SLP Continuing Education Across States: Hours, Cycles and Required Topics

Continuing education is the renewal requirement that quietly multiplies. One license means one set of hours on one cycle. Three licenses can mean three cycles, three different totals and a list of mandatory topics that only partly overlap. ASHA's own certification maintenance runs on yet another clock. The good news is that a well-chosen course often counts in several places at once.

How many CE hours do states require?

ASHA's state information pages, which ASHA collects from state boards and reviews yearly, summarize the license CE requirement for each state. Grouped by what those pages list for SLPs and audiologists:

• None: Alaska (not required for licensees) and Hawaii.
• 10 hours every year: Arkansas, Idaho, Louisiana, Maine, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, Virginia and Wyoming.
• 12 hours every year: Alabama.
• 16 hours every two years: South Carolina.
• 20 hours every two years: Arizona, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
• 24 hours every two years: California.
• 26 hours every two years: Iowa.
• 30 hours every two years: Delaware, Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota and Oregon. New Hampshire requires 30 for SLPs and 20 for audiologists.
• 30 hours every three years: Missouri, New York, North Carolina and Washington.
• 36 hours every two years: Indiana.

Colorado is the outlier: it certifies SLPs, and an archived copy of its continuing professional competency page describes a self-assessment, learning goals and 10 professional development activities per renewal period rather than an hour count. Treat any summary, including this one, as a starting point and confirm with the board before you plan a cycle.

Which states require specific topics?

Matching hours is not enough when a state names the content. From the boards and rules we read:

• Texas: 20 clock hours for SLPs and audiologists, including 2 in ethics, plus a human trafficking prevention course approved by the Health and Human Services Commission before you can renew. Dual SLP and audiology licensees need 30 hours, with 2 in ethics. Courses must come from providers approved by ASHA, the Texas Speech-Language-Hearing Association, the American Academy of Audiology or the Texas Academy of Audiology.
• New York: 30 hours each three-year registration cycle, at least 20 in a "professional" area. Only two-thirds may be self-directed online study; the other third must be in person, live online or synchronous. Audiologists who dispense hearing aids must take six of their professional hours in hearing aid selection and fitting.
• Pennsylvania: renewal requires the CE hours plus at least 2 hours of approved training in child abuse recognition and reporting (49 Pa. Code § 45.13(g)).
• Florida: the board's renewal page lists 30 hours per cycle: 18 clinically related, 10 general hours that may be non-clinical, and a 2-hour board-approved course on preventing medical errors, with licenses renewing by December 31 of odd-numbered years. Florida tracks CE through CE Broker and tells licensees not to send certificates to the board.
• District of Columbia: DC Health reminds licensees that two hours of LGBTQ cultural competency and the public health priorities requirement apply even during its move to birth-month renewals.

How is a CE hour counted?

Usually as a clock hour, with a continuing education unit worth ten of them. Texas defines one CEU as 10 clock hours of participation in an approved activity, so its 20-hour requirement is 2 CEUs; Georgia uses the same conversion and requires 2.0 CEUs per biennium. New York counts hours but sorts them: at least 20 of its 30 must be in a "professional" area, meaning normal processes and the assessment and treatment of speech, voice, language, hearing and swallowing disorders for SLPs, while the rest may be in related areas such as legal or regulatory issues, reimbursement, supervision, business practices and ethics. Florida splits its 30 hours into clinically related, general and medical-errors hours. A course that fits one state's category can land in a different one elsewhere, so keep the course description with each certificate.

What if your CE is not done when the license is due?

Expect a cost. Texas says CE must be completed before the license expires "to avoid payment of a late renewal fee," and it audits a random sample after renewal. California says an incomplete renewal form is the most frequent cause of delay for mailed renewals and tells licensees to make sure the continuing education question is answered. When a license lapses for long enough, the CE bill grows: Indiana's reinstatement for a license expired three to six years asks for 36 hours, and for more than six years 72 hours with at least 36 in the last two years. See reinstating a lapsed license.

Can extra hours carry over to the next cycle?

In some states. Texas lets you carry up to 10 extra clock hours into the next renewal period, two of which may be ethics, or 15 for dual licensees. Georgia does not allow any carryover, according to an archived copy of its board's FAQ. Where carryover is not mentioned, assume none.

Do first renewals need the full hours?

Often at a discount. Florida's statute exempts a licensee first licensed six months or less before the end of the biennial cycle from CE for that first renewal (Fla. Stat. § 468.1195). Georgia prorates the first biennium: 20 hours if licensed in the first six months, 15 in the second, 10 in the third and none in the last six months. Read the rule for your issue date before you buy a year of courses you do not need.

Who checks that you did the hours?

Most states rely on your attestation and an audit. Texas selects a random sample for audit after renewal and asks for certificates or transcripts; it tells licensees to keep CE records for at least three years. Florida checks hours through CE Broker. An audit years later is the reason to keep every certificate in one place, organized by license and cycle.

Does ASHA CE count toward a state license?

Often, but the two requirements are separate. ASHA's Standard VIII requires CCC holders to earn 30 professional development hours every three years, including 1 in ethics and 2 in a second required content area, and to pay annual dues. Texas names ASHA among its approved providers, so an ASHA course can count for both. Renewing the CCC does not renew any state license. See ASHA certification renewal and state license renewal.

What about CE for a compact privilege?

You meet CE only for your home state. The ASLP Commission's FAQ says continuing education is completed for the home state license, not for each privilege. A privilege holder still has to know each remote state's practice law, which is a separate question from CE. See renewing ASLP privileges with your home license.

How do you plan CE for several licenses?

1. List each license with its cycle dates and total hours.
2. List every named topic across all of them: ethics, human trafficking, child abuse reporting, medical errors, cultural competency, dispensing.
3. Choose courses from providers every board accepts, so each hour counts everywhere it can.
4. Take live or synchronous hours if New York is on your list.
5. Finish before each expiration date, not during a late-renewal window. Texas charges a late renewal fee if CE is not complete before expiration.

Where do we come in?

Our Annual Renewal and CE Compliance service is $299 per license, per year. We map every license you hold to its cycle, hours and required topics, tell you which courses satisfy which states, track your certificates and remind you well before each deadline. You take the courses and attest to them yourself. See keeping several renewals on one calendar for the dates side.