Ohio OT and OTA license renewal and continuing education
Ohio rule 4755:1-3-01 states that no one qualifies for renewal as an OT or OTA unless the license holder “has completed twenty contact hours of continuing education activities within the two year renewal cycle.”
Quoted from official pages checked November 12, 2026. Confirm current requirements, fees, and dates on those sites. This page is not legal advice and does not guarantee eligibility, certification, or licensure.
Sources read on November 12, 2026: Ohio Administrative Code rule 4755:1-3-01, Continuing education (effective August 4, 2023) and rule 4755:1-3-02, Waivers; exemptions for continuing education, on the Ohio Laws site, for the occupational therapy section of the Ohio Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, and Athletic Trainers Board.
Required topics
“License holders shall complete at least one contact hour of ethics, jurisprudence, or cultural competence education per renewal cycle.” They also complete “at least one contact hour of mental health and/or substance use education per renewal cycle.” The same hour cannot count for both (paraphrased).
Cycle and carryover
Activities are earned “in the two year period immediately preceding the thirtieth day of June of the year in which licensure renewal is required.” And: “Contact hours may not be carried over from one renewal period to the next.”
First renewal
“License holders are not required to obtain any continuing education units for the first renewal.” A reinstated license valid for twelve months or less needs ten contact hours, including the one ethics, jurisprudence, or cultural competence hour (paraphrased).
What counts
Accepted activities include those sponsored or approved by the occupational therapy section, the Ohio Occupational Therapy Association, AOTA, or NBCOT, or offered by an AOTA approved provider. Workshops, seminars, and conferences have no hour limit; presentations, course preparation, publications, college courses, fieldwork supervision, and self-study earn set or capped hours (paraphrased). “Continuing education credit will not be granted to standard employer required annual competency training, such as CPR, blood-born pathogens, or HIPAA.”
Audits
“The occupational therapy section shall conduct an audit of the continuing education records of not less than five per cent of the license holders each renewal year.”
Waivers
The section may grant waivers or extensions “not to exceed two calendar years in cases involving disability, illness, or undue hardship.” Requests are due by April first of the renewal year (paraphrased).
What this page does not do
It covers the state occupational therapy license only, and only what the official page or pages named above say. It does not cover NBCOT certification renewal, does not list fees, and does not replace the board’s own instructions. Rules change; check the board before you renew.