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Blog / EPPP Pass Rates Update (2026): The Part 2 Pause, the 2027 Cliff, and What State Data Reveals

EPPP Pass Rates Update (2026): The Part 2 Pause, the 2027 Cliff, and What State Data Reveals

Anders Chan, Psy.D.
EPPP pass rate 2026EPPP Part 2 paused2027 EPPP changesEPPP passing score by stateEPPP equity researchEPPP costASPPB 2024 report

A few months ago I published The Complete Data Breakdown of EPPP Pass Rates. It still holds up on the core numbers. But a lot has shifted since then. ASPPB paused the Part 2 mandate. The 2027 integrated exam blueprint was approved in December 2025. New equity research landed in 2024. And the state-by-state picture is messier than most prep companies admit.

This is the 2026 update. If you read the original, this is what changed and what got more specific.

The headline shift: ASPPB paused the Part 2 mandate

The biggest news since March is one most candidates have not heard. On October 22, 2024, ASPPB paused the requirement that states adopt the two-part EPPP (Part 1 Knowledge plus Part 2 Skills). The originally planned January 1, 2026 effective date is dead.

What that means in plain English: if your state was planning to require Part 2 in 2026, that is no longer happening. ASPPB has not published a list of which states had adopted Part 2 before the pause. If you are licensing soon, ask your state board directly whether Part 2 is on your checklist. As of mid-2026, the safe assumption is no, unless your board explicitly tells you otherwise.

There are also no published Part 2 pass rates. Not because the exam is broken, but because ASPPB has not released aggregate data and very few candidates have taken it.

The 2027 integrated EPPP: this is the real cliff

The original post said full details were still being finalized. They are not anymore. The ASPPB board approved the content blueprint in December 2025 with input from roughly 3,000 licensed psychologists. Here is what is locked in:

  • One exam, five hours, single day. No more Part 1 and Part 2. Knowledge and skills are integrated into one sitting at Pearson Vue.
  • Six content domains instead of eight. ASPPB has not published full domain weights yet but they are coming.
  • Pass or fail based on total score. The current 200 to 800 scaled scoring goes away. No more "you passed at 500 but in NY you needed 600" weirdness.
  • New item types. Three or four option multiple choice, extended multiple choice, scenario clusters, and audio or video stimuli. The exam is moving toward more situational judgment, less pure recall.
  • Beta test Spring 2027. Operational Fall 2027. April 1, 2028 is the cutoff — after that date, the integrated exam is the only option.

If you are taking the EPPP in 2026 or early 2027, you are taking the current version. If you are planning to test late 2027 or 2028, you are sitting for the new integrated exam.

Practical implication. If your timeline is flexible and you would be taking the exam in the awkward 2027 transition window, finishing under the current format is the safer bet. New exam formats almost always produce a temporary dip in pass rates while prep providers and candidates adjust. The first cohort to sit a new licensing exam is the cohort that pays for everyone else's adjustment period.

State-by-state: the passing score is not the same everywhere

The original post used the national 78 to 82% first-time pass rate. That number assumes a uniform passing standard. It is not uniform.

Most states use ASPPB's recommended pass score of 500 (scaled). But several deviate. From public board sources and practitioner reports:

  • New York is widely reported to use a scaled score around 600, which corresponds to roughly 75% correct. This came up in practitioner forums but I could not find it on a NY State Education Department page. If you are testing in New York, confirm with your board.
  • Michigan uses a 450 pass score specifically for master's-level practitioners.
  • California publicly acknowledges that its pass rates run below the national average. The board reviews this in its meeting minutes. There is no evidence California uses a higher cut score, so the gap likely reflects something else — possibly training pipeline or candidate demographics.

States with additional state-specific jurisprudence exams (this is on top of the EPPP, not a replacement):

  • Oklahoma: jurisprudence exam, 70% pass
  • Missouri: 100-item jurisprudence exam, 70% pass
  • Washington: post-licensure jurisprudence requirement during first CE cycle
  • Indiana and New Mexico also require one. Confirm specifics on your board's site.

These add cost, prep time, and an extra failure point. If you are in one of these states, your study plan needs to account for the jurisprudence exam too, not just the EPPP.

I wrote a dedicated breakdown on EPPP passing scores by state that goes deeper on this.

The actual cost of taking and retaking the EPPP

The original post focused on pass rates. It did not get into cost. Cost matters because it shapes who can afford to retake and who quietly drops out of the field.

