CEP Institute (CEPI) Exam Prep Course

Enrollment for the spring 2025 Prep Course is closed. The fall 2025 Prep Course will open for enrollment in late summer.

The NCEO's CEP Institute Exam Prep Course is a complete educational tool that combines the benefits of online learning with hundreds of sample practice questions. CEP candidates enrolled in our preparation course receive (1) access to our online learning environment with a multitude of sample questions, answers, and explanations; (2) a final exam; (3) question review Webinars presented by leading experts; (4) a Quick Reference Guide for use during studying; and (5) supplemental study documents.

Prices are the same for members and nonmembers. The course is sold per-season, and access to the course lasts until the exam. To use it again for the next exam administration, you will have to buy it again. Looking for the books? The CEPI gives you the digital versions, but you can buy the print versions.

Order the level corresponding to the exam you are taking this season by choosing the appropriate add-to-cart button below and checking out.

After placing your order, if you have never used our current course platform (active since spring 2023) under the email address you provided, you will first receive an email welcoming you to our platform and inviting you to set a password.

After placing your order, you will receive an email stating you are now enrolled in the Prep Course level you purchased and inviting you to log in (if this your first time on our platform, this email will arrive shortly after the welcome email described above).

Access to the prep course materials ends 10 days after the exams end. For spring 2025, that will be May 27, 2025. For fall 2025, that will be November 25, 2025.

CEPI Exam Prep Course, Level 1

$195

Over 300 Level 1 sample test questions
110-question final exam
CEP Institute Exam Quick Reference Guide
Four question review Webinars
Unlimited access to Webinar replays until exam date
Supplemental study documents

CEPI Exam Prep Course, Level 2

$225

Over 250 Level 2 sample test questions, plus all Level 1 sample questions
110-question final exam
CEP Institute Exam Quick Reference Guide
Four question review Webinars, plus Level 1 Webinars
Unlimited access to Webinar replays until exam date
Supplemental study documents

CEPI Exam Prep Course, Level 3

$245

Almost 200 Level 3 sample test questions, plus all Level 1 and 2 sample questions
77-question final exam
CEP Institute Exam Quick Reference Guide
Four question review Webinars, plus Level 1 and 2 Webinars
Unlimited access to Webinar replays until exam date
Supplemental study documents

The CEP Institute Exams present considerable difficulties, even for experienced professionals. Working through challenging questions such as those in our Exam Prep Course is an essential preparation tool for the exam. For each CEP test level, we provide multiple-choice practice questions written by equity compensation experts, many of whom have written actual CEP exam questions and are CEPs themselves. The questions address the four subject areas the CEP Institute exam covers: Accounting; Taxation; Corporate and Securities Law; and Equity Plan Design, Analysis, and Administration. Students take quizzes online and instantly find out whether they have answered correctly. For each answer, students are given a reference to required CEP Institute study materials and an explanation of the correct answer. Your access to the sample questions lasts until the date of the next CEP exam. The questions, answers, and references are updated whenever the CEPI curriculum is.

Because the CEP exams are cumulative, you should review the earlier levels as you study for Levels 2 or 3. Because of this, the NCEO's Prep Course automatically gives you access to all information from the earlier levels.

A New Selection and Ordering of Questions Every Time You Start a Quiz

The Prep Course features quizzes that randomly reshuffle the questions from the given level and topic every time you start taking a quiz. This makes the quizzes more challenging when you repeat them.

Final Exam with Randomized Question Ordering

We include a final exam to simulate the actual CEPI exam. The questions are drawn from the sample test questions described above, each question has three answers as in the CEPI exam, and their number and difficulty correspond to your CEPI exam level. The questions in the exam are reshuffled every time you take it, just as with the quizzes.

Question Review Webinars

Our Exam Prep Course also includes Webinars—prerecorded PowerPoint presentations broadcast over the Internet. The Webinars review sample questions to help prepare you for the actual exam and also instruct you on the topic of the Webinar. You can view these an unlimited number of times until the date of the next national exam. You also can download an audio file of the audio portion to play on your digital devices.

CEP Institute Exam Quick Reference Guide

Another component of our Exam Prep Course is our Quick Reference Guide, a PDF you can download from within the Prep Course to serve as a reference while studying. The Quick Reference Guide consists of eight pages and is packed with common definitions, formulas and the like, serving as a fast and easy reference during study.

Supplemental Study Documents

The Prep Course includes a number of supplemental documents, such as a pyramid exercise example and a timeline worksheet to assist in working through questions.

The price of the CEP Institute Exam Prep Course varies depending on your candidate level. Your access to the Prep Course questions, Webinars, and other aspects of the online course will last until the date after the CEP Institute exams. The prices given here are per-user prices; your access cannot be shared with others.

The CEP Exam Prep Course is not an independent training course on equity compensation but rather an exam preparation course for those who have registered with the CEPI to take a forthcoming exam.

If you enroll in the Prep Course and defer your CEPI exam and wish to defer your Prep Course to the next season, email svinson@nceo.org within two weeks for a deferral review.