How To Get ARRT® Certification and Registration: The Primary Pathway

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If you are a radiologic technologist without an ARRT ® certification or if you want to become a radiologic technologist, getting ARRT ®-certified should be a top priority for you. In this detailed guide, we cover everything you need to know about earning your very first ARRT ® credential and ARRT® certification and registration via the ARRT® primary pathway. We’ll answer your big questions, such as: What is ARRT ® certification and registration? How much does an ARRT ® certification cost? Why is it important to hold an ARRT® credential? How do I get an ARRT® certification?

• What Is ARRT® Certification and Registration?
• What is the ARRT® Primary Pathway?
• So, how do I get my ARRT® certification and registration and my first ARRT® credential?
• How to Apply for ARRT® Certification and Registration
• Wrapping Up!
• FAQs

What Is ARRT® Certification and Registration?

The American Registry of Radiologic Technologists® (ARRT®) organization is a national credentialing body in the United States that recognizes qualified professionals in the field of medical imaging. It issues certifications to individuals in different disciplines and through different pathways once they meet the qualification criteria. We will talk about the requirements for ARRT® certification in more detail below.

The Benefits of Being ARRT®-certified

Being ARRT®-certified and registered can significantly boost your medical imaging career. Here are some of the key benefits of holding an ARRT® credential.

Stand out to prospective employers

An ARRT ® certification offers solid proof of your ability to meet the highest professional standards for a radiologic technologist. Being ARRT®-certified greatly improves your chances of being hired by hospitals and medical organizations, for many of whom ARRT® certification is a requirement for selection. Even if your state or prospective employer doesn’t require it, having an ARRT® certification and registration will help you outshine your competition.

Highlights your commitment and credibility

While you can technically practice without being ARRT®-certified, getting an ARRT® credential is a no-brainer. There are already 355,000+ ARRT® registered technologists as per the ARRT® organization’s October 2024 census data. By getting ARRT® certification, you become part of a community of highly qualified R.T.s® and showcase that you are serious about your career as a medical imaging professional.

What is the ARRT® Primary Pathway?

There are different routes, or pathways, to earning an ARRT® credential, depending on your professional starting point. If you are going for your very first ARRT® credential, then in almost all cases, you’re going to follow the ARRT® primary eligibility pathway. We’re going to focus on the primary pathway in this guide.

You’ll likely use the ARRT® Postprimary Pathway if you have already earned an ARRT® credential, or if you have a credential from an ARRT®-recognized organization, or if your Program Director has given you his or her permission to begin meeting your structured education and clinical experience requirements as you finish your educational program. If you think you may be eligible to pursue an ARRT® credential via the Postprimary Pathway, check out our guide Earning Additional ARRT® Credentials: The Postprimary Pathway.

What are the different ARRT® Primary Pathway credential options?

While the ARRT® organization currently issues credentials in 13* medical imaging disciplines, when you’re earning your first ARRT® credential through the primary pathway, you must choose 1 of 6 primary disciplines:

Primary Pathway ARRT® credential disciplines

• Radiography (R) sets national standards for safeguarding personal health information.
• Radiation Therapy (T)
• Nuclear Medicine Technology (N)
• Sonography (S)
• Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MR)**
• Vascular Sonography**

*There are technically 15 valid ARRT® credentials. However, credentials for Quality Management and Cardiovascular Interventional Radiography are no longer issued. Individuals who already hold either of these credentials can maintain it for life, provided they meet the ARRT ® ethical standards and other requirements.**Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MR) and Vascular Sonography credentials can also be obtained through the Post-primary Pathway.

So, how do I get my ARRT® certification and registration and my first ARRT® credential?

Let’s start with an outline to give you an idea of the stages in the overall process of earning your ARRT® certification and registration:

• Meet the ARRT® educational requirement
• Meet the ARRT® ethics requirement
• Complete and submit an ARRT® application online or in paper form (request a paper application from your Program Director)
  • If you need Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) testing accommodations, request them on your application
• Wait to receive your Candidate Status Report (CSR) for your exam window to open
• Meet the exam requirement: Schedule, take, and pass the ARRT® exam in your discipline within 365 days of your exam window opening
• Receive your score report and certification and registration decision

We’ll go over each of these parts in more detail below.

Eligibility Requirements for the Primary Pathway

You must meet three requirements and submit your application to the ARRT® organization to earn your ARRT® certification and registration. These requirements are challenging but certainly achievable.

