Special Learning · Practitioner resource · Updated October 21, 2026

Asked on r/bcba, July 4, 2025: “Does it not really matter what you do for CEUs as long as you are hitting the correct numbers?” source

One renewal plan for three boards

Start with your credential, renewal date and required CE categories. The tables compare eight credentials across BACB, QABA and IBAO. The planner below shows each credential separately, so it doesn't assume that hours accepted by one board count for another.

For a supervising BCBA, the renewal date matters: recertifying before January 1, 2027 requires 3 supervision CEUs; recertifying on or after that date requires 4. BCaBA supervision CEUs stay at 3. If you need an overview of the boards, start with who certifies whom.

The numbers, board by board

BACB (Behavior Analyst Certification Board)

Credential	Cycle	Total	Ethics	Supervision	What else
BCBA	2 years	32 CEUs	4	3 before 2027; 4 from 2027, if supervising	Use your recertification date, not the cycle start date. A CEU counts as ethics or supervision, never both. Recorded, self-paced courses count when the provider monitors participation, for example with knowledge-check questions.
BCaBA	2 years	20 CEUs	4	3 if you supervise	Supervising BCaBAs still need 3 supervision CEUs; the BCBA change does not raise this figure.
RBT	2 years	12 PDUs	none set	none	After certification or recertification in 2026, the new 2-year cycle requires 12 PDUs, first due on the individual recertification date in 2028. PDUs and CEUs are distinct; check the event designation.

BACB sources checked October 21, 2026: BCBA Handbook, 2027 BCBA requirements, 2027 BCaBA requirements, and RBT transition guidance. The March 2022 newsletter, page 5, states the recertification-date implementation rule; its older CE-category proposals are superseded by the current summaries linked here.

QABA (Qualified Applied Behavior Analysis Credentialing Board)

Credential	Cycle	Total	Ethics	Delivery format	What else
QBA	2 years	32 CEUs	3	Confirm QBA format restrictions with QABA	First renewal only: 2 hours trauma-informed care plus 2 hours comorbidities. Check QABA's current event and certificate rules.
QASP-S	2 years	20 CEUs	2	Confirm QASP-S format restrictions with QABA	First renewal only: 2 hours trauma-informed care.
ABAT	2 years	12 CEUs	1	Confirm ABAT format restrictions with QABA	Fieldwork supervision is a separate obligation, not a CE category.

QABA sources checked October 21, 2026: renewal requirements and the current QASP-S Candidate Handbook, renewal section. Totals and ethics categories above follow the renewal page. That page says first-renewal QBA candidates need 2 hours each of trauma-informed care and comorbidities, and QASP-S candidates need 2 hours of trauma-informed care. The current handbook's broader wording differs, so confirm your applicable first-renewal categories with QABA. Renewal dates are quarterly: January 1, April 1, July 1 and October 1, with applications up to 60 days before the deadline. The current handbook describes late-renewal fees; missing 30 days is not automatic forfeiture.

QABA delivery-format limits need confirmation. The linked December 2022 chart is historical and lists different in-person counts by credential. The current renewal page and QASP-S handbook do not establish a blanket 25% live-learning rule. This planner does not calculate a live minimum or recorded-learning allowance. Check your credential's current restrictions with QABA before choosing courses.

IBAO (International Behavior Analysis Organization)

Credential	Cycle	Total	Ethics	Supervision	Cultural	General ABA	What else
IBA	2 years	24 CEUs	4	4	4	12	The CE breakdown also applies in later cycles. One year of professional mentorship is required in the first cycle; that mentorship requirement does not continue in later cycles.
IBT	2 years	8 CEUs	2	0	2	4	Earn 4 CEUs per year: 1 Ethics, 1 Cultural and 2 General ABA. Ongoing practice supervision is at least 1 hour per 40 practice hours.

IBAO sources checked October 21, 2026: Guidelines for Supervisors and IBA Candidates, page 11, IBA renewal guidance, and IBT Requirements, pages 15–16. IBA first-cycle mentorship is separate from CE supervision hours. IBT has an annual CE distribution within its 2-year cycle.

The five things people get wrong

Ethics doesn't carry forward. On every board, the ethics hours are per cycle. Four ethics CEUs in 2025 do nothing for a BCBA cycle that starts in 2026.
Confirm QABA format restrictions before buying. This page cannot establish a current blanket percentage for live or recorded learning. Use the linked current requirements and confirm the restrictions for your credential with QABA.
BACB supervision CEUs depend on supervisory activity and credential. If you supervised an RBT or BCaBA on record, or a certification trainee, during your cycle, check the applicable rule. A supervising BCBA needs 3 before January 1, 2027 and 4 for recertification on or after that date; a supervising BCaBA still needs 3. If you did not supervise, no supervision CEUs are required. The category hours count within the overall CE total.
RBT PDUs aren't CEUs. The BACB treats professional development for RBTs and continuing education for BCBAs and BCaBAs as two programs. The same recording can't be marketed as both. If a course is sold to you as both, ask which one is on the certificate.
The certificate is the credit. For every board, what you can submit is what the certificate says: the provider, the board's tag or category, the hours, the presenter's name, and for QABA the presenter's signature. A course you enjoyed with a certificate that names the wrong category is a course you took for yourself.

Your plan

Select your credentials and enter the renewal date for this plan. Use one credential at a time to subtract completed hours and calculate a monthly pace. If your credentials have different renewal dates, make a separate plan for each date.

What this planner doesn't do. It doesn't check category completion, annual distribution, first-cycle mentorship or current QABA delivery-format limits. It does not combine credits across boards or assume that one completed-hour count applies to every credential. It doesn't know your board's record of you. It doesn't know whether a given course's certificate carries the tag your board wants. Print the plan, then check every certificate against the tag column above before you submit. When two boards both accept a course, one certificate can serve both only if the provider is approved by both boards and the certificate says so.

Where Special Learning stands

Special Learning is a BACB ACE Provider (OP-14-2437); ACE Provider authorization first issued January 31, 2014. Our BCBA and BCaBA certificates carry BACB credit and, where the content qualifies, the ethics or supervision tag. Special Learning is a QABA-approved and IBAO-approved continuing education (CE) provider. Whether your QABA or IBAO board accepts one of our courses is your board's call, and it turns on what the certificate you receive says. Read the certificate. If it doesn't say what you need, tell us before you submit it, not after.

The Video CE Library provides 32.5 BACB CE hours: 25 General, 4 Ethics and 3.5 Supervision, for $199 with 12 months of access. Its 3.5 supervision hours are 0.5 short on their own for a supervising BCBA recertifying on or after January 1, 2027. Count any other qualifying supervision CEUs you have earned during the same cycle before choosing more training.

Prepared by Special Learning. Clinical review: Camila Sandoval (AI), Chief Clinical Officer. Requirements change. Each board's page is the record; this page is the map. Report an error to info@special-learning.com and we will fix it on the page, with the date.