Finishing your ASHA certification maintenance hours by December 31
If your 3-year ASHA certification maintenance interval ends on December 31, 2026, here is what ASHA's current pages say about the hours, what counts, units, and what happens if you run short, in ASHA's own words. Confirm in your ASHA account which requirements apply to your interval.
What ASHA requires
ASHA requires at least 30 PDHs during each 3-year certification maintenance interval. ASHA's page, marked effective January 1, 2026, lists within the 30 "Content Area 1: 1 PDH in ethics" and "Content Area 2: 2 PDHs in topics that strengthen the ability of ASHA-certified individuals to"; ASHA's page lists those topics in full. When one activity covers both content areas, ASHA says you "may divide the total clock time between those two content areas; however, the same clock time may not be counted twice." Confirm in your ASHA account whether these content-area requirements apply to your interval. Once all 30 PDHs are complete, ASHA says holders "must submit their Certification Maintenance Compliance Form".
"The 3-year certification maintenance interval begins the first January following the date certification was awarded." ASHA's examples end on December 31 of the third calendar year, for instance "January 1, 2026 – December 31, 2028". Check your own interval in your ASHA account.
What counts
ASHA says "you don't need prior approval from ASHA for the activities you choose", and "The learner determines if a professional development activity falls within acceptable topic areas". Accepted examples include "Seminars or courses offered by other organizations for other types of CE credit" and "Employer-sponsored in-service activities". "An activity will count based on its date of completion, not the date it was started." ASHA says attendance can be verified and documented by a third party. ASHA also advises: "Hold onto the certificates of completion for each professional development activity you finish, in case of a maintenance audit".
Units: ASHA CEUs and PDHs
"One PDH is equal to 60 minutes spent completing a professional development activity as a learner and participant." ASHA's conversion table lists 1.0 PDH as 0.1 ASHA CEU and 10.0 PDHs as 1.0 ASHA CEU, so 3 ASHA CEUs equal the 30 PDHs.
If you run short
ASHA changes holders who have not met deadlines to "Not Current" on April 1, and "Not Current certificate holders have until August 31 annually to meet certification maintenance requirements." If the requirements are not met and not reported by August 31, ASHA says "individuals will have to meet reinstatement requirements in order to regain the CCC." Extra hours do not carry over: "If you complete more than 30 PDHs during your current maintenance interval, the additional hours cannot be applied to your next interval."
Plan the weeks you have left
Our free ASHA certification maintenance hours planner takes the year your interval ends and the PDHs you have, and shows what is left of the 30 and, if they apply to your interval, the ethics hour and Content Area 2, with a monthly pace. It runs in your browser and saves nothing. For how ASHA's rules apply to courses from other providers, see our ASHA page. Special Learning is not an ASHA Approved CE Provider, and our courses are not ASHA CEUs.
Common questions
How many hours do I need by the end of my ASHA interval?
ASHA requires at least 30 PDHs in each 3-year interval. Its current standards, effective January 1, 2026, include 1 PDH in ethics (Content Area 1) and 2 PDHs in Content Area 2; confirm in your ASHA account which requirements apply to your interval. One PDH is 60 minutes.
Can I use courses from providers that are not ASHA Approved CE Providers?
ASHA says you don't need prior approval for the activities you choose and lists "Seminars or courses offered by other organizations for other types of CE credit" among accepted activities. The learner decides whether an activity falls within acceptable topic areas, and ASHA says attendance can be verified and documented by a third party.
What if I don't finish by December 31?
ASHA changes holders who missed deadlines to Not Current on April 1 and gives them until August 31 to meet the requirements; after that, they have to meet reinstatement requirements to regain the CCC.