ARRT certification is a national credential issued by the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists that recognizes professionals qualified to work in medical imaging or radiation therapy. It is the most widely accepted credential in the field, and employers typically require or prefer it even in states that don’t mandate it by law. If you’re considering a career as a radiologic technologist, MRI technologist, or sonographer, understanding how this certification works is essential.
What ARRT Certification Covers
ARRT offers credentials across a broad range of medical imaging and radiation therapy disciplines. The primary certifications, which are the entry point for most professionals, include radiography, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), nuclear medicine technology, radiation therapy, sonography, and vascular sonography. There is also a Registered Radiologist Assistant credential for advanced practitioners who work under radiologist supervision.
Beyond these primary credentials, ARRT offers post-primary certifications for technologists who want to specialize further. These include computed tomography (CT), mammography, bone densitometry, breast sonography, cardiac interventional radiography, vascular interventional radiography, and others. Post-primary credentials build on an existing ARRT certification, so you need to already hold a primary credential (or an equivalent from certain other certifying bodies) before pursuing one.
Three Requirements to Get Certified
Earning an ARRT credential through the primary pathway requires meeting three core requirements: education, ethics, and examination.
Education: You must hold an associate degree or higher from an accredited institution and complete an ARRT-approved educational program in the same discipline as the credential you’re pursuing. The degree itself doesn’t have to be in radiologic sciences, and you can earn it before or after finishing your imaging program, but you must have both completed before sitting for the exam. Your program will include didactic coursework and clinical rotations where you demonstrate competency in required procedures.
Ethics: ARRT requires candidates to demonstrate good moral character. If you have a history of misdemeanor or felony charges, military courts-martial, disciplinary actions from regulatory authorities, or serious academic honor code violations (such as patient abuse or cheating), you may need to go through an ethics review. ARRT allows you to submit an ethics review preapplication before or shortly after starting your educational program, which is worth doing early since the review process can take three months or longer.
Examination: After clearing the education and ethics requirements, you take a certification exam. The scoring scale runs from 1 to 99, and you need a 75 to pass. Exams typically contain around 200 questions, and the number you need to answer correctly varies slightly depending on the difficulty of your specific exam version. On some versions, correctly answering 131 out of 200 questions earns a passing score; on a harder version, 130 correct answers might be enough.
How Much It Costs
The application fee for a primary credential is $225. Post-primary certifications also cost $225, though candidates who use a certification from the Nuclear Medicine Technology Certification Board (NMTCB) or the American Registry for Diagnostic Medical Sonography (ARDMS) as their supporting category pay $450. If your certification lapses and you need to reinstate it, the fee is $150 for online reinstatement or $225 if re-examination is required.
ARRT Certification vs. State Licensure
ARRT certification is a national credential, not a state license. More than 75% of states have licensing laws that require medical imaging and radiation therapy professionals to obtain a separate state license before practicing. These are two distinct processes with separate applications and requirements.
That said, the two systems overlap significantly. Many states use ARRT exam scores or credentials as part of their licensing decisions, meaning some states effectively require ARRT certification before they’ll grant a state license. ARRT also administers exams specifically for state licensing purposes, including exams in limited scope radiography, bone densitometry equipment operation, and fluoroscopy. The bottom line: even if your state doesn’t explicitly require ARRT certification, most employers expect it.
Keeping Your Credential Active
ARRT certification isn’t a one-time achievement. To maintain your credentials, you must complete continuing education (CE) on a two-year cycle called a biennium. Most registered technologists need 24 approved CE credits per biennium, regardless of how many ARRT credentials they hold. If you hold a sonography credential, at least 16 of those 24 credits must be sonography-specific. Registered Radiologist Assistants have a higher requirement of 50 CE credits per biennium.
Post-Primary Certification for Specialization
Once you hold a primary ARRT credential and have been working in the field, you can pursue post-primary certifications to expand your scope or formalize expertise in a subspecialty. The requirements include holding an ARRT certification in an appropriate supporting category, completing structured education in the new discipline, and documenting clinical experience. CT and MRI are among the most commonly pursued post-primary credentials, since many radiology departments expect technologists to be cross-trained in these modalities.
Post-primary certification can open doors to higher-paying positions, specialized departments, and greater job security. It signals to employers that you’ve met a verified standard of competency in that modality, not just that you’ve picked up skills informally on the job.
Why Employers Value It
The Bureau of Labor Statistics notes that employers typically require or prefer to hire technologists who are certified, even when the state doesn’t mandate it. ARRT certification functions as a baseline quality signal across the healthcare industry. It tells hiring managers that you’ve completed an accredited program, passed a standardized exam, and met ethical standards. For hospitals and imaging centers managing liability and accreditation requirements, that verification matters. In practical terms, job listings for radiologic technologists, MRI techs, CT techs, and similar roles almost universally list ARRT certification as either required or strongly preferred.