Education requirement

• Earn an associate’s degree or higher from an institute accredited by an ARRT®-recognized accreditation agency
  • Your degree does not need to be in the radiological sciences
  • You can earn your degree before, at the same time as, or after you complete your educational program in your discipline.
• Complete an ARRT®-approved educational program in the discipline for which you seek a credential
  • Important change to note: As of January 1, 2025, you have to earn your degree within 3 years of finishing your educational program.
• Once you complete your program, you have 3 years to establish your eligibility and apply for ARRT® certification and registration. This is referred to as the three-year rule. You can check the details of the three-year rule here.

Ethics requirement

The ARRT® organization holds its Registered Technologists® and applicants to a very high standard of ethics and professional conduct. For this requirement, you must demonstrate great moral character according to ARRT® Standards of Ethics. To meet this requirement, you must:

• Answer the 3 ethics questions on your application for certification and registration:
  • Have you ever been charged with or convicted of a misdemeanor or felony? (This includes court convictions and military courts-martial.)
  • Has a regulatory authority or certification board (other than ARRT®) ever done one or more of the following?
    • Denied, revoked, or suspended your professional license, permit, registration, or certification?
    • Placed you on probation (excluding ARRT® Continuing Education probation), under a consent agreement, or under a consent order?
    • Allowed voluntary surrender of your professional license, permit, registration, or certification?
    • Subjected you to any conditions or disciplinary actions?
• Have you ever voluntarily withdrawn—or been suspended, dismissed, or expelled—from an educational program you attended to meet ARRT® certification and registration requirements?

What to do if you think you have a potential ethics violation:

• If you haven’t applied for ARRT® certification and registration, and you will complete your educational program within 8 months, report the violation when you apply.
• If you haven’t applied for ARRT® certification and registration, and you will complete your educational program in more than 8 months:
  • You may want to submit an Ethics Review Preapplication (and pay a nonrefundable $100 fee); OR
  • Report the potential violation when you apply for certification and registration.
• If you have already submitted your application for certification and registration, but haven’t passed the ARRT® exam yet, report the potential violation within 30 days of the incident.

If you’re under an ethics review, you can take the ARRT® exam, though your score report may be withheld until the review is finished. Depending on the outcome of the review, your scores might be canceled.

Should I submit an Ethics Review Preapplication?

If you’re a student with more than 8 months remaining until graduation, and you think you may have an ethics violation you need to disclose, you should submit an Ethics Review Pre-application to the ARRT® organization before attempting to apply for certification and registration.

Submit an Ethics Review Preapplication if you have faced:

• Misdemeanor or felony charges or convictions
• Military courts-martial
• Disciplinary actions taken by a state or federal regulatory authority or certification board
• Serious honor code (academic) violations as described in our Rules of Ethics, such as patient abuse, violating patient confidentiality, and cheating. You don’t have to report offenses such as poor grades or falling asleep in class.

Here are the major steps:

The ethics review process can take a while, a few months, or more, depending on the complexity of the violations you’re reporting. Be patient. The ARRT® Ethics Review Committee notify you of a decision by mail.

Check out our Guide to the ARRT® Standards of Ethics for more information.

Examination requirement

• Criminal violation checklist
• Pass the ARRT®-conducted exam in your discipline within 3 years of your first exam window opening
  • You have 3 attempts to pass the exam
• This can only be done after you have completed education and ethics requirements
• You must submit your application to the ARRT® organization (see below) before you can receive an exam window
• See our complete Guide to the ARRT® Exam for everything you need to know about how to apply for the exam, how to prepare for it, what you can expect on exam day, and important deadlines.

Postprimary Eligibility Pathway Requirements

While the Postprimary Eligibility Pathway is largely similar to the Primary Eligibility Pathway, there are some important differences. Head over to our guide, Earning Additional ARRT® Credentials: The Postprimary Pathway, for an in-depth look at the eligibility requirements for that pathway.

How to Apply for ARRT® Certification and Registration

You must submit an application that has to be reviewed and approved by the ARRT ® organization before you can schedule your exam. Here’s how you apply:

When to Apply

You can submit your application no earlier than 3 months before you finish your educational program.

Important notes:

• As of January 1, 2025, you have to earn your degree within 3 years of finishing your educational program.
• As of January 1, 2025, you must submit your ARRT® application within 3 years of completing your educational program, even if you haven’t earned your degree yet.

Steps to Applying

Step 1: Create an account on arrt.org.

Step 2: Ensure you have the appropriate ID before filling out your application.

The name you use on your ARRT® application will be the name on file in the ARRT® organization records and on your Candidate Status Report (CSR). Use your legal name.

When you go to your testing center on exam day, you’ll be asked to present two forms of ID, and these must match the name on your CSR, or you will be turned away and you’ll forfeit your application fee. So be sure you have two valid (unexpired) forms of ID before you fill out your application.