Current ASPPB fees (verified on ASPPB.net in 2026):

  • Part 1 exam fee: $600
  • Part 2 exam fee (where required): $450
  • Test site appointment fee: $91.88 (per part)
  • Total for one Part 1 sitting: $691.88

Each retake is the full fee again. ASPPB does not discount retakers. State boards typically charge their own application fee on top, ranging from $200 to $500 depending on jurisdiction.

So a candidate who fails once is looking at roughly $1,380 in ASPPB fees alone before considering prep program costs (which range from $300 to $1,500+ across the major providers). Add another prep cycle, lost time, and the indirect cost of postponing your earning timeline, and a single retake commonly runs $3,000 to $5,000 in total exposure.

This is one reason the disparities matter. When the four-fifths rule is violated for any demographic group on a high-stakes licensing exam, the cost falls hardest on candidates who already carry the most debt.

The equity data has gotten sharper since the original post

The original post referenced the 2018 APA report and said the disparities are "real and persistent." Three publications since then have made the picture more specific.

Sharpless (2019), New York sample (n=4,892):

  • Black candidates: 38.5% failure rate
  • Hispanic candidates: 35.6%
  • Asian candidates: 24.0%
  • White candidates: 14.07%

The four-fifths rule (a standard EEOC test for adverse impact) says a minority group's selection rate should be at least 80% of the majority group's rate. The Sharpless NY data does not meet that threshold for Black or Hispanic candidates.

Sharpless (2021), Connecticut sample:

  • White candidates: 5.75% fail rate
  • Hispanic candidates: 18.6%
  • Black candidates: 23.33%

Macura and Ameen (2021):

  • White first-time pass: 89%
  • BIPOC first-time pass: 70%

Saldana, Callahan and Cox (2024), the most recent paper, made a sharper claim: the EPPP differentiates candidates "more strongly by race, ethnicity, and general neurocognitive abilities than by profession-specific knowledge, skills, and abilities." That is a serious accusation in psychometric terms. It says the test is measuring something other than what it was designed to measure.

APA flagged ongoing EPPP racial bias as unresolved at its August 2024 convention. The 2024 Racial Equity Action Plan progress report continues to identify it as an open issue. There is no active lawsuit yet, but the framing in the 2024 literature is the framing you would use to build one.

What this means for candidates: If you are from an underrepresented group, the population-level numbers reflect a problem in the testing system, not in you. Structured, adaptive, application-based prep closes gaps that come from differential access to resources. Use diagnostic data to drive your study plan. Do not let the disparities anchor your expectations.

What this means for the field: The 2027 integrated exam is ASPPB's chance to address this. Whether the new format actually narrows the gaps is the question every program director should be watching.

What the original post got right that has not changed

Most of the core data is still current:

  • Overall first-time pass rate sits at roughly 78 to 82% nationally
  • PsyD candidates pass at roughly 5 to 10 percentage points lower than PhD candidates
  • APA-accredited programs outperform non-accredited
  • Pass rates decline with each retake attempt
  • Study method matters more than study hours

The five factors that predict passing have not changed either:

  1. Active recall over passive review
  2. Practice exams that match the real format
  3. Diagnostic-driven prioritization
  4. Mental health and burnout management
  5. Time spent on weakest domains, not strongest

If you have not read the original breakdown, start there for the foundational data. This update layers on what shifted since.

How to use this update if you are testing in 2026 or 2027

Testing in 2026: You are sitting for the current EPPP format. Use the current pass rate data. Confirm with your state board whether Part 2 applies to you (probably not, since the mandate is paused). Plan for the full $691.88 fee plus prep.

Testing in early 2027: Same as above. The current format runs through Spring 2027 beta and Fall 2027 operational launch. If your application is in the queue, finish under the current format.

Testing in late 2027 or 2028: You are likely in the integrated exam window. There will be no historical pass rate data to anchor to. Prep programs will be rebuilding their content libraries. Expect a temporary dip in pass rates as everyone adjusts. If your timeline is flexible, finishing in early 2027 under the current format is the lower-risk choice.

Whatever your timeline: Take a diagnostic before you build a study plan. Domain-level scores predict your outcome better than any population statistic. National pass rates tell you what the average outcome looks like. Your diagnostic tells you what your outcome looks like.

If you want a prep platform built around diagnostic-driven, application-based questions that match the real EPPP's style, try thePsychology.ai free for 7 days. The AI adapts to your specific weak domains rather than running you through generic content in chapter order.

The EPPP is changing. The strategy that works has not.

Sources

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