Combined with education, a potential candidate for the AICP exam must have a required number of years of professional planning experience. The amount of experience depends on education. The
Planning Accreditation Board awards and certifies planning programs accreditation. If a prospective candidate has an accredited master's planning program, they will need two years of professional planning experience to receive AICP certification. Graduation from a non-accredited program with a master's degree in planning requires three years of experience. Graduating with a PAB accredited bachelor's
planning degree, a person has to have three years of professional planning experience to receive AICP certification. Any other graduate or undergraduate degree requires four years of experience. Not having an undergraduate degree requires eight years of professional planning experience to receive AICP certification. The work experience may be gained before, during, or after one sits for the exam. A candidate who has passed the exam but does not yet have the experience required may use the title of "AICP Candidate". On April 13, 2007, the AICP Commission approved a new Certification Maintenance (CM) program. As a result, AICP certified planners must earn and report 32 credits of eligible professional development activities every two years as part of this new CM requirement. This program replaced the voluntary Continuing Professional Development (CPD) program, which terminated on April 13, 2007. ==Outside of the United States==