Specialty Path
The BCGC credential plus a specialty endorsement. You complete the full certification process, then specialty education in the area you choose and a separate proctored Endorsement Examination for the specialty credential. Two credentials, two examinations, one path.
What your fee covers
- Application and eligibility review
- Education review against the six topic areas
- One Practice Exam attempt with a topic-area breakdown
- The proctored Board Examination at an 80 percent passing standard
- Verified practice hours review
- Credential issuance, including your credential number, digital credential, and printed certificate
- Your first year of certification
- Specialty education in the area you choose
- The proctored Endorsement Examination and the specialty credential
How the sequence works
You do not need to hold the BCGC to begin. You earn it inside this path, and the specialty endorsement follows on passing the Endorsement Examination. The BCGC is always issued first, and a coach who does not pass the Board Examination does not reach the Endorsement Examination.
The specialty education here covers a defined area of practice. It is not foundational grief coach training, which INBGC does not provide at any price, and every candidate on this path brings that education from an outside provider. Specialty content never appears on the Board Examination, the Endorsement Examination draws from its own item bank, and equivalent specialty education is accepted from any provider. Completing it confers no advantage on either examination.
Want the BCGC without a specialty? The Certification Path is $3,750, and a specialty may be added after certification for $1,250, reaching this same total. Prefer to spread the cost? See the payment plan for this path, which totals $5,200. Annual renewal is $495, beginning more than twelve months after you are certified. Cost a barrier? The INBGC Access Award reduces the certification fee for coaches serving communities with limited access to grief support.