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Sources checked: October 21, 2026 | BACB requirements and current Special Learning product records

BCBA CEU Requirements: Complete Guide

A BCBA needs 32 continuing education units (CEUs) in each 2-year recertification cycle, and 4 of them must be in ethics.

Use your credential, recertification date and supervision role to identify your CE requirements. Confirm your personal cycle and completed credits in your BACB account.

Quick Reference

For BCBA and BCBA-D renewals, the supervision change follows your recertification date, not the date your cycle began. Supervision CEUs count within the total.

CredentialCycleTotal CEUsEthicsSupervision, if you supervised
BCBA / BCBA-D, recertifying before January 1, 20272 years3243
BCBA / BCBA-D, recertifying on or after January 1, 20272 years3244
BCaBA2 years2043

If you did not supervise during the cycle, the supervision category is not required; the total and ethics requirements still apply. Any remaining CEUs can be qualifying general, ethics or supervision content. The separate 8-hour supervision training is a prerequisite for supervising, not the same requirement as recurring supervision CEUs.

Where to earn them

Our Video CE Library has 18 recorded trainings with BACB CE hours and a free 7-day trial. The Video CE Library currently provides 32.5 BACB CE hours: 25 General, 4 Ethics and 3.5 Supervision. Used alone, it is 0.5 supervision CEU short for a supervising BCBA recertifying on or after January 1, 2027. Check other qualifying credits from the same cycle before choosing what you still need.

Video CE Library: $199 for 12 months, free 7-day trial
BACB CE hours, including 3.5 hours of Supervision

Buy NowStart the free 7-day trial
Common error: Many sources incorrectly state the BCBA cycle is 3 years. The correct cycle length is 2 years.

Which CEUs Count Toward Recertification?

The BACB recognizes Learning, Teaching and Scholarship CE activities. Learning routes include qualifying ACE events, qualifying behavior-analytic university courses and certain BACB certification activities. Each route has its own documentation rules; use the current handbook to check your activity.

July 2026 Change: The ACE Provider Handbook effective July 1, 2026 requires providers to monitor participation. For self-paced events, its examples include knowledge questions, with at least 3 per CEU when that method is used, or other activities requiring active responses. This is not a requirement that every event use video or that every provider use the same quiz method.

Accepted CEU formats include:

FormatConditions to check
Live webinars, workshops and conferencesQualifying content and monitored attendance and participation. Periodic codes can be part of active responding in a live event.
Self-paced online modules using video, reading, activities or quizzesQualifying content and monitored participation with required active responses; video is not compulsory.
Qualifying university courseworkUse the handbook's coursework and documentation criteria.
Journal clubA synchronous discussion of peer-reviewed research; preparation reading does not count, and the limit is 1 CEU per article.
Independent journal-article reading plus a knowledge checkThe ACE handbook lists this as a nonexample of participation in a journal club. It is not a blanket ban on reading-based online modules.
PodcastsStructured engagement and qualifying content, with questions or group participation as appropriate.
Code words in a recording, without other participation measuresNot a sufficient participation measure for an asynchronous event.

Credentialing Bodies

This table lists only bodies whose current standing we can evidence today. A body not listed here is not a statement about that body either way.

BodyFull NameSL Approval
BACBBehavior Analyst Certification BoardACE Provider #OP-14-2437
QABAQualified Applied Behavior Analysis Credentialing BoardListed as a CE provider (no CEU attribution)
IBAOInternational Behavior Analysis OrganizationListed as a CE provider (no CEU attribution)

Special Learning options

OptionCEUsPrice
CE Library (Special Learning)—$199 for 12 months
CE Bundles (Special Learning)—$199 for 12 months
All Access - Annual (Special Learning)—$299 for 12 months

RBT Requirements (Different from BCBA)

Registered Behavior Technicians (RBTs) have completely different requirements from BCBAs.

Effective January 1, 2026: RBT certification and recertification in 2026 begin a two-year cycle requiring 12 PDUs. The first PDU submission is at the end of that individual cycle in 2028. Check your exact dates and other maintenance obligations in your BACB account; this is not a claim that no other requirement can fall due in 2027.
Important distinction: PDUs and CEUs are different and mutually exclusive per the BACB. CE-designated courses do NOT count as PDUs for RBTs.

Check the source for your cycle

Relevant CE and maintenance sections were checked October 21, 2026: BCBA Handbook; BCaBA Handbook; 2027 BCBA requirements; March 2022 newsletter, page 5, for the recertification-date rule; ACE Provider Handbook, effective July 1, 2026, pages 7–8; and RBT Handbook. The 2022 newsletter includes superseded category proposals; the current requirements control the totals shown here.

About this page: This reference page is maintained by Special Learning (BACB ACE Provider #OP-14-2437). Data is verified against BACB published standards. 32,000+ customers in 140+ countries trust Special Learning for continuing education.

Questions? Contact contact@special-learning.com or call 916-264-9651.

Related: What Is ABA Therapy? • BCBA vs RBT
Primary requirements: BCBA Handbook | BCaBA Handbook

Free Tools and Guides From Special Learning

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Authorization as an ACE Provider does not imply endorsement or approval of the ACE event content by the BACB.

BCBA CEU questions

BCBAs need 32 CEUs in each two-year recertification cycle, including 4 Ethics CEUs. If you supervised during the cycle, the supervision minimum is 3 for recertification before January 1, 2027, or 4 for recertification on or after that date. These categories are included in the total; the remaining credits are not a separate mandatory General quota.

The BCBA certification maintenance cycle is 2 years, not 3 years. BCBAs must complete all 32 CEUs within their 2-year cycle to maintain certification.

Learning, Teaching and Scholarship activities can qualify under the BACB handbook. Learning includes qualifying ACE events, university coursework and certain BACB certification activities. For ACE events, check content, participation and documentation. Self-paced modules may use video, reading, activities or quizzes with appropriate active responding. Independent article reading plus a quiz does not qualify as participation in a synchronous journal club.

The Special Learning Video CE Library costs $199 for 12 months with a free 7-day trial. Its current 32.5 BACB CE hours include 25 General, 4 Ethics and 3.5 Supervision. Used alone, it is 0.5 supervision CEU short for a supervising BCBA recertifying on or after January 1, 2027.

BCBAs need at least 4 Ethics CEUs in each two-year cycle. Ethics CE may address the BACB ethics requirements or cultural and contextual responsiveness. Most of the event must focus on that content and connect it to behavior-analytic practice or applied research.

For a BCBA who supervised during the cycle, recertification before January 1, 2027 requires 3 supervision CEUs. Recertification on or after that date requires 4. The recertification date determines the change. These credits count within the 32 total. If you did not supervise, this category is not required. The separate 8-hour training must be completed before providing supervision.

BCaBAs need 20 CEUs in each two-year cycle, including 4 Ethics and 3 Supervision if they supervised. The BCaBA supervision minimum stays at 3 CEUs in 2027. BCaBAs can use qualifying Learning, Teaching and Scholarship routes under their own handbook.

Special Learning is an authorized ACE Provider with the BACB (Behavior Analyst Certification Board), provider number OP-14-2437, and is a QABA-approved and IBAO-approved continuing education (CE) provider. Authorization as an ACE Provider does not imply BACB endorsement or approval of the event content.