Alaska Physical Therapy CE Requirements (2026): 24 Hours Every 2 Years
Requirements Overview
Under 12 AAC 54.400-54.435, the Alaska Board of Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy sets a 24 contact hour continuing education requirement for physical therapists and PTAs renewing a full two-year license. Licenses run on a fixed biennial cycle, expiring June 30 of every even-numbered year regardless of issue date, and licensees who held their license for less than 12 months of that cycle owe only 12 hours (waived entirely with a recent NPTE pass).
Every renewal also requires completing a board jurisprudence questionnaire on Alaska's PT practice act, plus documenting 60 hours of PT service or an approved alternative, such as 40 extra CE hours, an APTA review course, or a 150-hour internship. At least half of all CE hours must come from an accredited institution or a board/APTA-approved organization.
Alaska has no carry-over provision, so unused hours don't roll into the next cycle. Records must be kept for 3 years, since a percentage of renewals are randomly audited.
Mandatory Topics
| Topic | Hours | Frequency | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jurisprudence questionnaire (Alaska PT practice act AS 08.84 and 12 AAC 54) | 0 | Every renewal | An applicant must document completion of a board-prepared jurisprudence questionnaire covering the provisions of AS 08.84 (PT practice act) and 12 AAC 54 (PT regulations) with every renewal. This is a pass/fail questionnaire requirement, not a contact-hour CE course, and is separate from and in addition to the 24 (or 12) contact-hour CE requirement. |
Renewal Pathways
Exemptions
- New Licensee Reduced Hours — PT/PTA licensees who held their license for less than 12 months of the concluding licensing period owe only 12 contact hours of CE instead of 24.Fully exempt from even the 12-hour requirement if the applicant passed the NPTE within 12 months immediately before the license's lapse date.
- Active Duty Military Service — A PT or PTA is exempt from some or all of the CE requirement for the biennial licensing period immediately following a qualifying period of active-duty military service, per 12 AAC 54.435.Half of the 24-hour requirement (12 hours) is waived for at least 6 consecutive months of active-duty service during the concluding licensing period.The entire CE requirement (0 hours) is waived for 12 or more months of active-duty service during the concluding licensing period.Applicant must submit official documentation satisfactory to the board of the active-duty military service to obtain the exemption.
How You Can Complete Your CE
Alaska CE Rules & Limits
Details specific to Alaska that generic CE guides tend to miss:
- Unit conversions (12 AAC 54.410(c)): 1 'contact hour' = a minimum of 50 minutes of instruction; 1 continuing education unit (CEU) awarded by a professional health care association = 10 contact hours; 1 academic semester credit hour = 15 contact hours; 1 academic quarter credit hour = 10 contact hours. Alaska's PT board uses contact hours directly (no CCU/point system), so total hours required no conversion.
- At least one-half of the required contact hours (i.e., at least 12 of the standard 24) must come from courses/programs offered by an accredited academic institution or a board/APTA/Alaska-PTA-approved professional organization (12 AAC 54.410(b), 12 AAC 54.420(a)).
- Excluded from CE credit entirely (12 AAC 54.410(e)): routine staff meetings attended by the applicant; rounds conducted by the applicant; and routine courses required for employment, including CPR, first aid, and OSHA-related training.
- Separate from the 24-hour CE contact-hour requirement, every renewal also requires documenting either (a) 60 hours of physical therapy services provided during the concluding licensing period, or (b) one of these alternatives: passing the NPTE, completing 40 ADDITIONAL CE contact hours, completing an APTA-approved review course, or completing a board-approved 150-hour PT internship (12 AAC 54.405) -- plus completing the board's jurisprudence questionnaire covering AS 08.84 and 12 AAC 54 in all cases.
- License renewal is biennial; all Alaska PT/PTA licenses expire June 30 of EVEN-numbered years regardless of issuance date, except licenses issued within 90 days of the expiration date, which roll to the next biennial expiration date.
- Records of CE completion must be retained by the licensee for 3 years from the date the contact hours were obtained (12 AAC 54.410(d)) and made available to the board on request. A percentage of renewal applications is randomly selected for audit each renewal period (12 AAC 54.430); a licensee selected for audit has 30 days after notification to submit documentation. Refusal to cooperate with an audit is treated as an admission of an attempt to obtain a license by material misrepresentation under AS 08.84.120(a)(1).
- No carry-over provision was found anywhere in 12 AAC 54.400-435 (the complete license renewal / continuing competency regulation set); carry_over is recorded as false.
- Renewal fees (informational, not CE-related): $200 biennial / $100 prorated for PTs; $130 biennial / $65 prorated for PTAs licensed on or after July 1, 2025.
Provider Requirements
No blanket board pre-approval of individual courses is required, but at least one-half of the required contact hours must come from an accredited academic institution or a professional organization approved by the board (12 AAC 54.420(a)). Automatically-approved categories include: courses recognized by the Alaska Physical Therapy Association, the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA), the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy (FSBPT), other state PT associations, or other state PT licensing boards; AMA Category 1 and 2 CE courses involving physical therapy; and activities sponsored by an organization or university approved by the Alaska PTA or APTA. Applicants may request board pre-approval in advance if uncertain whether an activity qualifies (12 AAC 54.420(b)). To be accepted, a course must contribute directly to PT professional competency and relate to the skills/knowledge required to implement PT principles as defined in AS 08.84.190 (12 AAC 54.420(c)).
Tips for Alaska PTs
- Track your cycle by the fixed June 30 (even-numbered year) expiration date, not your original issue date — every license expires on that same day regardless of when it was issued.
- Front-load at least half your 24 hours (12+) with courses from APTA, FSBPT, the Alaska Physical Therapy Association, or an accredited academic institution — other CE sources may not count toward that half.
- If you won't log 60 hours of PT service this cycle, line up an approved alternative early: passing the NPTE, an APTA-approved review course, a 150-hour internship, or 40 additional CE hours, since the no-practice-hours path pushes your CE total to 64 hours.
- Complete the board's jurisprudence questionnaire every renewal — it's a pass/fail requirement separate from the 24-hour CE tally, not a contact-hour course, and easy to overlook.
- Keep CE certificates for at least 3 years. Alaska randomly audits a share of renewals and gives only 30 days to respond once selected, so don't wait until audit notice to gather documentation.
Sources
Each figure on this page is taken directly from the Alaska Board of Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy's official rules and continuing-education sources and recorded with the exact source excerpt. Last verified Jul 2026. Read how we compile and verify this data.