Welcome!

Notes:

1) Before you begin, please note that CBDCE recommends completing this form using a desktop pc or laptop. Using a mobile phone or tablet to complete the form is possible, but it may not provide the best experience.

2) Individuals will not be notified until mid to late July about whether they have received a scholarship, so please keep that in mind if you are planning to apply for the CDCES exam before that time. CBDCE cannot refund exam application fees retroactively if the individuals are also awarded scholarships.

3) Individuals who have been awarded scholarships in a previous year may apply again, but please note that those applying for a scholarship for the first time will be considered first when decisions are made.

Click "Next" below to start the application.

Certification Board for
Diabetes Care and Education

2026 Scholarship Award Application

The Certification Board for Diabetes Care and Education (CBDCE) has established a scholarship program to support the journey for health professionals in the specialty and encourage diversity in the pool of the health professionals holding the Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist (CDCES) credential.

Individuals chosen as recipients of the scholarship are provided with an opportunity to take the practice examination at no cost and apply for the Certification Examination for Diabetes Care and Education Specialists one time at no cost. Individuals will have 1 year from the date of the award to make use of the award and will need to document meeting all current eligibility requirements for initial certification at the time of application for the Examination. The current value of each scholarship is $405.

Five categories have been established across a wide range. Depending upon submissions, it is anticipated that between 20 and 40 scholarships will be awarded in any given year.

• Individuals may apply for more than one category, but can only be awarded a maximum of one scholarship in any given year. Applications must be submitted separately for each category.

Note: The 2026 application window will be open until May 15, 2026 at 5pm Central Time.

Before you begin, you'll want to review the current eligibility requirements and also identify whether you will be a candidate who would apply for the certification examination under the standard or unique qualifications pathway.

Click here to review current Examination Handbook with those details.

Scholarship Award Categories available:

• Diversity & Inclusion
  Includes health professionals that reflect any one of many aspects of diversity within the current certified population, including, but not limited to, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, race, LGBTQIA+ community, men, and individuals with disabilities

  Primary criteria: Individual self-identifies by applying under this category. Provides letter of recommendation from your supervisor or colleague. This letter of recommendation will need to identify: 1) their relationship to you; and 2) how they see you applying achievement of certification as a CDCES to your personal and/or professional goals.

• Profession Expansion
  Includes health professionals with qualifying licenses, registrations, or degrees OTHER than RN or RD/RDN, e.g., ACSM-CEP, MSW or Unique Qualifications Pathway (UQP) candidate

  Primary criteria: Individual verifies meeting a discipline requirement other than RN or RD/RDN. Provides proof of current qualifying license, registration or degree other than RN or RDN; or submission of transcript verifying the award of a degree qualifying for the UQP. Visit the discipline requirement page of the CBDCE website for more information. Provides letter of recommendation from supervisor or colleague. This letter of recommendation will need to identify: 1) their relationship to you; and 2) how they see you applying achievement of certification as a CDCES to your personal and/or professional goals.

• Veterans & Active Military Service
  Includes both health professionals who are veterans or holding active military status or health professionals currently working with people with diabetes in either population

  Primary criteria: Applicant verifies holds veteran or active military status or works with people with diabetes who are veterans or hold active military status. Provides proof below AND letter of recommendation from supervisor or colleague. The letter of recommendation will need to identify: 1) their relationship to you; and 2) how they see you applying achievement of certification as a CDCES to your personal and/or professional goals.

For veterans or those in military service, provide proof of military service by one of the following:

* Proof of military service forms: DD Form 214 or DD Form 215: Veterans

* Military ID Card: Active Duty, Retiree, National Guard, Reserves, Individual Ready Reserve

* Veterans ID card

* Veterans designation on driver’s license or state veterans ID card

For health professionals serving veterans or those holding active military status: provides a letter from their supervisor that verifies meeting this requirement.

• Young Professional, under 30
  Includes health professionals who are less than 30 years of age with qualifying license, registration, or degree for the standard pathway or UQP candidate.

  Primary criteria: Individual verifies being under the age of 30 with a qualifying license, registration, or degree for the standard pathway or qualifying degree for the UQP. Provides proof of birthdate, e.g., birth certificate, drivers license; AND proof of qualifying license, registration, or degree for the standard pathway or UQP candidate. Visit the discipline requirement page of the CBDCE website for more information. Provides letter of recommendation from supervisor or colleague. This letter of recommendation will need to identify: 1) their relationship to you; and 2) how they see you applying achievement of certification as a CDCES to your personal and/or professional goals.

