CI 101 is the prerequisite for CI 103 and CI 104, so plan your course order accordingly. Before you can take CI 103 or CI 104, you must also complete eight hours of negotiations training, available as the online Preparing to Negotiate course or the one-day classroom course on commercial real estate negotiations.
Two further requirements are easy to overlook. First, since January 1, 2019 the designation cannot be earned solely through self-paced courses: you must take at least one of CI 102, CI 103 or CI 104 as an instructor-led course, in classroom, virtual or online instructor-led format. Second, an approved Portfolio of Qualifying Experience is required before you sit the exam, unless you are a Fast Track member.
The online ethics course covers the CCIM Code and Standards of Practice and also fulfills the NAR Code of Ethics requirement. Elective credit can be earned through courses from the Robert L. Ward Center for Commercial Real Estate Studies or, as covered below, through the Core Concepts Review.
- CI 101, CI 102, CI 103 and CI 104, in the required sequence
- Eight hours of negotiations training before CI 103 and CI 104
- The online ethics course
- Elective credit
- At least one of CI 102, CI 103 or CI 104 taken in an instructor-led format
- An approved Portfolio of Qualifying Experience, unless you are a Fast Track member
Official sources: Designation Curriculum | The CCIM Institute — ccim.com/education/pursue-ccim-designation/designation-curriculum; The Comprehensive Exam | The CCIM Institute — ccim.com/education/pursue-ccim-designation/comprehensive-exam
What the curriculum covers, course by course
The exam validates the concepts from CI 101 through CI 104 plus the negotiations and ethics training, so your topic map should mirror the official course descriptions.
Use the table below as your coverage checklist. Each row is the Institute's own description of what the course trains, which is the safest basis for deciding where your preparation time goes.
| Requirement | What it trains |
|---|---|
| CI 101: Financial Analysis | A foundation of practical financial analysis skills; prerequisite for CI 103 and CI 104 |
| CI 102: Market Analysis | Investment factors across four major property types: office, industrial, multifamily and retail |
| Negotiations training | Eight hours on the Institute's interest-based negotiations model, required before CI 103 and CI 104 |
| CI 103: User Decision Analysis | Market and financial analysis for user space decisions, and cost-of-occupancy models for ownership and leasing |
| CI 104: Investment Analysis | Optimizing investment returns and forecasting performance by quantifying real estate risk |
| Online ethics course | The CCIM Code and Standards of Practice; also satisfies the NAR Code of Ethics requirement |
| Elective credit | Courses from the Robert L. Ward Center, or the Core Concepts Review |
Official sources: Designation Curriculum | The CCIM Institute — ccim.com/education/pursue-ccim-designation/designation-curriculum
Exam-day format and rules
The exam is taken in person at the scheduled location, lasts one day from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the local time zone, and is open book with CCIM materials but no internet.
Check-in typically opens at 7 a.m. and instructions are given at 7:45 a.m. You will receive an agenda by email with the exact time and location details.
You may use digital or printed CCIM textbooks and materials during the exam, which makes organizing those materials part of your preparation. Internet use is prohibited, so anything you expect to consult must be on your device or on paper in advance.
Results arrive quickly: your grade is posted in the Grades tab of your ccim.com account portal by 4 p.m. on exam day, and passing candidates can attend the Pinning Ceremony that evening.
Official sources: The Comprehensive Exam | The CCIM Institute — ccim.com/education/pursue-ccim-designation/comprehensive-exam
Passing score and the retake policy
A grade of 70% or better is a pass. If you fall short, you can retake the exam the following day at no cost, or at a later national session for $75, with up to four retake attempts.
Candidates who do not pass are offered a free retake the next day, along with a meeting with instructors to go over strategies for a better outcome; details come in the final reminder email.
Alternatively, you can retake the exam at a reduced cost of $75 at another nationally scheduled session. Candidates have up to four retake attempts, and repeating the Core Concepts Review course costs $380 if you choose to redo it.
Official sources: The Comprehensive Exam | The CCIM Institute — ccim.com/education/pursue-ccim-designation/comprehensive-exam
The Core Concepts Review: optional but popular
The Core Concepts Review (CCR) is an optional in-person or virtual review before the exam, costing $810, and it fulfills a full elective credit.
The review is particularly useful if you spread the CI courses over several years, because it re-integrates material you may last seen individually. The in-person version runs two full days; the virtual version runs across several sessions.
For the October 2026 sitting, the virtual CCR runs September 28 to October 1 and the in-person version ran October 4 to 5. At the time this guide was checked, the in-person session was full while virtual places remained, so register early for whichever format you prefer.
You are not required to take the review, but the Institute notes that most test-takers do, both for the content refresher and for the elective credit it carries.
