How to Get Certified to Offer Continuing Education Credits

To get certified to offer continuing education credits, you apply to the accrediting body that governs the profession your learners are licensed in, document your curriculum, instructors, delivery methods, and administrative policies, pay the application fee, and wait through a review that typically runs two to six months. There is no single national agency, and the right path depends entirely on who will be claiming the credits.

Figure Out Which Accrediting Body You Need

Pick the wrong body and you lose months. Each licensed profession has its own accrediting structure, and the licensing boards that recognize those structures are the ones your learners will eventually report credits to. Start on the licensing board’s website for every profession you intend to serve: the board’s rules name the accrediting organization it recognizes and say whether it also accepts credits from providers approved elsewhere.

Accounting: the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy runs the National Registry of CPE Sponsors, the recognized route for offering continuing professional education to CPAs across the country.¹
Law: there is no nationwide CLE accreditation. Each state with a Minimum Continuing Legal Education requirement runs its own program through the state supreme court or a dedicated CLE board, and a provider has to apply separately in every state where the target attorneys are licensed.²
Nursing: the American Nurses Credentialing Center accredits organizations to provide nursing continuing professional development recognized nationally.³
Medicine: the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education accredits institutions offering CME to physicians and other healthcare professionals through a peer-review system.⁴
Cross-industry: the International Accreditors for Continuing Education and Training offers accreditation that works across disciplines because its standard focuses on how programs are developed rather than what they cover. Only IACET-accredited providers can award IACET Continuing Education Units.⁵

If your learners hold licenses across several professions or states, plan on multiple applications in parallel. Legal education is the hardest case because every state runs its own MCLE program, but similar multi-jurisdictional complications exist in other licensed fields.

What Goes Into the Application

Treat the application as an audit of your entire educational operation before you have run a single class. Forms differ, but the substance overlaps heavily across accrediting bodies.

Curriculum and Learning Objectives

You need a complete syllabus that accounts for every segment of instructional time. Reviewers use these to verify that credits match actual content hours, so an agenda labeled “morning session” will not survive review. Each segment should tie to a measurable learning objective describing what the participant will be able to do afterward, not just what topics will be covered. Most bodies also want each course classified by difficulty level, and misclassification is a common reason for pushback because it affects who can claim credits and how reviewers evaluate rigor.

Instructor Qualifications

Expect to submit a detailed CV or biography for every instructor, showing academic credentials, professional licenses, and recent experience in the subject they will teach. The Nationwide Multistate Licensing System, for example, requires instructors to demonstrate expertise “through recent and verifiable experience, credentials and/or other means.”⁶ Choosing a presenter because they are polished rather than because they actively work in the field is the gap reviewers catch quickly.

Delivery Method Standards

Live sessions and webinars require attendance-monitoring tools: periodic polling questions, unique verification codes, or sign-in sheets that track arrival and departure times. The accrediting body wants assurance that the person getting credit was actually present for the required hours.

Self-study and on-demand courses need a formal assessment with a passing score. Some boards set explicit thresholds. The North American Securities Administrators Association requires investment adviser representatives to pass self-study assessments with a score of at least 70% within no more than three attempts.⁷ Even where no percentage is specified, submitting a finalized exam with an answer key is standard for any self-paced program.

Policies, Records, and Accessibility

Beyond the coursework, document your refund procedures, your complaint-resolution process, and how long you will retain participant records. Under NASBA standards, CPE sponsors must keep documentation for each program event for a minimum of five years.⁸ Other boards set their own retention periods.

Federal law adds a requirement many applicants overlook. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, businesses and nonprofits that serve the public must communicate effectively with people who have disabilities. For a CE provider that means offering auxiliary aids and services when needed: large-print or Braille materials, screen-reader-compatible electronic documents, captioning for video content, or sign language interpreters for live sessions. The specific accommodation depends on the nature and complexity of the communication, and the obligation applies unless the aid would cause an undue burden or fundamentally alter the program.⁹ Building accessibility into your design from the start is far cheaper than retrofitting after the fact.

Prepare sample certificates of completion and sample participant evaluation forms as well. Certificates should include participant name, course title, date, number of credits, and your provider identification number once it’s issued. Evaluation forms should ask participants to rate the relevance and quality of the instruction.

What It Costs

Application fees range widely depending on the body and the scope of what you’re seeking.

NBCC (counseling): $300 for a small single-program application of 17 or fewer sessions, $500 for a program of 18 or more, with rush fees of $450 to $700.¹⁰
ANCC (nursing): $4,950 for a new applicant seeking organizational accreditation to provide nursing continuing professional development.¹¹
IACET (cross-industry): the initial application review fee rises to $4,845 effective January 1, 2026.¹²

The spread reflects a real difference in what you’re buying. A smaller fee usually covers approval of one specific program. A larger fee buys organizational accreditation, which lets you develop and approve new courses under your own authority once you’re in. Save the payment confirmation; it’s your reference point for every follow-up on the application.

