New Hampshire Physical Therapy CE Requirements (2026): 24 Hours Every 2 Years
Requirements Overview
Physical therapists and physical therapist assistants licensed in New Hampshire renew every two years and must show 24 contact hours of continuing professional education for each cycle, per Phy 406.01 of the Physical Therapy Governing Board's administrative rules. At least 12 of those hours must relate directly and primarily to the clinical application of physical therapy; the remaining hours can cover general practice topics such as supervision, consultation, or curriculum development.
New Hampshire counts hours directly with no CCU or point conversion, and there is no first-renewal exemption or carry-over of unused hours into the next cycle. The Board does not pre-approve courses or providers -- licensees track their own activity across 17 recognized categories (coursework, in-services, publications, research, teaching, and more) and only submit documentation if selected for a post-renewal audit.
Separately from the 24-hour tally, licensees renewing in a year ending in 0 or 5 must take and pass the FSBPT-administered jurisprudence assessment module (80% passing score) between April and June of that year. This is a hard renewal condition under Phy 402.01, not an optional CE activity, though a passing result also credits 2 hours toward the total.
Mandatory Topics
| Topic | Hours | Frequency | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clinical application of physical therapy | 12 | Every renewal | At least one half (12) of the 24 total contact hours each 2-year cycle must relate directly and primarily to the clinical application of physical therapy. |
| General physical therapy practice | 12 | Every renewal | The remaining (up to 12) hours may relate to general physical therapy practice, including supervision and consultation skills, curriculum development, and trans-disciplinary issues or skills. |
| New Hampshire jurisprudence assessment module | 0 | Conditional | Separate pass/fail legal-knowledge exam (not counted toward the 24 contact hours as a mandatory component, though successfully completing it also credits 2 CE hours under Phy 406.15 as one of the optional CE activity categories). Required only for renewal in a year ending in 0 or 5; taken April-June of that year, administered by FSBPT, 80% passing score, covers RSA 328-A and the APTA Code of Ethics / Standards of Ethical Conduct. |
How You Can Complete Your CE
New Hampshire CE Rules & Limits
Details specific to New Hampshire that generic CE guides tend to miss:
- New Hampshire measures the requirement directly in 'contact hours' with no CCU/point conversion: 24 contact hours per 2-year renewal cycle for both Physical Therapists and Physical Therapist Assistants (same total for both license types, unlike states such as Colorado that set a lower PTA total).
- At least half (12) of the 24 hours must relate directly and primarily to the clinical application of physical therapy (Phy 406.01(e)); the remaining hours (up to 12) may relate to general physical therapy practice, including supervision/consultation skills, curriculum development, and trans-disciplinary issues (Phy 406.01(f)).
- Separately from the 24-hour CE tally, every PT/PTA renewing in a calendar year ending in 0 or 5 (e.g. 2030, 2035) must take and pass the New Hampshire jurisprudence assessment module in April, May, or June of that year (80% passing score, open-book, administered by FSBPT, covering RSA 328-A and the applicable APTA ethics code) as an independent renewal condition under Phy 402.01(a)(4)/Phy 402.03. Passing it also credits 2 CE hours toward the 24-hour total under Phy 406.15, but the exam itself is mandatory in those years regardless of whether the licensee needs the 2 CE credit.
- The Board recognizes 17 distinct CE activity categories (Phy 406.02-406.18) with individual hour-credit formulas and per-cycle caps -- e.g. Academic coursework credits 5 contact hours per college credit hour; facility in-service training, presentations, teaching, and several other categories are capped at 8 CE per cycle; infection-control/BLS/HIPAA/onboarding training is capped at 2 CE per cycle; publications are capped to 2 published writings per cycle.
- No CE requirement exemptions exist (the official page states 'Applicable exemption(s): None'), and requirements are identical for the first renewal as for subsequent renewals.
- No restriction on delivery method: fully online/self-study CE counts with no stated numeric cap, and there is no live-instruction minimum. The Board does not pre-approve individual courses or providers; licensees self-attest and only furnish documentation if selected for a post-renewal audit (Phy 406.01(d)).
- No carry-over of excess CE hours between renewal cycles is provided for in the rules; each 2-year cycle's 24-hour requirement must be met within that cycle.
- Licensees have free access to CE Broker for CE tracking, per the official OPLC CE requirements page.
Provider Requirements
The Board does not pre-approve courses ('Do courses need to be preapproved by the Board? No'). Licensees self-select activities across 17 Board-defined categories (Phy 406.02-406.18: academic instruction, non-academic courses/seminars/workshops, facility in-service training, formal mentored independent study, clinical-student supervision, conditional-licensee supervision, publications, presentations, research participation, board/committee service, teaching, infection-control/BLS/HIPAA/onboarding training, journal study, the NH jurisprudence assessment module, specialty certification exams, and clinical residency/fellowship participation or mentoring), each with its own hour-credit formula and per-cycle cap. Documentation is furnished only if requested by the OPLC in connection with an audit.
Tips for New Hampshire PTs
- Split your hours deliberately: at least half (12 of 24) must be clinical-application content, so don't load up on general-practice topics like supervision or curriculum development and come up short on the clinical half.
- Check your renewal year against the jurisprudence-exam schedule -- if your license renews in a year ending in 0 or 5, you must pass the NH jurisprudence assessment module (April-June, 80% passing score) as a separate condition of renewal, not just an optional CE credit.
- Keep your own records; the Board does not pre-approve courses and only asks for documentation if you're selected for an audit, so retain certificates, transcripts, and activity logs for every category you claim.
- Online and self-study courses count fully toward the 24 hours with no live-instruction minimum, giving PTs and PTAs flexibility to complete the requirement remotely.
- Because there's no carry-over, finish your 24 hours within the current 2-year cycle -- excess hours earned early do not roll forward to your next renewal.
Sources
Each figure on this page is taken directly from the Physical Therapy Governing Board'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.