Although the numbers are increasing, there are few academic nurse educators who possess the Certified Nurse Educator (CNE) credential. Addressing ways to facilitate acquiring such a credential would strengthen the pool of nurse educators with demonstrated knowledge and skill related to the role of the academic nurse educator regardless of the educator's educational preparation. In this quantitative, non-experimental, descriptive correlational study, the researcher examined the first-time unsuccessful attempts for the CNE examination from September 2005 through September 2011. The purpose of this study was: (a) to describe the characteristics of the unsuccessful first-time candidates for the CNE exam; (b) to determine any statistically significant relationship between failure and select demographic data related to highest degree obtained by the candidate and candidate institutional affiliation as coded by this researcher; and (c) to determine any statistically significant relationship between failure and each content area of the CNE exam. Data analyses revealed that there is a statistically significant relationship between first-time failure on the CNE exam and a candidate's highest degree obtained as well as institutional affiliation. Results also indicated that there is no statistically significant effect on mean scores in any of the six content areas measured by the CNE exam as related to degree or institutional affiliation. It is anticipated that the results of this study will help academic nursing education leaders understand how to prepare potential candidates for success on the academic nurse educator examination and to equip administrators with necessary information to inform appropriate faculty development and continuing education opportunities.