How Much Does an ANA Membership Cost?

Updated on August 31, 2026 | Written by Alec Pow
This article was researched using 10 sources. See our methodology and corrections policy.

American Nurses Association membership currently costs $183 per year or $15.75 per month for Joint Standard membership, which includes both ANA and the participating State Nurses Association. Joint Premier starts at $294 per year or $25 per month, while ANA-Only membership costs $198 per year or $17 per month in the limited states and jurisdictions where it is offered. Nursing students can get an ANA Student Subscription for $10 per year, with a free option tied to NSNA participation or opt-in.

These prices took effect on April 16, 2026 and replace the older model that could make ANA membership look like a $500+ annual expense after separately adding state dues. For Joint Standard and Joint Premier, state association membership is already part of the listed dues.

The financial value depends on how a nurse uses the membership. Standard members receive a $100 ANCC certification discount, while Premier members receive an additional $100 certification discount plus added continuing nursing education and professional resources.

Article Highlights

• Joint Standard membership costs $183 (at $30 per hour, earning that amount would take about 6.1 hours of work, before taxes)/year or $15.75/month and includes participating state association membership.
• Joint Premier starts at $294/year or $25/month and adds CNE, certification savings, eBooks, and other benefits.
• ANA-Only membership costs $198/year or $17/month and is available only in seven listed jurisdictions.
• The Nursing Student Subscription costs $10/year and can be free through the current NSNA-linked opt-in path.
• Paying Standard dues annually saves $6 compared with twelve monthly payments.
• A Standard member using a qualifying $100 ANCC certification discount has only $83 of the annual dues left to offset through other benefits.

How Much Does an ANA Membership Cost?

ANA option	Annual price	Monthly price	State association included?
Joint Standard	$183 (about 6.1 hours of work at $30 per hour)	$15.75	Yes
Joint Premier	Starts at $294	$25	Yes
ANA-Only	$198	$17	No
Nursing Student Subscription	$10	Not listed as a monthly plan	No

ANA’s current membership price page lists these options as effective April 16, 2026. Joint Standard is $183 annually, Joint Premier starts at $294 annually, ANA-Only is $198 annually, and the student subscription is $10 annually.

The word “joint” matters. Joint Standard and Joint Premier already pair ANA membership with the participating Constituent or State Nurses Association. The older practice of taking an ANA price and adding another estimated $180 to $240 of state dues on top would overstate the current listed cost for these joint tiers.

Annual Payment Saves a Little

Standard membership costs $15.75 (about 32 minutes at $30 per hour) per month. Twelve payments total $189. Paying the listed $183 annual rate saves $6, or about 3.2%.

ANA-Only works the same way. Twelve payments of $17 total $204, compared with $198 for the annual option. The annual saving is again $6.

Premier is listed at $25 per month, which totals $300 over twelve months. ANA’s tier description currently says the annual price starts at $294, making the annual saving $6 at that starting price. One comparison row on the same ANA page currently displays $295 instead, a one-dollar discrepancy worth checking at checkout. Using that figure would make the annual saving $5.

For a nurse building a yearly professional budget, these dues sit beside licensing, education, certification, and work clothing such as nurse scrubs. Paying annually lowers ANA’s listed cash outlay slightly, but monthly billing can spread the expense across the year.

Standard vs Premier

Standard is the lower-cost joint tier. ANA’s current member benefits include an American Nurse Journal subscription, free and discounted CNE, membership webinars, professional tools, mentoring access, career resources, advocacy participation, personal-benefit programs, and a $100 discount on ANCC initial certification or renewal.

Premier adds a second $100 certification discount along with extra CNE courses, certification test-strategy material, selected eBooks, added publication discounts, and a state-event discount. ANA’s Premier benefits page assigns $856 of extra value above Standard to its current package, including $585 of listed CNE value.

The cash comparison is more useful when tied to something the nurse will actually buy. Using the $294 starting annual price, Premier costs $111 more than the $183 Standard tier. If the nurse uses the extra $100 certification discount that year, only $11 of the Premier premium remains before assigning any value to its extra courses, books, or event savings.

Certification

ANA membership can have a measurable payoff in a certification year. The association states that Standard members save $100 on an ANCC initial certification or renewal. One current example is the ANCC Family Nurse Practitioner certification, where the listed initial application price is $395 for a nonmember and $295 for an ANA member.

For a Standard member, subtracting that $100 certification saving from the $183 annual dues leaves $83. The nurse would need at least $83 of personal value from the remaining membership benefits to fully offset the dues in cash-equivalent terms.

Premier’s additional $100 discount can take the stated certification benefit to $200 on an eligible new or renewal certification. Using the $294 starting annual dues, that leaves $94 before counting the extra CNE and other benefits.

The exact ANCC fee and available discount should be checked for the specific credential. ANCC prices are not identical across every certification, and membership does not replace certification eligibility or renewal requirements. ANCC’s current renewal guidance also makes clear that certification renewal follows its own timeline and requirements. Letting ANA membership expire does not by itself create an automatic ANCC certification lapse.

Students Pay Far Less

Nursing students are not ordinary ANA RN members. ANA’s membership FAQ says individual membership is for registered nurses, while students can use the Student Subscriber program before becoming a licensed RN.

The current student nurse program lists the subscription at $10 per year. ANA also says NSNA members can sign up free and that a non-NSNA member can currently obtain the free subscriber path by opting in to receive NSNA membership information.

This makes the old $75 student membership figure obsolete. It also changes what the buyer receives. A Student Subscription gives students selected ANA digital resources, community access, career material, and publications, but it is not the same membership class as licensed-RN Joint Standard or Premier membership.

