CPRA study guide
CPRA · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The Certified Pre-Award Administrator (CPRA®) is one of three certification programs offered by the Research Administrators Certification Council (RACC), an independent non-profit organization formed in 1993. RACC describes its mission as certifying that an individual, through experience and testing, has the fundamental knowledge necessary to be a professional research or sponsored programs administrator. The CPRA® sits alongside the Certified Research Administrator (CRA®) and the Certified Financial Research Administrator (CFRA) as the pre-award-focused credential in that family, aimed at professionals whose work centers on proposal development, sponsor guidelines, budget preparation, and submission rather than post-award financial management. RACC publishes a CPRA® Candidate Handbook for Pre-Award Research Administrators and a CPRA Body of Knowledge, and candidates should treat those two documents as the authoritative statement of eligibility, exam content, and administration. The CPRA study guide has 2 sections and about 728 words.
01Pre-Award Research Administration: Core Concepts and Question Traps
Pre-award research administration covers everything from identifying a funding opportunity through submission of a compliant proposal and, where applicable, negotiation and acceptance of an award. Candidates should be fluent in the sponsor landscape (federal agencies, state and local governments, private foundations, industry), the difference between a solicitation, a program announcement, and a request for proposals, and the roles of the principal investigator (PI), sponsored programs office (SPO), and departmental research administrator.
357 words, about 2 min02CPRA Body of Knowledge: Structure, Weights, and Exam Strategy
The CPRA Body of Knowledge organizes research administration practice into functional areas that typically span pre-award, award management, financial and compliance oversight, and the regulatory environment in which sponsored programs operate. Candidates should confirm the exact domain names, the number of scored items, and the percentage weight assigned to each area from the current CPRA Candidate Handbook, since these details are updated periodically and should not be assumed.
371 words, about 2 min