• Under-Resourced Population
  Includes health professionals working with under-resourced populations

  Primary criteria: Individual verifies she/he is working with under-resourced populations. Provides letter from supervisor verifying applicant is working with an under-resourced population AND letter of recommendation from supervisor or colleague. The letter of recommendation will need to identify: 1) their relationship to you; and 2) how they see you applying achievement of certification as a CDCES to your personal and/or professional goals.

• Under-Resourced populations are those that receive fewer health care services, encounter barriers to accessing primary health care services (e.g., economic, cultural, and/or linguistic); have a lack of familiarity with the health care delivery system; and face a shortage of readily available providers.

Additional points are awarded to an applicant who:

• Is participating or has participated in CBDCE’s Mentorship Program or other mentorship experience.
• Has shown progress in meeting eligibility requirements for initial certification through having one or more of the following:
  • has met the 2 year professional practice requirement (general and/or diabetes experience).
  • has accumulated at least 250 of the 1,000 hours of diabetes care and education professional practice requirement.
  • has accrued at least 3.75 hours of continuing education activities in past year and/or has already registered for qualifying continuing education activities, or is participating in a study group.
    

Click here to review the list of disciplines that qualify for the standard pathway.

Click here to read more about the unique qualifications pathway. 

IMPORTANT: You'll want to have the following ready prior to starting the application: your cv/resume, documents needed for verification per category as noted above, and the letter of recommendation from a supervisor or colleague.

If you want to take less time online for the application, you'll also want to prepare answers to the two questions below*:

• What are your career goals and how will obtaining the CDCES credential help you to achieve them? (150 words or less)
• What experiences in your life or career have been influential in your chosen goal choice? (150 words or less)

* If you also participated in the CBDCE Mentorship Program, you can prepare a statement on that experience that includes a description of the mentorship experience, including date mentorship began, date mentorship ended (if applicable), name of mentor, title of mentor, organization name, organization city and state (100 words or less).

This application is estimated to take 30 minutes or less if you have documents at hand and answers to the questions above set up in advance.

Click "Next" below. 

Please review listing of acronymns for the disciplines in the standard pathway for use in answering the question below.

For the next item, identify the date you received your qualifying license, registration, certification, or the date your qualifying advanced degree was conferred.

After meeting the discipline requirement, there is a two* year experience requirement (work or volunteer). This experience does NOT need to be in diabetes care and education (DCE). Example: you are a RN, you must have 2 years working/volunteering as a RN.

*Waiver: Individuals may claim a one (1) year waiver for one (1) of the two (2) years professional practice experience requirement for individuals with a master’s degree or higher in a health-related field. Using this waiver, individuals would only need a minimum of one (1) year working in their discipline. (Master’s or Doctorate degree would qualify as a waiver for the second year.) Examples: PharmD, Master's degree in Social Work, RDN or RN with master's degree in public health. 

For the DCE experience (work or volunteer), experience is counted after  meeting the discipline requirement. Note: experience more than 5 years before the date you apply for the examination application cannot be used in meeting eligibility requirements. 

Note: UQP candidates will require 2,000 hours of DCE experience to qualify for initial certification.

Continuing Education Eligibility Requirement

For the continuing education requirement, you will need a minimum of 15 hours of qualifying continuing education activities within the two years prior to applying.

Note: UQP candidates will need 30 hours of qualifying continuing education activities to qualify for initial certification.

Anticipated Date for Meeting All Eligibility Requirements

• Communications: Contact information provided will be used in communicating with applicants. The methods of communication may include email and telephone messages. Your contact information is not given/provided to any organization outside of CBDCE.
• Understanding of award: The scholarship will cover the costs of the CBDCE practice exam and application fee for initial certification, approximately $405 in award value. Awards are made to the scholarship applicant and are not transferable.
• Distribution of award: The scholarship will be distributed via discount code process. Cash is not awarded to winners.
• Time frame: Award discount codes will be provided when the scholarship winner meets eligibility requirements. The codes must be requested/used no later than one year after the scholarship is awarded. No extension on the time frame is available.
• Initial Certification Eligibility: Being awarded a scholarship does not change any of the eligibility requirements for initial certification, all eligibility requirements must be met at the time of applying for the exam for initial certification.
  
• Commitment: Scholarship winners are required to report back to the CBDCE Board of Directors regarding the experience and, when they pass, agree to use of their name and general information for promotional purposes, including potential article regarding their experience.
  
• Use of applicant's name and city/state: Scholarship winners will have their name, city and state, along with award category published and listed in various CBDCE communications, including social media platforms. Submission of the application confirms that the applicant is aware of the publication of this information and agrees to these actions.