Continuing Education Units

One Continuing Education Unit (CEU) is defined as ten contact hours of participation in an organized continuing education experience under responsible sponsorship, capable direction, and qualified instruction.

The primary purpose of the CEU is to provide a permanent record of the educational accomplishments of an individual who has completed one or more significant non-credit educational experiences. Awarding the CEU approved by IACET also provides a quality indicator for your continuing education and training programs because it means you have been reviewed and approved for complying with the internationally recognized standard.

Awarding CEUs

IACET CEUs may be awarded by a college, association, company or any other organization willing and able to meet each of the ANSI/IACET 1-2007 Standard established for the use of the IACET CEU. Note that awarding IACET CEUs requires that a permanent record be established for each individual to whom IACET CEUs are awarded, and a transcript of that record must be made available upon request.

The Authorized Provider application process is an authorization process whereby the organization submits representative samples of its educational offerings to be reviewed for compliance with the Standard. The applicant also agrees to an on-site visit to verify the contents of the written application.

Only those programs that are rigorous and long enough to be of significant educational experience and for which a permanent record will be meaningful should be included in your IACET CEU program. For programs that meet all of the ANSI/IACET 1-2007 Standard categories and elements, generally, this is recognized as a minimum of 30 minutes, unless otherwise specified by licensing or certifying agency standards for continuing education.

Calculation of CEUs

One IACET CEU is awarded for each ten clock hours (sixty-minutes=one clock hour) of instruction hours involved in the program. Instructional hours do not include time involved in coffee breaks, meals, social activities or business and committee meetings.

Determine the number of contact hours by adding all countable portions of the learning event per instructions above. (Example: A learning event has six 50-minute sessions with 10 minutes between for set-up. The number of contact hours would be computed as: 6 X 50 = 300 total minutes in organized, interactive learning / 60 = 5 contact hours.). Divide the number of contact hours by 10 to get the number of CEU. (For the example above: 5/10 = .5 CEU.). CEU may be expressed in tenths of a CEU (i.e., 17 contact hours equate to 1.7 CEU; 3 contact hours equate to .3 CEU). Do not express the CEU past the tenths place (i.e., if your calculation should be 1.78, express this as 1.8 CEU). 

CEUs for Distributed Learning

Using the same formula for traditional classroom time, ten clock hours = 1 CEU. Estimate the amount of time an average learner will take to complete the course, and then convert it to IACET CEUs.

The provider maintains a complete, permanent record of each learner's participation, and can provide a copy of that record upon request. This service can be contracted through the American Council on Education. Please visit their website for more information at http://www.acenet.edu/programs/ceu.

For more information read our CEU Frequently Asked Questions >

CEUs in the Public Domain

The International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) is the caretaker of the CEU. IACET assumes responsibility for refining and disseminating information about the IACET CEU. Through its programs, publications, research, and technical assistance, the Association assists organizations in correctly utilizing the criteria.

The CEU is in the public domain. Use of the CEU is voluntary and no permission or approval is required. Any organization can offer the traditional CEU. Unfortunately, there are organizations which award the CEU which do not adhere to the standard developed by IACET. This has led to consumer misunderstanding and distrust of the value of the CEU. Therefore, IACET has taken steps to ensure the credibility of the IACET CEU.