RBT exam pass rates
In 2025, 75% of the 109,341 people taking the RBT exam for the first time passed, and 38% of the 54,674 retakes. By 40-hour training provider, first-time pass rates ranged from 8.1% to 100%; the median provider's rate was 77.5%.
Pass rates by year
| Year | First-time candidates | First-time pass rate | Retakes | Retake pass rate | Newly certified | RBTs at year end |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 109,341 | 75% | 54,674 | 38% | 101,341 | 246,109 |
| 2024 | 90,741 | 73% | 46,988 | 36% | 82,681 | 196,579 |
| 2023 | 73,690 | 74% | 30,573 | 41% | 67,001 | 160,041 |
| 2022 | 58,322 | 77% | 20,362 | 44% | 53,146 | 130,273 |
| 2021* | 43,452 | 83% | 10,793 | 53% | 47,840 | 112,317 |
| 2020* | 28,794 | 84% | 6,636 | 52% | 40,460 | 89,122 |
Source: BACB Certificant Data, annual report data. *2021: Excludes one region with anomalous RBT activity; all regions: first-time 52,309 tested, 79% passed; retakes 15,266 tested, 46% passed. *2020: Excludes one region with anomalous RBT activity; all regions: first-time 41,662 tested, 80% passed; retakes 15,241 tested, 46% passed. The 2026 figures, the first year of the 3rd edition exam, weren't published when we checked.
First-time pass rates have fallen from the low 80s in 2020 and 2021 to the mid-70s, while the number of candidates nearly quadrupled. Retakes pass far less often than first attempts: in 2025, 38% against 75%. Going in well prepared the first time is the cheapest route.
The largest 40-hour training providers (2025)
The BACB also publishes first-time pass rates for each publicly available 40-hour training program with at least 10 first-time candidates. These are the providers with at least 1,000 in 2025, by size. Together they account for 67,152 of the 71,555 candidates in the report.
| Training provider | First-time candidates | First-time pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| Relias | 19,418 | 80.4% |
| CentralReach | 13,705 | 79.6% |
| Autism Partnership Foundation | 13,456 | 61.2% |
| Rethink | 10,690 | 81.1% |
| Behavior Webinars | 4,100 | 79% |
| Behavior University | 2,008 | 76.6% |
| Positive Behavior Supports, Corp. | 1,500 | 79.1% |
| ABA 4 LOVE | 1,201 | 36.7% |
| Florida Tech/ABA Technologies | 1,074 | 86.3% |
All 51 training providers (2025)
| Training provider | Pass rate | Candidates | Passed | Failed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Michigan University Bear Center | 100% | 18 | 18 | 0 |
| The Center for Behavior Analysis at the University of West Florida | 100% | 12 | 12 | 0 |
| Ivy Tech Community College | 96.2% | 26 | 25 | 1 |
| Mississippi State University | 94.7% | 19 | 18 | 1 |
| Behavior Development Solutions | 93.5% | 923 | 863 | 60 |
| AppleTree Connection | 91.1% | 79 | 72 | 7 |
| Advanced Behavior Education LLC. | 90.9% | 11 | 10 | 1 |
| University of South Florida | 90.2% | 163 | 147 | 16 |
| Middle Tennessee State University | 90% | 10 | 9 | 1 |
| University of Kansas | 87.1% | 178 | 155 | 23 |
| ATCC | 86.4% | 747 | 645 | 102 |
| Florida Tech/ABA Technologies | 86.3% | 1,074 | 927 | 147 |
| Sidekick Learning | 84.5% | 658 | 556 | 102 |
| MedCerts | 83.3% | 36 | 30 | 6 |
| The Applied Behavior Analysis Center | 82.1% | 39 | 32 | 7 |
| California Unified Service Providers, LLC | 81.8% | 55 | 45 | 10 |
| Rethink | 81.1% | 10,690 | 8,670 | 2,020 |
| Relias | 80.4% | 19,418 | 15,602 | 3,816 |
| May Behavioral Services | 80% | 15 | 12 | 3 |
| University of Missouri | 80% | 10 | 8 | 2 |
| CentralReach | 79.6% | 13,705 | 10,912 | 2,793 |
| Jigsaw Training | 79.2% | 77 | 61 | 16 |
| Positive Behavior Supports, Corp. | 79.1% | 1,500 | 1,187 | 313 |
| Behavior Webinars | 79% | 4,100 | 3,239 | 861 |
| Path 2 Potential, LLC | 78.6% | 14 | 11 | 3 |
| Special Learning | 77.5% | 71 | 55 | 16 |
| Behavior University | 76.6% | 2,008 | 1,538 | 470 |
| University of Texas at San Antonio | 69.7% | 33 | 23 | 10 |
| GoBeyond Premier Training Labs | 69.2% | 13 | 9 | 4 |
| Harcum College | 64.3% | 14 | 9 | 5 |
| Autism Partnership Foundation | 61.2% | 13,456 | 8,236 | 5,220 |
| Institute for Behavioral Training | 60.8% | 181 | 110 | 71 |
| AutismBXTraining DBA Autism Skills Development | 60.6% | 66 | 40 | 26 |
| Behavior Analyst Supervisor | 60% | 25 | 15 | 10 |
| Skillometry | 59.6% | 89 | 53 | 36 |
| Arc Educates | 54.6% | 11 | 6 | 5 |
| ABA Professional Learning Center | 50% | 46 | 23 | 23 |
| Bhavioral Corporation | 50% | 16 | 8 | 8 |
| Essential CEU Institute | 46.3% | 80 | 37 | 43 |
| Applied ABC | 46.2% | 65 | 30 | 35 |
| ABA International Academy | 43.2% | 37 | 16 | 21 |
| Developing New Horizons Inc. | 41.4% | 70 | 29 | 41 |
| ABA Courses | 40% | 15 | 6 | 9 |
| Miami Dade College | 37.5% | 40 | 15 | 25 |
| ABA 4 LOVE | 36.7% | 1,201 | 441 | 760 |
| Easy as Pie ABA Training | 36.4% | 11 | 4 | 7 |
| Exceptional Minds ABA Therapy | 32.9% | 76 | 25 | 51 |
| Happy Children | 32.5% | 117 | 38 | 79 |
| Child Hope Center | 21.4% | 14 | 3 | 11 |
| Power In-Service Training Center | 17.7% | 186 | 33 | 153 |
| José María Vargas University | 8.1% | 37 | 3 | 34 |
Source: BACB, RBT Examination Pass Rates for 40-Hour Training Providers 2025 (updated 05/2026). Sorted by pass rate, then by number of candidates.
How to read these numbers
- Who's included: Publicly available training programs with 10 or more first-time RBT exam candidates in 2025, by provider name entered by applicants. Employer-only trainings that aren't open to the public aren't in the report.
- First attempts only: these are first-time pass rates. People who failed may have passed on a later attempt.
- Provider names come from applicants, who type the name of their training when they apply, so the BACB notes the figures may differ from a provider's own records. Candidates also may not have trained and tested in the same year.
- Not an overall pass rate: across the providers listed, 54,071 of 71,555 first-time candidates passed (75.6%), but that only covers these providers, not every RBT candidate.
- Small numbers move a lot: a provider with 10 or 20 candidates can show 100% or 40% from a handful of results. Rates based on hundreds or thousands of candidates are more telling.
- The course isn't the only factor: who enrolls, how much support and supervision they get at work, and how long they study before testing all affect results.
When you compare courses, also check that a course meets the 2026 requirements and how your competency assessment will be arranged; see the 40-hour training.