CE requirements

OT and OTA — national certification (NBCOT)

The National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT) renews both OTR and COTA credentials. On the official NBCOT certification renewal page checked November 9, 2026, NBCOT states that certificants:

• Earn 36 units to renew
• Are on a 3-year Active in Good Standing cycle
• Pay $65 USD for online renewal, or $75 USD for paper renewal
• Renew during January–March annually

On the official NBCOT continuing education page checked the same day, NBCOT states that certificants complete at least 36 units per renewal cycle via CAUs and/or PDUs, and lists these conversions:

• 1 contact hour = 1 PDU
• 1 clock hour = 1 PDU
• 0.1 CEU = 1 PDU
• Education with assessment at the end = 1.25 PDUs per contact hour
• 1 CAU = 1 contact hour or 1 PDU
• IACET 1 CEU = 10 contact hours

NBCOT encourages using CE Broker and lists these OT boards as using CE Broker: Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee. That list is from the official CE page checked November 9, 2026; other boards may also use it. Confirm the current list on NBCOT’s site.

A state OT or OTA license is separate from NBCOT certification. You may need both. Check the jurisdiction board for license renewal hours.

PT and PTA — national exam, state CE

Physical therapist and physical therapist assistant licenses are issued by a jurisdiction board. The Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy (FSBPT) provides the National Physical Therapy Examination and maintains an official licensing authorities directory.

There is no single national CE-hour number we can quote for every PT or PTA license. Continuing competence requirements are set by the board that issued the license. If you hold compact privileges, see the compacts page and confirm rules on the official PT Compact site.

We do not publish a state hours table from secondary charts. Use the board links below.

State and territory boards

OT board websites are taken from the official NBCOT state contact list (PDF). PT board websites and license verification tools are taken from the official FSBPT licensing authorities page. Both were checked November 9, 2026. Staff names, emails, and phone numbers from those directories are not copied here.