Fees don’t end at approval. Most accrediting bodies charge annual or biennial renewal fees to keep provider status active. IACET’s annual maintenance fee for accredited providers rises to $1,245 in 2026.¹² NASBA Registry renewal fees vary by delivery method and run into the hundreds of dollars annually. Letting a renewal lapse can mean reapplying from scratch, so build those recurring costs into your budget from the start.

How Long Approval Takes

Expect two phases: an administrative check that every required field and document is present, then a substantive review of your curriculum, instructors, and policies by a committee or panel. Incomplete applications are the single most common cause of delay.

Timelines vary. The State Bar of California processes CLE provider applications in four to six weeks and offers no expedited option.¹³ The ABA describes the overall MCLE accreditation process as requiring about two to three months of advance preparation before a program.² Some boards meet only quarterly to review applications and can take four months or longer. Apply well before you plan to offer your first course.

Approval comes with a provider identification number or code. That identifier has to appear on every certificate of completion you issue; without it, participants cannot verify their credits with their licensing board. If you’re denied, the body typically sends a letter explaining the deficiencies, and most allow you to resubmit a corrected application.

Keeping Your Approval Active

Approval is not permanent. Most accrediting bodies require renewal every one to two years, and renewal is more than writing a check. NASBA, for instance, requires Registry sponsors to submit a full program list covering every CPE course offered during the previous membership period, including course titles, dates, delivery methods, total credits, and fields of study. Sponsors also attach a sample certificate from a program that awarded credit during the renewal period, which the Registry reviews against current standards.¹⁴

If you did not offer any courses during the renewal period but want to stay on the Registry, you can submit a statement on company letterhead explaining that no courses were offered.¹⁴ Miss the renewal deadline and you can face late fees, inactive status, or loss of your provider designation. Some boards require lapsed providers to redo the full initial application rather than simply reinstating.

Audits and Penalties

Once you’re approved, you’re subject to audit at any time. Regulators use audits to confirm that what you promised in the application matches what you actually deliver. For live and webinar courses, auditors may attend a session and compare what they observe against your approved outline, checking that content matches, attendance is properly verified, and credits awarded reflect the actual instructional time. For courses that have already happened, a desk audit can request sign-in sheets, instructor information, and student rosters, and the auditing body compares the roster against who actually signed in to confirm that no one received credit without attending. For self-study and online courses, auditors enroll as students, complete the course, take the exam, and evaluate whether content and assessment match your approved materials. If violations surface, you’re asked to make corrections and the course gets re-audited once fixes are in place.¹⁵

Consequences for serious violations go well beyond a warning. Issuing a certificate to someone who did not finish the course, misrepresenting records or teaching methods, failing to cooperate with an investigation, or fraud in the application itself can trigger administrative fines, suspension of provider status (sometimes probated with conditions), or permanent revocation.¹⁶ Licensing boards may also refuse to recognize credits earned from a decertified provider, forcing participants to retake courses elsewhere.

Practical Pointers Before You Apply

Back up at least four months from the date you plan to offer your first course before submitting the application. Boards that meet quarterly can add weeks of waiting that have nothing to do with the quality of what you submitted.
Build your record-keeping system before you need it. Five-year retention requirements mean a reliable document management process from day one; reconstructing attendance records two years later for an audit is a losing proposition.
Read the standards document, not just the application form. The form tells you what to submit; the standards tell you why. NASBA’s Statement on Standards for CPE Programs, the ANSI/IACET Standard, and each state bar’s MCLE rules are freely available.
Design for accessibility from the start. Screen-reader-compatible documents, captioned video, and a flexible accommodation policy are cheaper to build in than to bolt on.
Budget for multi-jurisdiction costs. Every additional state or profession usually means a separate fee, a separate review, and separate renewal obligations.

1
National Registry of CPE Sponsors. Becoming a Sponsor
2
American Bar Association. CLE Frequently Asked Questions
3
American Nurses Credentialing Center. ANCC Accreditation
4
ACCME. Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education
5
IACET. ANSI/IACET 2018-1 Standard for Continuing Education and Training
6
Nationwide Multi-Licensing System & Registry. Functional Specifications for All NMLS Approved Courses
7
North American Securities Administrators Association. IAR Continuing Education FAQ
8
NASBA Registry. CPE Provider Responsibilities – Attendance Monitoring, Record Keeping, CPE Program
9
ADA.gov. ADA Requirements: Effective Communication
10
NBCC. CE Provider Application Options
11
American Nurses Credentialing Center. Accreditation Fees
12
IACET. Upcoming Fee Increase – Effective January 1, 2026
13
The State Bar of California. MCLE Providers
14
NASBA Registry. Tips for Completing the Annual Renewal Application
15
NAIC. CE Audit Procedures
16
Legal Information Institute. 16 Texas Administrative Code 59.90 – Sanctions – Administrative Sanctions and Penalties