Gleim CMA Review vs Becker CMA Exam Review

Content coverage

Gleim courses cover 100% of the ICMA Learning Outcome Statements. When the CMA exam changes, our content is quickly updated.

Gleim materials feature the legendary teaching methodology Dr. Gleim developed over the course of 50 years as a university and exam preparation professor. Refined specifically for CMAs over the last 40 years, our course and content are built to bring you true mastery of management accounting concepts.

We break our comprehensive coverage down into bite-sized pieces, so your large goal—CMA Exam success—becomes a manageable set of small steps.

Gleim’s mission is to provide the highest quality exam prep at an affordable price. We want everyone to pass the exam, not just those with money.

Becker’s CMA materials are all brand new. It’s too soon to see reviews from real customers to gauge the quality of their coverage.

Adaptive technology

Gleim has been “adaptive” for 40+ years. Identifying and focusing on your weak areas has always been a pillar of Dr. Gleim’s methodology and the key to his candidates’ overwhelming success.

That’s why Gleim decided to create SmartAdapt™, the first adaptive CMA platform, completely in-house. SmartAdapt incorporates decades of teaching success into a modern algorithm.

Every question in the Gleim course is mapped to a specific Learning Outcome Statement, so your mastery of CMA exam content can be precisely measured. SmartAdapt’s algorithm uses your diagnostic quiz scores, plus proven learning methodologies like spaced repetition, to guide your studies and deliver the content you need, when you need it.

Becker outsourced their adaptive technologies to Sana Labs, which created the Adapt2U adaptive learning technology. This adaptive system does not take into account years of teaching experience in CMA review but is just a standard learning algorithm.

According to Becker:

“This adaptive technology begins with a specially designed pre-assessment that provides a recommended study path so candidates can focus their time in the areas where they need it most. It also includes performance reports that help candidates track their development and provide feedback to highlight specific areas where they may need to build knowledge and confidence.”

Video lectures

Gleim features over 45 hours of video lecture content! Broken down by topic and subtopic, individual lectures are short, targeted, and easy to fit into study sessions of any length. They present in-depth instruction drawn from the ICMA’s Learning Outcome Statements and include comprehensive walk-throughs of essay and MCQ examples.

The lead lecturer, Professor Amy Ford, CMA, CPA, is currently hosting a free CMA webinar series called Office Hours, which provides candidates an additional 20+ hours of CMA content coverage to help them master tough topics.

Becker offers video lectures broken down by section, unit, and module. They also have SkillMaster videos covering each of their 76 essay questions, but release of the SkillMaster videos for Part 2 is pending.

Audio lectures

Gleim has audio lectures available for all major CMA exam topics. Audios contain a high-level overview of the material, so they’re not too overwhelming if you’re trying to multitask. You can stream or downloaded them, so you can decide when, where, and how you want to study.

Becker does not have audio lectures.

Flashcards

Digital flashcards are available from both providers, and both implement their flashcards similarly. They mostly ask targeted questions on the front and offer a detailed explanation on the back or ask you to complete a sentence. This is more effective than simply listing terms on the front and definitions on the back.

Questions

While both providers offer unlimited practice exams and have explanations written for the correct and incorrect answers of every single question, Gleim has built a reputation for having the best question bank with the most helpful and complete answer explanations.

Additionally, because Gleim has offered a CMA review course continuously since 1981, we have access to more questions released by the ICMA over the years and have kept them updated as standards have changed.

Exam emulation

Both Gleim and Becker simulate the Prometric CMA exam environment and provide mock exams that mirror the actual CMA exam experience. The mock exams from both providers use questions you haven’t seen within their respective courses.

Gleim extends our simulation of the Prometric interface to all of our questions, from adaptive quizzes to user-generated practice exams, so you’re as comfortable as possible on exam day.

Customer Support

Gleim and Becker both have robust support systems, but only Gleim won the Gold 2021 Stevie Award for Customer Service Department of the Year.

Gleim’s Personal Counselors will work with you, one-on-one, to help you set up a study plan, answer your questions about the exam process, and keep you motivated.

Gleim’s Accounting Experts are accessible from within the course and provide prompt and well-researched replies to questions about course content.

Becker’s CMA team is new and third-party reviews aren’t yet available.

Price

The Gleim Premium CMA Review System is regularly priced at $1,599.

Becker’s premium course, Becker CMA Review Pro, costs $2,099.

Why are these price points so different?

We can tell you why our Premium course is $1,599. We got here over the course of 40+ years spent helping candidates pass the CMA exam. Everything we do, price-setting included, is considered with our mission in mind: to help as many CMAs through the exam as we can while minimizing the time, frustration, and money it takes to get there.

We want you to succeed in your career, and this price point allows us to deliver the quality product our customers have come to expect and trust over the last four decades.