MCMP™ vs CCMP®: Which ACMP® Credential to Pursue First

Version française : MCMP™ ou CCMP® : quel titre ACMP® viser en premier

By Marc-André Rochefort, Eng., MBA, CCMP®, MCMP™, Prosci® certified, founder of Leanova Academy, an ACMP® Qualified Education Provider™.
Last reviewed: October 2026

Disclosure: Leanova Academy sells CCMP® and MCMP™ training, so we have a stake in this topic. ACMP® rules below link to official sources so you can check them yourself.

Key takeaways

• The CCMP® comes first, since only CCMP® holders in good standing can apply for the MCMP™.
• The CCMP® asks for 21 hours of training and a three-hour exam with 150 questions. You also need 4,200 hours of experience with a four-year degree, or 7,000 hours with a high school diploma.
• The MCMP™ asks for 8,400 hours of change management experience, completed within the ten years before you apply. You also need at least six hours spent mentoring another practitioner.
• You need 10 hours of MCMP™ training, and ACMP® points candidates to its Qualified Education Provider™ courses. It must be different training from what you submitted for the CCMP®.
• The MCMP™ is assessed on your application. The CCMP® costs US$595 for ACMP® members and US$795 for non-members, exam included, while the MCMP™ costs US$655 for members and US$855 for non-members.
• Leanova Academy's Mastery Bundle costs US$895. It includes 31 accredited hours that cover the education requirements for both credentials, plus 450 practice questions and a 5-hour AI change management certification.

You don't pick one. Before you can apply for the MCMP™, you must hold the CCMP® in good standing. The MCMP™ is built on top of it, with at least 8,400 hours of change management experience. Then come ten more hours of training, typically through a Qualified Education Provider™, or QEP™, and six hours spent mentoring another practitioner. So the useful question is this: once you have the first credential, is the second one worth the effort?

What does each credential recognize?

The CCMP®, or Certified Change Management Professional®, shows that you can apply the ACMP® Standard for Change Management. It takes 21 hours of training and a 150-question exam. You also need 4,200 hours of experience with a four-year degree, or 7,000 with a high school diploma.

The MCMP™, or Master Change Management Professional™, recognizes depth and a contribution to the profession. The experience threshold nearly doubles, and the training has to differ from what you submitted for the CCMP®. The mentoring requirement changes the nature of the thing. Having delivered change yourself is no longer enough, because you need to have developed other practitioners.

Most people overlook that mentoring clause, yet it says the most about what the MCMP™ is for. It marks the point where other practitioners start learning from you.

How do the requirements compare?

Two details tend to cost people time. First, you can't submit the same training for the MCMP™ that you already used for the CCMP®, so plan a new course instead of recycling a certificate. Second, ACMP® points MCMP™ candidates to the pre-approved courses of its Qualified Education Providers™, which spares you any debate over whether the hours count. How ACMP® assesses training from outside the QEP™ list is explained in The 21-Hour ACMP® Education Requirement: Which Training Qualifies.

Which profile sounds like you?

You have four years of practice and no credential

Aim for the CCMP®, and don't worry about the MCMP™ yet. Check that you clear the experience threshold, then get the 21 hours done. You'll find the full checklist in CCMP® Certification Requirements in 2026: Hours, Experience and Fees.

You hold the CCMP® and are nearing 8,400 hours of practice

Now the MCMP™ is a real question, and mentoring is the honest test. Can you point to six hours of structured work developing another practitioner? If not, you're missing the very experience the credential describes, so close that gap first. Inside a change team, it's usually easier than it sounds.

You hold the CCMP® and work mainly in consulting

Here the MCMP™ sets you apart, because the CCMP® has become common in your market. Whether it pays for itself depends on whether your buyers look at credentials at all, and that varies enormously by sector.

How do you get the order right?

You can't skip the CCMP®, so the only planning question left is how to avoid doing the training twice.

If you already expect to go for the MCMP™, choose your CCMP® training and your later MCMP™ training as two separate courses from the start. Keep the certificates and syllabuses for both. Our CCMP® and MCMP™ bundles are built that way: two separate accredited courses, bought together. The ten-year recency rule also rewards continuity. Step out of change work for four years, and your oldest eligible hours start falling out of the window.

One more point on timing. The CCMP® renews every three years, and each cycle requires 60 PDUs. If you plan ahead, the training you take for the MCMP™ may also count toward your CCMP® PDUs. The catch: if you scramble for PDUs in your renewal year and then hunt separately for MCMP™ training, you pay twice. We explain how the cycle works in CCMP® Recertification: How the Three-Year Cycle and PDUs Work.

What does it cost to hold both?

The CCMP® application costs US$595 for ACMP® members and US$795 for everyone else, and that fee includes the exam. The MCMP™ costs US$655 for ACMP® members and US$855 for non-members. Membership isn't required for either credential, but it lowers both fees, so weigh the dues against that saving. To see what membership includes, check ACMP®'s membership FAQ. For the full CCMP® picture with training included, see How Much Does the CCMP® Certification Cost in 2026?

On the training side, you save by buying both sets of hours in one go. Leanova Academy's Mastery Bundle costs US$895. It packages 31 accredited hours that cover the education requirements for both credentials, plus 450 practice questions and a 5-hour AI change management certification. That's less than buying the two courses separately.

Is the MCMP™ your next step?

Of all the MCMP™ requirements, the ten accredited hours are the only one you can act on today, since experience and mentoring build up on their own schedule. Before you enroll anywhere, confirm on ACMP®'s MCMP™ page that the course meets the current requirement, and that it differs from your CCMP® training.

Leanova Academy's MCMP™ certification training (US$395, ACMP® course code Q000655) covers the ten-hour requirement as a self-paced accredited course. It's also sold as LCeX-Master™, our AI change management certification, so don't buy both. The live online version covers the same requirement, with an instructor leading the cohort through the simulated implementation of an AI project. Both are separate from our CCMP® courses, which matters because the training for each credential must be different.

Still at the CCMP® stage? Start with the 21-hour self-paced course (US$595), or the live online program (US$795), which also includes the practice exam and the 10-hour MCMP™ course. Then build your application once the hours are done.

This article is also available in French: MCMP™ ou CCMP® : quel titre ACMP® viser en premier.

Sources, checked October 2026: ACMP® MCMP™ requirements and fees, CCMP® eligibility, CCMP® fees, renewal and PDUs and membership. Leanova prices are current list prices and may change. ACMP®, CCMP®, MCMP™ and QEP™ are trademarks of the Association of Change Management Professionals.