Utah Physical Therapy CE Requirements (2026): 40 Hours Every 2 Years
We're building a tool that tracks your CE hours and reminds you before your deadline — no more digging through board sites to check where you stand. Join the waitlist:
Requirements Overview
Under Rule R156-24b-303b, the Physical Therapies Licensing Board requires 40 CEUs every 2-year renewal cycle, with a 2-CEU minimum in ethics or law covering topics like patient relationships, confidentiality, documentation, or state and federal compliance.
Utah doesn't count hours 1-for-1. Coursework falls into tiers: live interactive events, degree programs, and specialty certifications earn 2 CEUs per contact hour; live coursework, teaching, or assessed electronic courses earn 1.5 CEUs; self-study, journal clubs, and ethics/law courses earn 1 CEU; and licensed practice covers a small slice. DOPL doesn't pre-approve courses — any relevant offering from an accredited school, agency, PT association, or commercial provider qualifies.
Licensees who exceed 40 CEUs may carry over up to 10 excess CEUs, and new licensees mid-cycle owe a prorated amount. The rule was rewritten effective December 2025, so older summaries citing a flat 50% online cap or a 4-year recordkeeping window are outdated.
Mandatory Topics
| Topic | Hours | Frequency | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ethics or law | 2 | Every renewal | At least 2 of the 40 required CEUs each two-year cycle must be in ethics or law. Qualifying subjects include patient-physical therapist relationships, confidentiality, documentation, charging and coding, compliance with state/federal law affecting PT practice, or a subject in the APTA Code of Ethics / Guide for Professional Conduct. |
Exemptions
- New Licensee Prorated — A licensee who first becomes licensed during a two-year renewal period has the 40-CEU requirement decreased proportionately according to the date of first licensure (not a waiver -- a pro-rated reduction).
- Division Deferral Or Waiver — The Division may defer or waive CEU requirements under Section R156-1-308d (the general DOPL deferral/waiver rule, e.g. For hardship).Specific qualifying grounds are defined in the general Division rule R156-1-308d, not in R156-24b itself; not further detailed in the fetched primary text.
How You Can Complete Your CE
Utah CE Rules & Limits
Details specific to Utah that generic CE guides tend to miss:
- Carry-over — Physical therapists may carry forward up to 10 excess CEUs earned beyond the 40-CEU requirement into the next two-year renewal cycle. (Physical therapist assistants -- a separate license type outside this page's scope -- may carry forward up to 5 excess CEUs.)
- Utah measures continuing education in 'Continuing Education Units' (CEUs), not flat contact hours, with a category-based conversion (R156-24b-303b(2)): Category I (fellowship, residency, specialty certification, degree program, or live interactive in-person event) = 1 contact hour -> 2 CEU; Category II (live coursework in a school setting, electronic course WITH assessment, volunteer service, clinical instructor supervision, or teaching a PT course) = 1 contact hour -> 1.5 CEU; Category III (electronic PT coursework WITHOUT assessment, in-service presentations, self-study, journal clubs, or ethics/law coursework) = 1 contact hour -> 1 CEU; Category IV (licensed practice hours, capped at 500 practice hours) = 50 practice hours -> 1 CEU. Total hours=40 is modeled at the Category III 1:1 baseline (matching the board's own FAQ description of '40 contact hours'); the actual number of clock/contact hours needed can be lower than 40 if a licensee uses higher-category (I or II) activities, since those earn more CEU per hour.
- Rule R156-24b was substantively amended effective 2025-12-23 (per the Utah Office of Administrative Rules page), replacing an older flat-percentage online/self-study cap with the CEU category system described above. The board's public FAQ page (dopl.utah.gov/physical-therapy/frequently-asked-questions/) still describes the requirement in the older framing ('up to half the required contact hours may be completed in internet or distance learning courses,' and '10 hours via clinical reading or in-service,' and a 4-year record-retention period) -- this appears to be stale content not yet updated to match the amended rule, whose current text specifies a 2-year record-retention period (R156-24b-303b(10)) and no blanket 50% online cap.
- Physical Therapist Assistant (PTA) is a separate license type governed by the same rule section: PTAs must complete at least 20 CEUs per 2-year cycle (also with a 2-CEU ethics/law minimum) and may carry over up to 5 excess CEUs. Not modeled on this page, which is scoped to the Physical Therapist (PT) license only.
- New licensees: if a licensee is first licensed partway through a two-year renewal period, the 40-CEU requirement is reduced proportionately based on the date of licensure (R156-24b-303b(5)).
- Reinstatement of an expired license (active/good-standing license expired 2-5 years) requires submitting evidence of completed CE for each renewal period the license was expired, passing a criminal background check if not already done, and potentially additional practice-reentry requirements (Board meeting/evaluation, re-examination via NPTE-PT, or up to 4,000 hours of supervised practice under a temporary license) at the Division's discretion (R156-24b-303a(3)).
- CEU credit for non-course activities is capped per two-year cycle for PTs: up to 10 CEUs for clinical instructor supervision, up to 10 CEUs for lecturing/instructing (1 CEU per instructional hour, same course creditable up to 2 times), up to 10 CEUs for volunteer service, and up to 10 CEUs for practice-hours (Category IV) credit (R156-24b-303b(8)).
Provider Requirements
DOPL does not pre-approve individual CE courses or providers. A qualifying course must instead be approved by, conducted by, or under the sponsorship of: (a) a recognized accredited college or university; (b) a state or federal agency; (c) a professional association, organization, or facility involved in the practice of physical therapy; or (d) a commercial continuing education provider. Course content must be relevant to PT practice, have clearly stated learning objectives, and be presented by qualified individuals; licensees self-determine and retain documentation of compliance.
Tips for Utah PTs
- Favor live, interactive, or assessed coursework when you're close to the 40-CEU line — Category I and II activities earn 1.5-2 CEUs per contact hour, so they close out your requirement faster than passive self-study, which earns only 1 CEU per hour.
- Bank extra CEUs deliberately: up to 10 excess CEUs roll into your next 2-year cycle, so front-loading a productive year can ease the following renewal.
- Confirm your ethics/law course actually qualifies before relying on it — Utah requires the content to cover specific topics (patient relationships, confidentiality, documentation, coding, or the APTA Code of Ethics), not just any general ethics seminar.
- If you were licensed partway through a renewal cycle, don't assume you owe the full 40 CEUs — your requirement is prorated based on your licensure date, so verify the exact figure with DOPL before your first renewal.
- Keep your own course documentation (provider, instructor, dates, objectives, contact hours) for at least 2 years after your renewal cycle closes, since DOPL doesn't pre-approve courses and only reviews records if you're audited.
Sources
- Cross-checked against the official published rules of the Physical Therapies Licensing Board
- Each stated figure recorded with its exact source excerpt
- 2 sources cited — 1 primary (official board)
PT Requirements in Nearby States
Other Professions in Utah
All Physical Therapy CE Requirements by State
Open any other state's Physical Therapy CE requirements, or see the full Physical Therapy CE hub to compare every state in one table.