APEA

What APEA does

APEA (Advanced Practice Education Associates, LLC), founded in 1997 and headquartered in Lafayette, Louisiana, is a private nurse practitioner education company operating as an ATI brand under the Ascend Learning parent conglomerate. The company specializes in certification exam preparation and continuing education for nurse practitioners (NPs), serving graduate-level NP students pursuing credentials such as FNP, AGPCNP, AGACNP, PMHNP, PNP, WHNP, and ENP, as well as practicing NPs maintaining licensure and NP programs requiring curriculum resources. Co-owned and led by Amelie Hollier (CEO) and Jeanie Doucet (COO), APEA claims a 25+ year track record with more than 157,000 students having passed their certification exams on first attempt using its materials.

APEA's product portfolio is built around a comprehensive NP exam prep ecosystem. Core offerings include live 2-day intensives and 6-week live review courses taught by practicing NP clinicians, on-demand video/audio review courses, an 8-bank question bank (MyQBank) with 800+ questions per bank and progress tracking, a 150-question timed Predictor Exam that maps results to 16 knowledge areas, and paid practice tests. Supporting products include a CE Library for ongoing contact hours, clinical reference books (Clinical Guidelines in Primary Care by Amelie Hollier, Certification Practice Questions), clinical tools such as Amelie's Antibiotic Cards, and the CareOnPoint clinical content platform. Distribution runs through a direct-to-consumer e-commerce storefront at apea.com, an institutional/university subscription channel with an online testing center, in-person and live online course events across multiple US cities, and a mobile app on iOS and Android. The technology stack is a conventional online learning platform — video/audio course delivery, item banks, simulated exams, and webinar infrastructure — without disclosed AI/ML capability.

Revenue is generated primarily through bundled subscription offerings (3-month at $451.95 and 6-month at $485.95 combining review course access with MyQBank and Predictor Exam), per-seat live course registrations with early-bird and group discounts, one-time purchases of practice tests, books, and clinical tools, and recurring CE library subscriptions. Pricing is publicly disclosed at the SKU level, and the company offers a "free repeat course" guarantee on live courses if students do not pass on first attempt. In December 2021, APEA joined ATI Nursing Education, the undergraduate nursing assessment brand of Ascend Learning, enabling cross-sell into a much larger nursing education footprint while retaining its own brand identity. No revenue figures, headcount beyond an 11–50 band, or independent funding events were disclosed in the source material.

Name

APEA

Legal name

Advanced Practice Education Associates, LLC

Website

https://apea.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1997

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

APEA is a private nurse practitioner education company (founded 1997, Lafayette, Louisiana) that provides certification exam prep, continuing education, and clinical reference tools to NP students, practicing NPs, and NP programs via its e-commerce site, live courses, and institutional subscriptions, operating as an ATI brand under Ascend Learning.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Nursing Certification Exam Preparation

NAICS

Technical and Trade Schools (6115), All Other Schools and Instruction (61169)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Diagnostic Assessment, Placement & Progress Testing (ASE) (EDAAABAE)

Keywords

• Nurse practitioner certification
• Exam preparation courses
• Continuing nursing education
• Clinical reference books
• Medical question banks

Headquarters

HQ city

Lafayette

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Exam Prep Bundles: Subscription-based exam prep bundles offering video/audio review courses combined with access to question banks and predictor exams. Available in 3-month and 6-month terms.
2. Live Review Courses: In-person or live online certification review courses taught by experienced NP clinicians. Offered as 2-day intensives or 6-week programs.
3. On-Demand Video/Audio Courses: Recorded review courses available for self-paced learning in video and audio formats
4. Continuing Education Content: CE library with hundreds of articles and learning media for practicing NPs to earn contact hours
5. Books and Clinical Tools: Physical and digital publications including Clinical Guidelines in Primary Care, certification question books, and clinical reference tools
6. Practice Tests: 100 exam-level practice questions with detailed rationales and results by knowledge area and testing domain. Users can purchase up to 5 unique practice tests.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

APEA provides nurse practitioner certification exam preparation and continuing education through live and on-demand review courses, large question banks (MyQBank), simulated predictor exams, practice tests, continuing education content, and clinical reference books. Offerings are sold primarily as self-serve subscriptions and bundles directly to NP students and practicing NPs, with institutional subscriptions serving university NP programs.

Product overview

APEA is an education technology company focused on nurse practitioner certification and continuing education. The product portfolio centers on a comprehensive exam preparation ecosystem combining live and on-demand review courses (NP Live Review Courses, On-Demand Review Courses) with practice and assessment tools (MyQBank Study Questions, Predictor Exam, Practice Tests). These core offerings are available as standalone products or bundled in Exam Prep Bundles (3-month and 6-month tiers). Supporting products include the CE Library for continuing education, clinical reference books (Clinical Guidelines in Primary Care, Family and Adult-Gero Nurse Practitioner Certification Questions Book), Clinical Tools (including Amelie's Antibiotic Cards), and the monthly NP Power Hour webinar series. APEA also provides an Online Testing Center platform for institutional subscribers and the CareOnPoint content platform. The company is an ATI brand under parent company Ascend Learning.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• MyQBank: Online study question bank with practice questions and detailed rationales for NP exam preparation
• Predictor Exam
• NP Power Hour
• CareOnPoint

