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SAS Certified Associate: Programming Fundamentals Using SAS® 9.4 — Requirements & Free Practice

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SAS Certified Associate: Programming Fundamentals Using SAS® 9.4

SAS certification validating foundational SAS programming skills.

Licensing authority: SAS Institute Inc. · Application information

Initial by examination
SAS 9.4 Programming Fundamentals Exam
Applicability
The current US A00-215 page, its M5 statement and directly linked current guide and certification pathway support applicability at the evaluation date. Official start and end dates are unpublished and remain null; retrieval dates are not effective dates.
Cancellation
Cancel or reschedule at least 24 hours before the scheduled appointment; otherwise the full exam fee is forfeited, including no-shows.
Candidate Agreement
Candidates must accept the SAS Global Certification Candidate Agreement to test; the current linked agreement is revision 26.03.
Certification
Successful completion of the required testing, compliance with the Candidate Agreement and the corresponding SAS trademark guidelines; certification award remains subject to SAS program conditions.
Eligibility
The official credential page expressly addresses people new to SAS coding and students entering the workforce; its training resources are preparation, not an asserted separate examination prerequisite.
Retakes
Up to five attempts in a 12-month period, with at least 14 days between attempts; after a passing score no further attempts are allowed on that exam for this initial qualification route. The ordinary policy charges for each attempt, subject to the conditional Pearson Global Retake Offer linked by the SAS portal and applicable to US SAS candidates at the evaluation date. The advertised offer period is September 29–November 17, 2026; the detailed terms additionally require initial completion prior to November 17, 2026. To qualify, candidates aged 18 or older must opt in, register using the emailed promo code, pay full price and take the initial examination within the applicable offer conditions. After failing that eligible attempt, one same-exam retake per participating exam program is discounted to $0 and must be taken January 4–April 7, 2027, following the program's rescheduling and retake policies. The offer excludes SAS candidates in China, India and Taiwan, cannot be combined with other offers or promotions, and excludes terminated or revoked exam sessions. It is non-transferable, may not be resold, is void where prohibited or its terms are violated, and may be modified or cancelled by Pearson. The age threshold is a promotion condition only, not an examination-eligibility minimum; promotion periods are not the route's adoption or validity dates.
Scheduling
Schedule or modify an examination appointment through the official SAS Certification Portal and Pearson VUE; special pre-scheduled events also exist, without creating another examination.

SAS 9.4 Programming Fundamentals Exam

Provider
SAS and Pearson VUE
Format
Multiple choice and short-answer questions
Exam questions
Total questions: 60–65.
Time limit
120 minutes
Passing score
68%
Exam fee
US$120 standard exam fee
Examination outline
  • Fundamental SAS Concepts
    • Recall general rules of DATA and PROC steps.
    • Recognize general rules of SAS statements including global statements.
    • Interpret the SAS log.
    • Distinguish between syntax and logic errors.
  • Explore SAS Data Sets
    • Recall naming conventions used for SAS data sets and variables.
    • Recognize variable types (character and numeric).
    • Explain how to create and manipulate SAS date values.
    • Recognize how SAS stores missing data.
    • Use the LIBNAME statement to read SAS data sets.
    • Use PROC CONTENTS to view the descriptor portion of a data set.
    • Recall how to use Data Set options: DROP=, KEEP=, RENAME=, OBS=.
  • Using the DATA Step to Access SAS Data Sets
    • Use the DATA statement to create one or multiple data sets.
    • Use the SET statement to read a data set.
    • Explain how to combine data sets.
    • Explain the compilation and execution process of the DATA step.
    • Subset observations and variables.
  • Using the DATA Step to Manipulate Data
    • Create or update variables.
    • Recognize SAS Functions.
    • Perform conditional processing.
    • Control the output of observations.
    • Create an accumulating variable.
    • Explain the function of iterative DO loops.
    • Assign permanent attributes.
  • Generate Reports Using PROC Steps
    • Use PROC PRINT to generate a detail report.
    • Use PROC MEANS to generate a summary report.
    • Use PROC FREQ to generate a frequency report.
    • Identify methods to enhance reports.
  • Use Utility Procedures
    • Use PROC SORT to sort a report based on values of a variable.
    • Use PROC FORMAT to define custom formats.
  • Import and Export non-SAS files
    • Use a procedure to transfer a CSV file.
    • Use the LIBNAME statement to import/export an Excel file with XLSX engine.
    • Use ODS to direct reports to external files.
Examination sources