Acceptable Forms of ID

You’ll need at least 1 primary form of ID and 1 secondary form of ID from the list of acceptable forms of ID present below. You can also use 2 primary forms of ID if you choose.

• Primary ID: must be government-issued with an affixed photo and your signature (or military bar code)
  • a driver’s license
  • passport
  • state ID card
  • tribal ID card
  • military ID card
• Secondary ID: must include your name (permanently printed) and your signature.
  • U.S. Social Security card
  • employee ID badge
  • bank or credit card
  • school ID
  • another form of ID from the list of acceptable primary IDs

Step 3: Submit your application.

• If applying online: log in to your ARRT® account and follow the instructions there. Create your online student account (this will be authorized by your Program Director). Remember, if you need ADA testing accommodations, be sure to request them on your application
  If you did not request ADA accommodations, your Candidate Status Report will be sent to your ARRT® account, and you can schedule your exam starting 24 hours after your CSR has been issued. If you did request accommodations, your CSR will take a bit longer to process.
• If submitting a paper application: please note that the ARRT® organization is switching over to an online application process, but still accepts paper applications for the time being.
  Paper applications are often returned because they are incomplete in some way. Be sure to double-check that you do all of the following when submitting your paper application:
  • Sign the Agreement of Candidates and Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
  • Include your $225 application fee as a check or money order, payable to ARRT
  • Answer ALL of the questions on the application
  • List the full dates of your program
  • Sign the application no more than 6 months from the day you submit
  • Send the original application, NOT a photocopy
  • Have your Program Director complete the educational program sections once you have filled out the rest of the form
  • Be sure your Program Director signs the educational program sections—stamped signatures will not be accepted
  • If you require ADA testing accommodations, request them on your application (there will be a question specifically for this)

  If you fail to do any of these, your application will be returned to you and you’ll have to correct it before the ARRT® organization will process it. Once your application has been received by the ARRT® organization, they will process it within 30 days. If you have requested ADA testing accommodations, processing your application will take longer than 30 days.

After Submitting Your Application

Once you’ve submitted your application, your educational program director will inform the ARRT® organization once you’ve finished your educational program, completed the ARRT® organization’s clinical and didactic competency requirements, and earned your degree.

Once your application has been processed and you receive your CSR, you have 1 year (365 days) to schedule and take your exam.

What if the ARRT® organization processed my application and found me ineligible?

There are a few instances in which you can be found ineligible for ARRT® certification and registration:

• If you submitted an Ethics Review Preapplication and the review determines you are ineligible:
  • You won’t even submit an application for certification and registration.
• If you submitted a paper application and were determined to be ineligible:
  • In this instance, you’ll get your application back and your application fee will be refunded (unless you were deemed ineligible during the ethics review portion of processing).
• If you’ve already been deemed eligible and given an exam window, but then the ARRT® organization receives information after the fact that suggests you may be ineligible.
  • In this case, you can still schedule and take the exam, but your scores will be held pending the results of a review.
  • If you’ve already taken the exam and the review finds you to be ineligible, your exam scores will be canceled and you’ll lose your application fee. In this case, if you reapply later and are determined eligible, the canceled exam scores will be counted as one of your 3 attempts.
  • If you haven’t already taken the exam and the review determines you to be ineligible, you won’t be permitted to take the exam and you’ll forfeit your application fee.
• If you were already deemed eligible and took the exam, but the ARRT® organization finds evidence that you were actually ineligible to do so.
  • In this case, you’ll lose your application fee, your exam score will be canceled, and your certification and registration status will be canceled.
  • If you reapply later and are found eligible, the canceled exam will count as one of your 3 attempts.

How to Appeal an Ineligibility Decision

If you think the ARRT® organization has made an error in determining your eligibility, you can appeal their decision.

To file an appeal, you need to submit an Eligibility Appeal Request Form. On this form, you will be asked to provide an explanation of why you think the ARRT® organization was wrong to deem you ineligible. Simply follow the instructions on the form and include any supporting documentation you have.

One you have completed the Eligibility Appeal Request, submit it to the ARRT® organization by fax or by mail.

• Fax: 651-681-3295
• Mail:
  • ARRT, ATTN: Eligibility Appeals
    1255 Northland Drive
    St. Paul, MN 55120

Wrapping Up!

All medical imaging professionals who want to have a successful career should get certified by and registered with the ARRT® organization. It confers upon them a lot of credibility, professionalism, and trust.

In this article, we have broken down for you the process of getting your first ARRT® credential, so you can pursue your certification and registration with confidence. With the right guidance, focus, and process, you can become a part of the 355,000+ professionals who are ARRT®-certified and are confidently serving patients countrywide.