Official sources: The Comprehensive Exam | The CCIM Institute — ccim.com/education/pursue-ccim-designation/comprehensive-exam
Fees and the October 2026 session at a glance
The exam costs $410, the Core Concepts Review costs $810, and retakes are $75 for the exam and $380 for the review course.
The figures below are those published for the October 6, 2026 session in Los Angeles at the InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown. Always confirm current amounts on the Institute's pages before you budget, since fees can change between sessions.
| Item | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Comprehensive Exam | $410 | October 6, 2026 session, Los Angeles |
| Core Concepts Review | $810 | Optional; virtual or in person; fulfills a full elective credit |
| Exam retake at a later session | $75 | Reduced rate; up to four retake attempts |
| Core Concepts Review retake | $380 | If you repeat the review course |
Official sources: The Comprehensive Exam | The CCIM Institute — ccim.com/education/pursue-ccim-designation/comprehensive-exam
A worked cost-of-occupancy comparison
CI 103 trains cost-of-occupancy models for ownership and leasing. The exercise below is an original, simplified arithmetic comparison built on that topic; it is not the official course method, and the retrieved course description does not specify how the models treat time value.
The core discipline in this topic is comparing both options over the same period and counting every occupancy-related cash flow on both sides, including money a sale returns at the end. Try the exercise before reading the answer.
Worked example
A firm needs the same space for ten years. Option A: lease at $300,000 per year, paid at the end of each year, with no other costs. Option B: buy the equivalent building — $1,000,000 paid today plus $200,000 per year at each year-end, and the firm expects to sell the property at the end of year ten for $1,000,000 net of selling costs. Using simple undiscounted totals over the same ten years, which option costs less, and by how much?
Show answer
Leasing totals $3,000,000 (10 × $300,000). Owning totals $2,000,000 ($1,000,000 now, plus 10 × $200,000 in annual costs, minus the $1,000,000 recovered at sale). Owning is $1,000,000 cheaper on these undiscounted totals.
All premises are stated in the prompt: the horizon is identical, both sides carry their full occupancy costs, and the sale proceeds are credited to owning because the building keeps value a lease never returns. Notice what the simple total hides: the $1,000,000 is paid today while lease payments are spread over ten years, and money paid later is generally cheaper than money paid now. The official CI 103 course description states only that the course trains cost-of-occupancy models for ownership and leasing, so treat this calculation as practice in building a matched comparison and consult your course materials for the full method.
Official sources: Designation Curriculum | The CCIM Institute — ccim.com/education/pursue-ccim-designation/designation-curriculum
A preparation sequence you can adapt
A workable sequence moves from single-course review to integrated practice, finishing with mixed problems under exam-like conditions.
This sequence is study advice, not an Institute requirement, so adapt it to your gaps. Work through the four CI course areas in curriculum order first, then combine them as preparation across every area the Institute says the exam validates.
If your courses are years behind you, the Core Concepts Review exists precisely for that situation. If your knowledge is recent, self-directed review of your course materials plus mixed practice may be enough.
- Review each CI course's core concepts in order: financial analysis, market analysis, user decision analysis, investment analysis
- Re-read your course materials with tabs or bookmarks, since the exam is open book on CCIM materials with no internet
- Practice mixed problems that cut across courses, not single-topic drills alone
- Attend the Core Concepts Review if your coursework is spread out or you want the elective credit
- Run one timed, closed-notes mock session to test recall before you may rely on materials
Official sources: Designation Curriculum | The CCIM Institute — ccim.com/education/pursue-ccim-designation/designation-curriculum; The Comprehensive Exam | The CCIM Institute — ccim.com/education/pursue-ccim-designation/comprehensive-exam
Final checklist before you register
Confirm eligibility, book early, and prepare your open-book materials; the Institute's account portal and contact channels handle everything administrative.
Work through this list in order, because each step gates the next. If anything is unclear, the Institute asks candidates to contact them directly rather than rely on secondary summaries.
- Confirm all educational, portfolio and elective credit requirements show as complete in your ccim.com account
- Check that your Portfolio of Qualifying Experience is approved, or that you qualify for Fast Track
- Verify you took at least one of CI 102, CI 103 or CI 104 in an instructor-led format
- Register before the session deadline and consider the Core Concepts Review dates
- Organize your printed or digital CCIM materials for open-book use
- Plan for a same-day result: grades post by 4 p.m. on exam day
Official sources: Designation Curriculum | The CCIM Institute — ccim.com/education/pursue-ccim-designation/designation-curriculum; The Comprehensive Exam | The CCIM Institute — ccim.com/education/pursue-ccim-designation/comprehensive-exam
Official sources
Facts checked: