You must possess a high school diploma or equivalent, such as a General Education Development test (GED) or other equivalency test recognized by the candidate's state of residency, or a diploma and official transcript reflecting equivalent education as evaluated by the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers for secondary education (if documents are not in English, a translation into English from a translation service approved in the United States for legal or government documents must be available upon request). Candidates that do not currently meet this requirement but will be able to do so within twelve months may be eligible for a Provisional Certification.

You must successfully complete a training program or have relevant work experience as described below:

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• Training Program: Candidates must successfully complete a training program in the health field covered by the NHA certification exam offered by an accredited or state-recognized institution or provider.​

• Military: Formal medical services training in the health field covered by the NHA certification exam offered by any branch of the U.S. Military fulfills the Training Program. Candidates whose date of graduation or completion from their training program is five years or more prior to the date of application also must have relevant work experience as described below.

• Work Experience: Candidates must have at least one (1) year of supervised work experience in the health field covered by the NHA certification exam within the past three (3) years.