- The initial exam is 75 multiple-choice and true/false questions in 90 minutes, and you need 80% to pass.
- Fees are $200 for PGMS members, $300 for non-members, $400 to join and apply; a retest costs $50.
- Passing the exam is only stage one: a separately graded PGME portfolio follows, due within one year.
- Seven exam subject headings are unweighted preparation topics, not a published weighted blueprint.
Which CGM This Sheet Covers
"CGM" is a shared acronym, and several unrelated credentials use it. This page covers one only: the Certified Grounds Manager credential administered by the Professional Grounds Management Society (PGMS). If you are looking for turf, irrigation, soils, trees, and grounds operations, you are in the right place. For background on the name itself, see What Does CGM Stand For? and What Is CGM Certification?.
Everything below is drawn from the PGMS certification page, the PGMS certification handbook, and the PGMS page on maintaining certification, as reviewed in public sources. Where PGMS has not published a detail, this sheet says so instead of guessing.
The Numbers at a Glance
Print this table and keep it next to your study materials. Every figure comes from published PGMS information.
| Item | What PGMS Publishes |
|---|---|
| Administering body | Professional Grounds Management Society (PGMS) |
| Exam delivery | Online, with an approved proctor |
| Number of questions | 75 |
| Time allowed | 90 minutes |
| Question types | Multiple-choice and true/false |
| Passing requirement | 80% |
| Exam fee | $200 member / $300 non-member / $400 join-and-apply |
| Retest fee | $50 |
| Initial testing window | 30 days |
| Portfolio due | Within one year |
| Renewal cycle | Every three years |
| Renewal CEUs | 25, at least 80% PGMS-approved |
| Renewal fee | $75, less $25 per member year |
Two details matter immediately. First, 75 questions in 90 minutes works out to roughly 72 seconds per question, which is comfortable for recall items but tight if you stall on calculation or identification problems. Second, an 80% requirement leaves little room: on a 75-question exam, that means you can afford to miss only a limited number of items. Note also that PGMS does not publish how many questions are scored versus unscored, so you cannot assume all 75 count or that a specific number do. For deeper discussion see CGM Passing Score 2026.
Two Stages: Exam First, Portfolio Second
The most common misunderstanding about this credential is treating the exam as the finish line. It is not. The path has two graded components:
- The application exam. A proctored online test of 75 questions, 90 minutes, 80% required.
- The PGME portfolio. A separately graded submission scored with a portfolio rubric, requiring mentorship and evidence submission. It is due within one year.
PGMS does not publicly disclose a pass rate for the PGME portfolio, and the exam pass rate is likewise not something you should expect to find as a hard published number. For a candid look at what is and is not known, read CGM Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows.
Eligibility Grid
Eligibility combines education with grounds-management and supervisory experience, plus at least one year at your current facility. Three tracks exist:
| Education Track | Grounds Experience | Supervisory Experience |
|---|---|---|
| Relevant four-year degree | 4 years | 2 years |
| Two-year degree | 6 years | 3 years |
| No qualifying degree | 8 years | 4 years |
In every track, you also need at least one year at your current facility. The tracks trade formal education for additional field time, so a long-tenured grounds supervisor without a degree has a legitimate route. Read the full eligibility discussion at CGM Requirements 2026 before paying any fee, since the fee is not the place to discover you fall short on experience.
The Seven Exam Subject Headings
The PGMS handbook lists seven illustrative subjects for the application exam. Treat them as unweighted preparation headings. They are not an exhaustive or weighted blueprint, and PGMS has not published a current dated blueprint (the official handbook carries 2022 annotations). The seven headings are:
1. Chemical and Fertilizers
The handbook subject covers applying and managing chemical and fertilizer inputs on managed landscapes.
- Read product labels as a working skill, not a formality.
- Know how fertilizer and chemical decisions connect to soil conditions and plant needs.
- Expect true/false items that test whether you know a safe, correct practice from an unsafe one.
2. Insects and Disease
Pest and disease recognition and management across turf, trees, and shrubs.
- Practice moving from symptom to likely cause to management response.
- Link this subject to the turf and tree subjects, since the same landscape supplies the scenarios.
3. Irrigation
Water delivery and management for landscape plantings and turf.
- Understand how irrigation scheduling interacts with soil type and plant demand.
- Be ready for operational questions, because grounds managers oversee systems rather than only install them.
4. Management
The people, planning, and operational side of running a grounds operation.
- Because supervisory experience is an eligibility requirement, expect this subject to reflect real supervisory judgment.
- Be comfortable with planning, resourcing, and oversight scenarios.
5. Soils
The foundation under every other subject.
- Soil conditions drive fertilizer, irrigation, turf, and tree decisions, so weakness here compounds elsewhere.
- Learn to reason from a described soil problem to a sensible corrective action.
6. Trees and Shrubs
Selection, care, and maintenance of woody plants in managed landscapes.
- Pair this with insects and disease, since woody-plant problems often appear as pest or disease scenarios.
7. Turf Grasses
Managing turf as a living, maintained surface.
