Texas Physical Therapy CE Requirements (2026): 30 Hours Every 2 Years
Requirements Overview
The Texas Board of Physical Therapy Examiners requires physical therapists to complete 30 CCUs (continuing competence units, 1 CCU per contact hour) each two-year renewal cycle, completed within the 24 months before expiration. PTAs follow the same structure but need 20 CCUs.
Every renewal requires a passing score on the Texas Jurisprudence Assessment Module (TX JAM), a 75-item online exam replacing the old jurisprudence and ethics requirements, worth 2 CCUs. Licensees also must complete an HHS-approved Human Trafficking Prevention Training course of at least 1 contact hour, worth 1 CCU, each renewal period.
All CCUs need a valid Texas approval number through the Continuing Competence Approval Program (CCAP, run by the Texas Physical Therapy Association), a TX Accredited Provider, or a Board-approved category -- no self-determined credit. Unused CCUs do not carry over, since activities must fall within the 24 months immediately before expiration.
Mandatory Topics
| Topic | Hours | Frequency | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas Jurisprudence Assessment Module (TX JAM) - jurisprudence & ethics/professional responsibility | 2 | Every renewal | Online, FSBPT-administered, 75-item exam (passing score 60/75, 80%) covering the TX Physical Therapy Practice Act/Rules and ethical decision-making. Required prior to EVERY renewal (not just the first) for both PT and PTA, as well as for restoration; it replaces both the old Jurisprudence (JP) exam and the separate ethics/professional-responsibility CE requirement. Costs $48 (+1.6% processing fee) for renewing/restoring licensees; free for initial licensure. Assigned standard approval number 91014TX and counts as 2 of the total CCUs, not an add-on. |
| Human Trafficking Prevention Training | 1 | Every renewal | Must be an HHS-approved course (approved by the executive commissioner of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission) of at least 1 contact hour to claim CCU credit; standard approval number 91015TX. Legislatively mandated for each renewal period (i.e., every renewal, not one-time). The official renewal page lists this as required for 'Active and Retired' renewal; §341.1(c)(4) does not explicitly limit it by license status, so the Active/Retired-only framing on the renewal page should be treated as the more current operational guidance. |
Exemptions
- Hardship Waiver — CCUs required for renewal may be waived by the Board because of hardship for health and medical problems that prevent a licensee from obtaining the CCUs. The waiver request must be submitted prior to license expiration, and the license cannot be renewed until the Board approves the waiver.Waiver applies only to the CCU total, not to the TX JAM or the criminal-history/fingerprinting requirement, which are listed separately from CCUs in §341.1(c).Must be requested and approved BEFORE the license expires; cannot be requested retroactively after expiration.
How You Can Complete Your CE
Texas CE Rules & Limits
Details specific to Texas that generic CE guides tend to miss:
- CCU/CEU note: the Board defines 1 contact hour = 1 continuing competence unit (CCU); some outside course providers still use an older 10:1 CEU convention, but the Board's own CCU figures (30 for PT, 20 for PTA) are already in contact-hour-equivalent terms, so no additional conversion was applied to total hours.
- This page covers the Physical Therapist (PT) profession only. Physical Therapist Assistants (PTAs) are on the SAME biennial cycle and the same TX JAM + Human Trafficking mandatory-topic structure, but their total is 20 CCUs (not 30).
- TX JAM: a 75-item, FSBPT-administered online exam with a 140-minute time limit and a 48-hour window to begin/complete once registered; passing score 60/75 (80%, scale score 120); unlimited retakes but each renewal/restoration attempt incurs a new $48 (+1.6% processing) fee. It replaces both the former stand-alone Jurisprudence (JP) exam and the ethics/professional-responsibility CE requirement -- a previously completed ethics/professional-responsibility CCAP course can still count toward the 30/20-CCU total but cannot substitute for the TX JAM itself.
- No carry-over of excess CCUs between renewal cycles: continuing competence activities must be completed within the 24 months immediately preceding the license expiration date (22 TAC §341.2(d)).
- Voluntary charity care (unpaid PT services) can be used to satisfy up to one-half of the CC requirement, at a rate of 10 hours of charity care = 1 CCU, capped at 15 CCUs for PTs / 10 CCUs for PTAs (22 TAC §341.3; standard approval #91016TX).
- Hardship waiver: CCUs (not the TX JAM or fingerprinting requirement) may be waived by the Board for documented health/medical hardship if requested and approved before the license expires (22 TAC §341.5).
- Audit: the Executive Council conducts a random quarterly audit of licensees who renewed (including late renewals up to 1 year) in the prior quarter; original CC documentation must be retained for 4 years after license expiration, and failure to document or to respond to an audit request within 30 days may trigger disciplinary action (22 TAC §341.2(e),(g)).
- License restoration/reinstatement scales with how long the license has been expired and is NOT a flat renewal option: expired <1 year uses the standard renewal requirements above plus late fees; expired 1-5 years requires the standard items plus 'demonstration of competency' via EITHER retaking the national PT exam, OR an advanced PT degree completed within the last 5 years, OR 12 continuous months of supervised clinical practice (480 SCP hours + 30 CCUs for PTs; 320 SCP hours + 20 CCUs for PTAs); expired 5+ years cannot be restored at all and instead requires full relicensure by retaking the national exam (22 TAC §341.6).
- Effective September 1, 2026, a Social Security Number (or a notarized affidavit that one was never issued) becomes a required renewal item; applications submitted on/after that date without a valid SSN will not be processed (administrative requirement, not a CE/CCU requirement).
Provider Requirements
All continuing competence activities must be board-approved: either (1) approved through the Continuing Competence Approval Program (CCAP), which the Board has outsourced to the Texas Physical Therapy Association (TPTA), (2) offered by a Board-recognized TX Accredited Provider, or (3) a Board pre-approved activity/category with a standard approval number. There is no self-determination -- every course or activity must carry a valid Texas approval number (Accredited Provider number, single-course approval number, or standard approval number), and licensees are responsible for verifying that number before relying on the credit; the Board and TPTA will not issue a missing approval number retroactively -- licensees must obtain it from the course sponsor/provider.
Tips for Texas PTs
- Register for the TX JAM early in your renewal window -- it's a timed 140-minute, 75-question exam with only a 48-hour window to start and finish once you register, and it costs $48 each time you take it for renewal.
- Confirm your human trafficking course is HHS-approved before you take it; a generic trafficking-awareness course that isn't on the HHS-approved list won't satisfy this specific requirement even if it earns general CCU credit.
- Before claiming any course toward your 30 CCUs, verify it has a valid Texas approval number (CCAP, Accredited Provider, or standard approval number) -- the Board and TPTA will not retroactively assign one, so you'd have to go back to the course provider.
- Since CCUs must fall within the 24 months before your expiration date and don't carry over, don't front-load your continuing education early in the cycle and coast -- spread it out or you risk hours falling outside the window.
- If a medical hardship will prevent you from finishing your CCUs, request the Board's hardship waiver before your license expires -- it cannot be approved retroactively once the license has lapsed.
Sources
Each figure on this page is taken directly from the Texas Board of Physical Therapy Examiners'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.