Montana Physical Therapy CE Requirements (2026): 8 Hours Every Year

Requirements Overview

Under Administrative Rules of Montana (ARM) 24.177.2105, licensed physical therapists and physical therapist assistants must complete 8 hours of continuing education each year before renewing their license, which expires every April 1. Unlike many states, Montana runs this on a one-year cycle rather than a multi-year one.

The rule doesn't name required topics. Acceptable CE simply needs to relate to your scope of practice, review or update clinical knowledge, or reinforce professional conduct, and there's no board pre-approval list — you choose your own qualifying programs. CE completed to satisfy a disciplinary order doesn't count toward your annual 8 hours, and unused hours don't carry over.

This framework is fairly new: Montana replaced its former 30-hour, two-year cycle with the current annual 8-hour requirement effective July 27, 2024, so guidance describing biennial renewal or a Category A/B hour split reflects the old rule.

First Renewal vs. Standard Renewal

Exemptions

• ✓
  First Renewal Exemption — Continuing education requirements do not apply until after the licensee's first renewal.
• ✓
  Hardship Exemption — A licensee may request an exemption from the 8-hour annual CE requirement due to hardship; requests are considered by the department.

  Discretionary — the rule does not define automatic qualifying conditions; approval is at the department's discretion on a case-by-case basis.

How You Can Complete Your CE

Montana CE Rules & Limits

Details specific to Montana that generic CE guides tend to miss:

• Annual minimum — at least 8 hours must be completed each year of the cycle, not just by the renewal deadline.
• Montana replaced its former 30-hour/24-month (biennial, odd-numbered-year) CE cycle — which required a 15-hour Category A / up to-15-hour Category B split, allowed a passed jurisprudence exam to count for 1 CE credit, and let the board audit up to 50% of renewed licensees — with the current, simplified 8-hour ANNUAL requirement. The board's stated reason: 'simplifying its continuing education rule after receiving numerous questions from licensees. Changing from a two-year reporting period to a one-year reporting period to ease the administrative burden on department staff and reduce confusion among new licensees as to when CE compliance is necessary.'
• Multiple third-party CE-seller sites (e.g., ceukeeper.com, ptprogress.com, flextherapistceus.com) still describe the OLD pre-07/27/2024 regime (30 hours per 2-year cycle, biennial renewal on March 31 of odd-numbered years, Category A/B split). These are stale as of this fetch (July 2026); the current official rule requires 8 hours annually with April 1 annual expiration.
• Effective January 1, 2025 (HB 438, 2025 Montana Legislature), the former Montana Board of Physical Therapy Examiners was consolidated with the Boards of Athletic Trainers, Occupational Therapy Practice, and Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists into the single Board of Physical, Rehabilitative, and Developmental Health Care Professionals. The PT-specific licensing/CE page remains live at boards.bsd.dli.mt.gov/physical-therapy-examiners/, and ARM chapter 24.177 (Board of Physical Therapy Examiners) numbering, including 24.177.2105, was still the cited rule for PT CE as of this fetch.
• The department (not just the board) may randomly audit up to 50 percent of renewed licensees in each odd-numbered year (ARM 24.177.2105(4)) — an unusually high audit rate, retained unchanged from the pre-2024 rule even though CE reporting is now annual rather than biennial.
• CE hours completed to satisfy a disciplinary order do NOT count toward the 8 hours required annually (ARM 24.177.2105(6)).
• Licensees must retain records of completed CE (program materials plus certificate of attendance) for three years and provide them to the board on request (ARM 24.177.2105(5)).
• No CCU/point-system conversion applies; Montana's rule uses direct contact 'hours/credits' with no unit conversion needed for total hours.

Provider Requirements

Self-determined by the licensee — ARM 24.177.2105(3) makes licensees responsible for selecting quality CE programs meeting the rule's content criteria (relate to scope of practice, review/update knowledge, or reinforce professional/ethical conduct). The current rule text contains no board or department pre-approval process or approved-provider list; a prior version of the rule explicitly stated the board/staff does not preapprove activities or sponsors, but that specific sentence (along with the APTA/FSBPT category-A standard) was deleted in the 07/27/2024 simplification.

Tips for Montana PTs

• Montana's CE rule changed in July 2024 — ignore older CE-provider pages citing '30 hours every two years' and confirm current requirements directly on the board's physical therapy page before enrolling in a course.
• Your first renewal after initial licensure is completely CE-exempt under ARM 24.177.2105(2); the 8-hour annual requirement only kicks in starting with your second renewal.
• The department can randomly audit up to 50% of renewed licensees in odd-numbered years, so keep your CE certificates of attendance and program materials on file for at least 3 years even though you don't submit them at renewal time.
• If a disciplinary order requires extra CE, budget for it separately — those hours do not count toward your standard annual 8-hour requirement.
• If you can't hit 8 hours in a given year, request a hardship exemption from the department before your April 1 deadline rather than letting your license lapse; approval isn't automatic.

Sources

PT Requirements in Nearby States

Other Professions in Montana

All Physical Therapy CE Requirements by State

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