- Connect turf questions to soils, irrigation, and chemical/fertilizer programs.
- Expect scenario framing in which several of the other subjects apply at once.
For a fuller walkthrough of each subject, see CGM Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 7 Content Areas.
What Is Not Published
A good cheat sheet is honest about its gaps. These are the items PGMS has not made public, and you should not trust any source that states them as fact:
- Largest domain weight. No weighting is published, so you cannot know which subject carries the most questions.
- Number of complete weighted exam domains. This count is unverified. The seven headings above are illustrative subjects, not a confirmed full weighted list.
- Scored versus unscored split. The 75 questions may include a split, but it is unpublished.
- Open-book status. The reviewed references do not establish whether the exam is open-book.
- Calculator, adaptive, and at-home rules. These are unverified in the supplied references. Confirm directly with PGMS and your proctor before test day.
- Portfolio pass rate. Not publicly disclosed.
Because no weights are published, a sensible approach is to prepare all seven subjects to a working standard rather than betting on any one. The article on how hard the CGM exam is explains why the 80% threshold makes uneven preparation risky.
Fees and Renewal
Initial Fees
The fee you pay depends on your PGMS membership status:
- $200 if you are already a PGMS member.
- $300 if you are not a member.
- $400 if you join PGMS and apply together.
The arithmetic is worth noticing: the non-member fee is $100 higher than the member fee, and the join-and-apply option is $100 higher than the non-member fee. Whether joining is worthwhile depends on how you value ongoing membership, since membership also reduces your later renewal cost. A retest costs $50, so a failed first attempt is far cheaper to recover from than the original fee. Full pricing context is in CGM Certification Cost 2026.
Timing
The initial testing window is 30 days, and the portfolio is due within one year. Plan backward from both. Scheduling specifics are covered in CGM Exam Dates 2026.
Renewal
Certification renews every three years. You need 25 CEUs, with at least 80% of them PGMS-approved. The renewal fee is $75, reduced by $25 for each year you were a PGMS member. By that formula, a member for the full three-year cycle would owe nothing, since $75 minus three times $25 is zero. Check the PGMS maintaining-certification page for the current mechanics.
Key Takeaway
Membership pays off twice: it lowers the initial exam fee by $100 versus non-member pricing, and it reduces your renewal fee by $25 per member year. If you plan to hold the credential long term, price those savings before choosing the non-member route.
Scheduling the Seven Subjects
Since no weighting exists, sequence the subjects by dependency rather than by guessed importance. Soils underlie fertilizer, irrigation, turf, and woody-plant decisions, so it goes first. A compact plan:
Soils, then Chemical and Fertilizers
- Build the soil foundation first, because later subjects reference it.
- Move into fertilizer and chemical practice while soil concepts are fresh.
Irrigation and Turf Grasses
- Study these together since turf performance depends on water management.
Trees and Shrubs, then Insects and Disease
- Cover woody plants first, then the pest and disease scenarios that attach to them and to turf.
Management and Timed Review
- Cover the management subject, then run timed sets at about 72 seconds per question.
- Revisit your weakest subject, since 80% leaves little margin.
Adjust the length to your own schedule and experience. A deeper plan is in the CGM Study Guide 2026, and you can drill question formats on the CGM practice test site. Remember that portfolio work runs on a separate track, so do not let exam prep crowd out the evidence gathering and mentorship the portfolio requires.
Where the Credential Gets Used
The credential is aimed at working grounds professionals who already manage or supervise landscape operations, which is why eligibility demands both field and supervisory years. That points to the kinds of settings where grounds managers work: campuses, corporate properties, institutions, and municipal or similar large managed landscapes. PGMS does not publish a list of employers in the sources reviewed here, so treat any claim about specific hiring organizations with caution.
Likewise, this sheet does not quote salary figures, because none appear in the reviewed PGMS sources. For a measured discussion of earnings and whether the investment makes sense, read the CGM Salary Guide and Is the CGM Certification Worth It?. To see how the credential shows up in job postings, visit CGM Jobs.
Quick-Answer FAQ
The initial exam has 75 questions in a mix of multiple-choice and true/false, with 90 minutes to finish. PGMS does not publish how many are scored versus unscored.
You need 80%. Because PGMS publishes no domain weights and no scored/unscored split, aim for solid command of all seven subject headings rather than relying on strength in a few.
No. The nine PGME categories are portfolio categories graded with a rubric. The exam uses seven illustrative subject headings: Chemical and Fertilizers, Insects and Disease, Irrigation, Management, Soils, Trees and Shrubs, and Turf Grasses. These are unweighted preparation headings, not a confirmed weighted blueprint.
The exam costs $200 for PGMS members, $300 for non-members, and $400 to join and apply together. A retest is $50. Renewal every three years costs $75, less $25 per year of PGMS membership.
The references reviewed do not establish open-book status, and calculator, adaptive, and at-home rules are unverified. Ask PGMS and your approved proctor to confirm the rules in writing before test day.
For broader orientation, the overview pages What Is CGM? and CGM Certification pair well with this sheet, and the CGM cheat sheet is the page to bookmark for fast reference.