Products and services

• NP Live Review Courses Comprehensive in-person and live online certification review courses taught by experienced nurse practitioner clinicians, preparing candidates for AANP and ANCC exams with a guaranteed success promise.
• On-Demand Review Courses Recorded video and audio review courses available for self-paced NP certification exam preparation, accessible via the APEA online learning platform.
• Exam Prep Bundles Bundled packages combining on-demand review courses with MyQBank access and a Predictor Exam, offered in 3-month and 6-month access tiers for NP certification candidates.
• MyQBank Study Questions Online question bank with 8 total question banks containing 800+ questions per bank, detailed answer rationales, and progress tracking for NP certification exam preparation.
• Predictor Exam Simulated 150-question timed certification exam that predicts the candidate's likelihood of passing the real exam, with results broken down into 16 knowledge areas.
• Practice Tests 100-question exam-level practice tests with detailed rationales and results categorized by knowledge area and testing domain, sold individually with up to 5 unique tests per user.
• CE Library On-demand continuing education platform offering hundreds of articles and learning media for practicing NPs to earn contact hours.
• Clinical Guidelines in Primary Care (Hollier) Comprehensive clinical reference book by Amelie Hollier covering primary care guidelines, widely used as a primary study tool for NP certification exams.
• Family and Adult-Gero Nurse Practitioner Certification Questions Book Certification practice question book with detailed rationales for NP exam preparation, available in 4th edition.
• Amelie's Antibiotic Cards Clinical reference tool containing antibiotic information organized by microbe and generation, designed for quick lookup in clinical practice settings.
• NP Power Hour Monthly live webinar series featuring in-depth case study reviews, board-style questions, and live Q&A on rotating NP practice topics.

Quantifiable outcome

• 157,000+ students have passed their NP certification exams on the first attempt using APEA materials

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• ATI Nursing EducationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 8 December 2021APEA joined ATI Nursing Education, the most trusted name in undergraduate nursing assessments, content, and review services. Through this complementary partnership, APEA continues serving NP programs with effective resources while gaining new opportunities to expand its reach under the Ascend Learning parent company.
• Ascend LearningcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAscend Learning is the parent company of APEA and multiple healthcare education brands including ATI, NHA, MedHub, and BoardVitals. APEA operates as an ATI brand within the Ascend Learning portfolio of companies.
• American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAANP is the largest professional membership organization for NPs of all specialties. AANP honors APEA faculty members with state and national awards for excellence and advocacy.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Osmosis (Elsevier): Osmosis, now part of Elsevier, delivers medical and nursing education videos, question banks, and study tools to learners and institutions. It is comparable as a digital learning platform competing for the same nursing/NP student attention and institutional budgets.
• Lecturio: Lecturio provides video-based medical and nursing education with question banks and spaced-repetition tools. It overlaps with APEA in serving nursing students seeking on-demand review content, but spans a wider medical curriculum.
• ATI Nursing Education: ATI is APEA's sister brand within Ascend Learning and the dominant provider of undergraduate nursing assessments, content, and review. It is comparable as a nursing-education assessment platform serving institutional customers, though it sits at the pre-licensure stage rather than NP certification.
• Kaplan Nursing: Kaplan offers NCLEX and broader nursing prep through live and online courses, question banks, and institutional programs. It competes with APEA in the NP certification prep space as part of a larger, multi-discipline test-prep portfolio.

Emerging players

• Picmonic: Picmonic offers visual mnemonic-based study content for nursing and medical students, often used as a complement to question-bank prep. It is an emerging alternative/adjacent in NP study workflows that could substitute for or bundle with APEA's review courses.
• Simple Nursing: Simple Nursing produces video content, practice questions, and study guides for nursing students preparing for NCLEX and related exams. It is an emerging, video-led alternative that competes for nursing students' study time and budget.

Direct peers

• UWorld: UWorld provides question-bank-based exam preparation across nursing (including NP), medical, and other healthcare disciplines via subscription. It competes head-to-head with APEA's MyQBank on question quality, rationales, and predictive scoring for NP certification.
• TrueLearn: TrueLearn delivers adaptive question banks and practice exams for healthcare certification programs, including nurse practitioner boards. It overlaps with APEA's MyQBank and Predictor Exam on analytics-driven, predictive performance feedback.
• Hurst Review Services: Hurst Review is a long-standing nursing exam prep provider offering live and on-demand review courses, NCLEX prep, and associated materials. It is highly comparable to APEA in the live review + on-demand + QBank model for nursing certification.
• BoardVitals: BoardVitals offers question banks and exam prep for medical board certifications and is a sibling brand under Ascend Learning. It is directly comparable to APEA in operating a subscription question-bank model for healthcare professional certification, although it focuses on physician boards rather than NP boards.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCFbamy3tDS-mjEOazCUHYHA
• Facebookfacebook.com/apeanp
• Instagraminstagram.com/apeanp/?next=%2F
• Xx.com/ApeaNPcourses

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about APEA