Retiree and Group Rates

There is no current national $174 retired-member price or $159 reduced-dues price that should be applied to every nurse. ANA’s current membership FAQ says veteran, retiree, student, and similar discounted rates vary by state and directs nurses to Customer Care for the applicable price.

Group membership also should not be quoted as a universal $248 per person plan. ANA currently says organizations can purchase memberships in bulk for licensed nurses, but its public membership page does not publish one nationwide group rate or promise a fixed $70 to $120 saving per person.

Employers considering a bulk plan need a current ANA quote. That may still reduce the effective price for a participating nurse, but the discount should be based on the employer’s offer rather than an old national estimate.

The Hidden Dues Detail

Membership availability itself can change the price decision. ANA-Only at $198 per year is currently limited to Alaska, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Louisiana, Nevada, North Carolina, and South Dakota. Other states use Standard, Premier, or both joint tiers, according to ANA’s state matrix.

This creates a counterintuitive result. ANA-Only costs $15 more per year than the $183 Joint Standard starting price even though ANA-Only does not include state association membership. The reason is that ANA-Only includes the benefit package associated with Premier rather than simply being Standard with the state portion removed.

The other hidden detail is ANA’s own $294 versus $295 Premier display discrepancy. The tier description lists “starts at $294/year,” while the comparison row currently shows “starting at $295/year.” A nurse joining Premier should use the amount shown for the selected state and checkout rather than treating either figure as a guaranteed nationwide invoice.

Benefits Need Personal Math

ANA assigns a stated total value of $1,261 to Standard and more than $2,000 to the higher tiers on its current membership page. Those figures should not be read as guaranteed cash savings. A free course valued by ANA at $25 saves a nurse $25 only if that nurse would otherwise have paid for a comparable course.

The American Nurse Journal is included as a membership benefit, and ANA assigns the subscription a $49 value. Standard members also get access to 36 CNE courses tied to the journal, which ANA values at $900 in aggregate.

Education discounts can matter much more for a nurse who is already planning another degree. ANA maintains tuition discount partnerships with multiple schools, with offers that vary by institution. Someone comparing another healthcare education path, such as ultrasound technician school costs, should compare the actual tuition saving against the membership dues rather than relying on ANA’s aggregate benefit valuation.

ANA also provides member-only professional tools and development material through its professional resources program.

Three Nurse Cost Scenarios

Standard member with no certification this year: Annual dues are $183. If the nurse uses free CNE, the journal, state-association programs, and networking but would not otherwise pay for those items, the value is professional rather than a direct cash saving. The membership still may fit the nurse’s goals, but the full $183 remains a real annual expense.

Standard member applying for FNP certification: The current FNP example shows a $100 ANA member discount. The $183 membership minus the $100 certification saving leaves $83. If the nurse then gets more than $83 of real use from CNE, state benefits, publications, or other discounts, the year’s membership has crossed the cash break-even point.

Premier member using the extra certification discount: Using the $294 starting annual rate, Premier costs $111 more than Standard. The extra $100 certification discount reduces that premium to $11. A nurse who also uses even one paid Premier resource worth more than $11 has offset the incremental cost of upgrading in that scenario.

Worked annual budget: Consider an RN paying $183 for Standard membership and $295 for an eligible ANCC initial certification after the member discount. The two cash outlays total $478. Without membership, the same certification example is $395. The membership-plus-certification path costs $83 more in cash, with the nurse receiving the rest of the Standard benefits for that difference.

When ANA Membership Makes Sense

Makes sense if:

• You plan to use an eligible ANCC certification or renewal discount.
• You value membership in both ANA and your State Nurses Association where Joint membership is available.
• You regularly use CNE, professional publications, mentoring, career tools, or state events.
• Your employer reimburses professional association dues under its own policy.

Does not make sense if:

• You are joining only for a benefit you can already access free elsewhere.
• Your preferred specialty association provides resources that better match your work and you do not plan to use ANA benefits.
• You are a nursing student paying full RN dues instead of using the current Student Subscriber route.
• You are counting ANA’s stated benefit valuations as cash savings for services you would never have purchased.

Nursing association dues are only one career expense. Education can cost far more, as seen in other professional programs such as chiropractor school, so the best membership comparison is the amount of ANA benefits a nurse expects to use during the same twelve-month period.

What We Verified

• Checked: ANA’s current published pricing is effective April 16, 2026 and lists Standard at $183/year, Premier starting around $294/year, ANA-Only at $198/year, and Student Subscription at $10/year.
• Confirmed: Joint Standard and Joint Premier include State Nurses Association membership, so a generic second layer of state dues should not be added to those listed prices.
• Cross-referenced: ANA members currently receive a $100 ANCC initial or renewal certification discount, with Premier adding another $100 discount.
• Verified: retiree, veteran, and similar reduced dues vary by state, while bulk organizational membership requires current group pricing rather than one public nationwide rate.

Answers to Common Questions

How much is ANA membership in 2026?
Joint Standard costs $183 per year or $15.75 per month. Joint Premier starts around $294 per year or $25 per month. ANA-Only is $198 per year or $17 per month where offered.

Are state nurses association dues extra?
Not for Joint Standard or Joint Premier. The current listed dues include membership in the participating State Nurses Association.

How much does ANA cost for a nursing student?
The current Nursing Student Subscription is $10 per year and can be free through ANA’s current NSNA-linked opt-in path. Students are subscribers rather than full RN members before becoming licensed RNs.

Does ANA membership lower ANCC certification fees?
Yes. Standard members currently receive a $100 discount on an eligible ANCC initial certification or renewal. Premier includes an additional $100 certification discount.

Is ANA membership worth the cost?
It depends on what you will use. For a Standard member using a qualifying $100 certification discount, only $83 of the $183 annual dues remains to be offset by other benefits. Nurses who do not use certification, CNE, state benefits, or member discounts may get less direct financial value.