Published: Oct 26, 2025 | Last Verified Against State Boards: Oct 31, 2025
For a professional engineer, continuing education is a career-long requirement. But the rules for license renewal can be incredibly confusing. It’s not just about how many hours you need; it’s about what activity your state board will actually accept.
Does a lunch-and-learn count? What about teaching a course at a local college? If you publish a technical paper, can you claim PDH credits?
This guide provides a clear answer to the most common question engineers have: “What are the approved continuing education activities for engineers?”
We will break down the different categories of approved activities, explain what “board-approved” truly means, and give you the confidence to complete your continuing professional development (also called CPC, or Continuing Professional Competency) without worrying about an audit.
If you’re not sure how these activities fit into the bigger picture, check out my ultimate guide to continuing education for professional engineers to understand how they contribute to license renewal.
Understanding Your Continuing Professional Competency (CPC) Requirements
Before we dive into the specific activities, let’s set the foundation. The entire purpose of continuing education for engineers is to protect the public’s health, safety, and welfare. Your state licensing board mandates this continuing education to ensure every professional engineer remains competent and current.
- PDH (Professional Development Hour): This is the unit of measurement. One PDH is typically defined as one contact hour of instruction. Most states require 15 to 30 PDH per renewal cycle.
- The Board is the Final Authority: The NCEES (National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying) provides a “Model Rule,” but your state’s board sets the specific board rule. An activity is only “approved” if your board says it is.
The education requirement is designed to be flexible. It’s not just about courses; it’s about any activity that enhances your professional engineering knowledge and skills.
CPC Requirements
Understanding the CPC requirements for your specific state is very important. The engineering PDH goals can be confusing, and sometimes counterintuitive. Being vigilant is important to ensure you remain compliant.
Education Providers
The education providers you use for your engineering PDH credits can be helpful. They often speak directly with the engineering board to confirm which activities are allowed, understand the specific restrictions on courses, and monitor any changes. They are also helpful for monitoring your registered continuing education credits.
Category 1: Online Courses, Webinars, and Digital Education
This is the most common, flexible, and popular category of continuing education activity. These education activities are offered by education providers (like ProLicenseHub) and are specifically designed to meet board requirements.
- On-Demand Courses: These are pre-recorded online courses you can take at your own pace. This is the ultimate in flexibility, allowing you to complete your education requirements at night or on weekends. Most boards accept these courses if they are from an approved provider and include a quiz to verify competency.
- Live Webinars: These are scheduled, live online events presented by an instructor. Many engineers prefer webinars because they are interactive and allow for Q&A. Some states have specific rules that require a certain number of “live” or “interactive” hours, and webinars almost always satisfy this.
- Correspondence Courses: The “old-school” version of an on-demand course. This typically involves reading a textbook or technical paper and completing an exam.
This category is the safest bet for most of your PDH hours, as long as you choose reputable, approved education providers.
Category 2: In-Person Engineering Courses, Seminars, and Events
This is the traditional method of continuing education and includes any activity where you are physically present.
- Technical Seminars & Workshops: These are in-person training courses, often lasting one or two days, that focus on a specific engineering topic.
- Professional & Technical Society Meetings: Attending a meeting of an organization like ASCE, ASME, or IEEE often counts for PDH credits, if a technical presentation is part of the activity.
- University & College Courses: Taking a regular college course in an engineering discipline (either for credit or not) is a highly-valued activity. One academic semester hour typically counts for 45 PDH, and one quarter hour counts for 30 PDH. This is an excellent way to meet your entire renewal requirement at once.
- In-House Training: Many large engineering firms offer their own in-house training courses. These are often approved by state boards, especially if the content is technical and presented by a qualified professional.
Category 3: Self-Directed Continuing Education Activity
This is the category that causes the most confusion, but it offers great flexibility for a senior engineer. These are professional development activities where you are the one creating or managing the education.
- Teaching & Instructing: Many boards will grant you PDH credits for teaching or presenting one of the courses or webinars described above. You can typically claim credit for presentation time plus preparation time (usually a 2:1 or 3:1 ratio for prep). You can usually only claim credit for teaching a course once per renewal cycle.
- Publishing Papers, Articles, or Books: If you author a peer-reviewed paper or a textbook on an engineering topic, your board will likely grant you significant PDH credits for this activity (often 10-20 pdhs).
- Obtaining a Patent: Successfully obtaining a U.S. patent for an engineering invention is a significant achievement and is often rewarded with PDH credits.
- Serving as a Committee or Board Member: Serving as an officer or on a technical committee for a professional engineering society (like IEEE or ASCE) often counts for a small number of pdhs per year.
The key rule for these activities is that you must be able to document them clearly in case of an audit.
What Does “Board-Approved” Really Mean for Engineers?
This is the most critical concept for your license renewal. There are two types of “approval”:
- Board-Approved Providers: Some states (like New York, Florida, and Maryland) maintain a specific list of “approved continuing education providers.” If you are a licensee in these states, you must take courses from a provider on that list.
- Board-Approved Content: Most states do not pre-approve providers. Instead, they have a board rule that defines what counts as an approved continuing education activity. The responsibility is on you, the professional engineer, to determine if the activity meets the standard.
A high-quality education provider will clearly state which board approvals they have and will provide courses that meet the NCEES model rule, making them acceptable in most states.
Tracking Your Engineer PDH Credits and Preparing for an Audit
You cannot just complete the hours; you must prove you completed them. Every state board has the right to conduct a random audit of its licensees.
If you are selected for an audit, you will be required to submit documentation for every continuing education activity you claimed during your renewal period.
Your records must include:
- The type of activity: (e.g., webinar, course, seminar).
- The title and description: of the engineering education.
- The dates attended: or completed.
- The name of the provider: or organization.
- The number of PDH hours: earned.
- A Certificate of Completion: or other proof of attendance.
You must keep these records for a period specified by your board, which is typically 3-7 years (two to three renewal cycles).
Make Your Next Continuing Engineering Education Count
Understanding the full scope of approved continuing education activities for engineers gives you the power to choose the education that best fits your career.
While teaching a seminar or publishing a paper are excellent ways to earn PDH, they are time-consuming. For the vast majority of engineers, the safest, simplest, and most efficient way to meet your continuing professional development requirements is by taking online courses and webinars from a trusted, approved provider.
This method guarantees that the activity is designed to meet board standards and automatically provides you with the certificate of completion you need for your records.
