For a resident of Nebraska to obtain a new commercial or non-commercial pesticide applicator license, a person needs to do the following:

• Pass a General Standards (core) exam (60 multiple choice questions, 70% passing)
• Pass at least one category exam, tied to the sites or pests you will be controlling
• Complete a license request form
• Pay the appropriate license fee ($90 for a commercial license)

To register for commercial and noncommercial trainings, click here.
For PRIVATE applicator online training, click here.
For information about Pearson VUE testing, click here.

To prepare for these exams, a person should obtain study manuals through the University of Nebraska Extension at pested.unl.edu. A listing and description of categories can be found at: Categories of Commercial and Noncommercial Pesticide Applicators.

UNL Extension also offers Initial Certification training sessions where videos with a review of training highlights may be viewed prior to taking NDA exams. Please note that exams are based off the content of written manuals and NebGuides, not videos.

Exams taken at UNL Initial Training session and NDA Walk-In testing session are mailed to our offices for grading. Please allow up to 3 weeks for results during the months of February- April as we process exams from across the state.

To check on the status of a pesticide applicator exam, please email agr.pesticide@nebraska.gov and include:

• Full Name
• Date of birth
• Date of exam
• Location exam was taken

Once all exams are successfully completed, a billing statement for the license will be issued. An applicator is not considered licensed until all necessary exams are completed and the license fee has been collected and processed.

Licenses expire April 15 of the third year after it is obtained or renewed. Renewal of licenses may be accomplished by:

• Attending an approved continuing education course which includes updates to both General Standards (core) information and category-specific information.
• Complete a license request form.
• Pay the appropriate license fee.

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To register for all UNL Initial meetings, go to the UNL Pesticide Safety Education Program site. Registration will begin by Jan. 1, 2025.

To register for all other testing opportunities, click the corresponding link in the table above. In addition to the General Standards exam, categories with * at right are available through Pearson VUE testing sites.

At “testing only” sites, only testing is conducted for initial certification, adding categories or recertifying by exam.

Study material for all exams can be purchased from UNL Pesticide Safety Education Program.

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