The only advanced credential exam for health educators, The Master Certified Health Education Specialist (MCHES), involved a seven-year process. The process began in December 2004, with the information from the Competency Update Project (CUP) report that health educators practice at entry- and advanced-levels of practice. In October 2011, the date of the first MCHES exam, the process will be complete. Presented in this paper are the decisions and steps the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing (NCHEC) made from 2004 to 2011 to bring advanced-level certification to health education specialists. (Contains 2 tables.)