Physical therapy CE certificate requirements for every state board

California: approval agencies, 7-year provider records

The Board does not approve courses or providers. A course must come from a provider approved by a Board-recognised approval agency, or from an accredited institution. The provider “shall provide a certificate of completion to attendees”; the rule sets no contents. Advertising must carry the agency name, the provider approval number and the approved hours, so put them on the certificate. Providers keep course and attendance records 7 years. Licensees keep records showing the title, the date and the record of participation for 5 years. No reporting system. One hour is at least 50 minutes.

Texas: CCAP approval, licence number, 4 years

Courses must be approved by the Board-selected organisation, the TPTA Continuing Competence Approval Program, or come from an accredited provider. The completion document for a live course must show the licensee’s name and licence number, the title, the sponsor or provider, the dates, the location, the CCUs awarded, an authorised signer’s signature and the approval or provider number. Self-study shows the instructional format instead of location. Licensees keep the originals 4 years after the licence expiration date and answer an audit within 30 days. A rule effective 1 November 2025 requires the approval contractor to run an online repository for completion documents.

Florida: CE Broker report within 30 days, 4 years

Courses must be Board-approved, or sponsored or approved by APTA, FPTA or an accredited PT program. A contact hour is 50 clock minutes. The rule sets no certificate contents, but a self-paced course needs a certificate of completion and an examination. Florida Board-approved providers must enter each program in CE Broker before it runs and report each completion within 30 days, with the licensee’s licence number. Licensees keep certificates or other proof for not less than 4 years from the date the offering was taken. At most 12 of the 24 hours may be self-paced.

New York: deemed and approved sponsors, 6 years

Sponsors are either deemed approved (a national or New York PT organisation, a national organisation of boards, a hospital or health facility, a college) or approved by the Department for three years after an application. Fifty minutes make one hour. The regulation sets no certificate contents, but NYSED’s sponsor application requires a Department-approved sponsor to give a certificate of completion with the sponsor’s name and address, the participant’s name, the course title, the date and location, the educational method, the contact hours and the approved-provider statement. Licensees keep a record of the title, hours, sponsor name and number, attendance verification, and date and location for at least 6 years. An approved sponsor must keep attendance or participation records, an outline, the date, location and hours of each course for at least 6 years. No reporting system.

Pennsylvania: five named elements, 5 years

Proof is “a certificate of completion or other documentation issued by the course or program provider” showing the participant’s name, the provider’s name, the dates, the course name and any Board-issued approval number, and the number of contact hours or academic credit. APTA and its components, FSBPT and its jurisdictions, and CAPTE-accredited programs are preapproved providers; others apply and the Board publishes the list. Licensees keep proof for 5 years after completion or after the renewal period, whichever is later, and answer an audit within 30 days. No reporting system.

Illinois: six-item certificate, sponsor keeps 5 years

Approved sponsors are APTA and its components (including IPTA-approved programs), FSBPT, qualifying colleges and any sponsor the Division authorises. The sponsor must verify attendance and give a certificate of attendance showing the sponsor’s name, the participant’s name, a detailed statement of the subject matter, the hours actually attended in each topic, the date and the sponsor’s signature. The sponsor keeps these records not less than 5 years; the licensee keeps evidence 5 years. A CE hour is 50 minutes; after the first hour credit may be given in half-hour steps. No reporting system.

Ohio: Ohio approval number on every certificate

Every course needs a current Ohio approval number, issued through OPTA under contract with the Board; a number from another state or a national body is not enough. OPTA’s policy says the participant must be given a letter or certificate of attendance showing the participant’s name, the name and dates of the course, the signature of the sponsor or instructor, the CEUs earned and the Ohio approval number. A unit is one clock hour. The Board audits a number of licensees each renewal year; the rule sets no retention period.

Georgia: CE Broker, 5 years

The Board adopts CE Broker as its recording system at no extra cost to licensees, and registration gives the Board access to the records for an audit. Programs approved by APTA, PTAG or FSBPT ProCert may be considered for approval; the 4-hour Georgia ethics course must come from a Georgia PT program or a provider with a PTAG approval certificate. A course record must show the number of contact hours and that the content relates to patient care; a home-study certificate must identify the sponsoring entity. Licensees keep the originals not less than 5 years. The rule does not define a contact hour or say whether providers report.

North Carolina: 30 points, six-item evidence, provider list within 90 days, 4 years

North Carolina counts points, not hours: a PT needs 30 and a PTA 20 in each 25-month reporting period. A registered attendee at a live course or conference from an approved provider earns one point per contact hour (at least 50 consecutive minutes) and “shall retain the Certificate of Attendance issued by the approved provider”. A non-interactive electronic course or home-study program needs a certificate of completion from the provider. The evidence for each activity must show the approved provider’s name, the accrediting organisation’s name, the title, the date, the hours and the provider’s record of attendance or participation. Licensees keep it 4 years after the end of the reporting period and answer an audit within 30 days. Providers send the Board the activity code number and a list of licensees who completed the activity, with name and licence number, within 90 days. The licensee also completes the Board’s online jurisprudence exercise each reporting period and gets a certificate from the Board.

Michigan: 24 PDR credits, 4 years

Licensees earn 24 professional development requirement (PDR) credits in the 2 years before renewal and keep documentation for 4 years from the renewal application. If audited, the licensee provides a letter or certificate of completion showing the licensee’s name, the number of credits earned, the sponsor name or the name of the organisation that approved the program, and the date or dates the program was held or completed. Courses count if approved or offered for credit by another state PT board, FSBPT, APTA or its components, or an accredited PT or PTA program. One PDR credit is 50 to 60 minutes of continuous instruction. No reporting system.

FSBPT: standards remain, ProCert and aPTitude closed

FSBPT’s Continuing Competence Activity Standards require that the provider “maintains cumulative records with appropriate security for a period of five years” and keeps documentation of how the activity was developed, delivered and assessed. The ProCert guidance expected providers to be able to tell a licensee or an outside party that the participant took part. FSBPT announced in July 2019 that ProCert, aPTitude and oPTion would end; Nevada told licensees the system would close by the end of 2019. Some state rules still name ProCert; treat those entries as historical.