Planning Tools
Sterile Processing Planning Tools
Which Tool Should You Start With?
Start with the program finder to shortlist courses near you, price your finalists in the course cost calculator, then use the CRCST 400-hour planner to see how you'll log the hands-on hours certification needs. The state certification checker shows whether your state's law requires it. The tools run on 212 programs at 204 schools, each checked on the school's own pages in November 2026.
- Sterile Processing Program FinderDecides which programs to shortlist. Set your ZIP or state, credential, format, schedule, length, clinical hours, exam voucher and budget, and get the verified programs that fit, with the reason each one matched.
- CRCST 400-Hour PlannerDecides how and when you can certify. Tell it where you are now (in a program with clinicals, working in an SPD, or starting out) and see the route to HSPA's 400 hands-on hours, how long it takes at your weekly hours, and programs near you with clinical hours.
- Sterile Processing Course Cost CalculatorDecides what a course will cost you in full. Start from a program's published price, add the exam fee and books where the program doesn't include them, and set the total against BLS pay in your state.
- Does My State Require Sterile Processing Certification?Decides whether your state requires certification. Pick a state to see whether its law requires sterile processing certification, which credentials count and how long new hires have, from the statute itself.
What the Tools Are Built on
Every program in the tools was read on the school's own pages: credential, format, schedule, length, clock hours or credits, the clinical rotation and its hours, the certification exams named, what the price includes and the published cost. 164 programs include clinical hours, 43 state 400 or more, and 85 publish a whole-program price.
Certification rules are quoted from HSPA's CRCST pages and CBSPD's CSPDT page, read November 11, 2026: 400 hands-on hours for the CRCST, a 6-month window for provisional candidates, and exam fees of $140 (CRCST) and $135 (CSPDT). Pay is BLS data for medical equipment preparers, a national median of $47,700 a year (May 2025).
Your Answers Stay in Your Browser
Each tool downloads the site's public program file once and does its work on your device. Nothing you choose or type is sent to this site or stored on a server, and no account is needed.
Sources
- Official program pages of each school, reviewed November 2026
- Healthcare Sterile Processing Association (HSPA): Certified Registered Central Service Technician (CRCST), read November 11, 2026
- HSPA: CRCST Renewal - Healthcare Sterile Processing Association, read November 11, 2026
- Certification Board for Sterile Processing and Distribution (CBSPD): SPD Technician Certification Exam C.S.P.D.T - CBSPD, read November 11, 2026
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025: Medical Equipment Preparers