Washington Physical Therapy CE Requirements (2026): 32 Hours Every 2 Years

Requirements Overview

The Washington Board of Physical Therapy, under the Department of Health, requires physical therapists to log 32 continuing education hours and physical therapist assistants 24 hours every 2-year cycle under WAC 246-915-085, drawn from live/online courses, published research, student clinical instruction, and more -- the Board does not pre-approve courses.

Within that total, licensees need 2 hours of health equity training and a one-time 3-hour suicide assessment course from an approved provider. Spinal manipulation endorsement holders direct 10 of their 32 hours to that topic (5+ procedural). New licensees (post-1/1/2026) also pass the jurisprudence exam once in their first cycle.

Unusually, Washington also requires 200 hours of applied practice or approved nonclinical work every two years, on top of the CE hours, with no carry-over between cycles.

Mandatory Topics

Renewal Pathways

Exemptions

• ✓
  Inactive Status — While a PT/PTA license is in inactive status (WAC 246-12-090), the licensee is not required to complete CE hours or the 200-hour application-of-knowledge requirement. Before returning to active status, the licensee must have completed those hours within the two years immediately prior to the reactivation request.

  May also be required to retake the National Physical Therapy Examination (NPTE) depending on how long the license was inactive (WAC 246-915-350).
• ✓
  Emergency Extension — The Board only grants CE completion extensions for genuine emergency situations; requests must be filed before the renewal deadline and take six weeks or longer to process. If a request is denied, the licensee must still complete all CE and 200 knowledge/skill hours before their license expires.

  The Board explicitly does NOT treat the following as emergencies: employer no longer paying for CE / limited personal funds, childcare or pregnancy, living outside the United States, course cancellation without enough time to find another, working in a state that doesn't require CE, or recent divorce.

How You Can Complete Your CE

Washington CE Rules & Limits

Details specific to Washington that generic CE guides tend to miss:

• Washington imposes a distinctive SECOND requirement beyond the CE hours: every two years, each PT and PTA must also complete 200 hours 'involving the application of physical therapy knowledge and skills,' obtainable through clinical practice (no limit) or defined nonclinical activities (teaching, active service on boards/professional or government organizations, developing coursework, research, consulting, management of PT services, or volunteer/observation hours), each documented per WAC 246-915-085(7). This 200-hour requirement is separate from, and in addition to, the 32/24-hour CE total.
• Health equity (2 hrs/2yr) and suicide assessment training (3 hrs, one-time) hours both count toward -- not in addition to -- the standard 32-hour PT / 24-hour PTA CE total.
• The Washington State Jurisprudence (JP) Exam rule changed effective January 1, 2026: it is no longer a pre-licensure requirement and is instead required once during a licensee's first full CE cycle after initial licensure (for anyone first licensed on/after 1/1/2026); passing counts as 1 CE hour. It is optional thereafter (once per cycle, still worth 1 free CE hour). Licensees who were already licensed before 1/1/2026 already satisfied the JP exam pre-licensure and do not need to retake it.
• PTs holding the spinal manipulation endorsement must direct 10 of their 32 total CE hours to spinal-manipulation-specific content (at least 5 of those hours on procedural technique/application); this is the only PT license endorsement with its own CE carve-out.
• No CCU/unit conversion is involved -- Washington measures CE directly in contact hours.
• No carry-over provision was found in WAC 246-915-085/086 or the DOH FAQ; all CE and 200-hour requirements must be completed within the 2-year cycle being renewed.
• The Board only grants CE-deadline extensions for genuine emergencies (processing takes 6+ weeks); it explicitly does not consider lack of employer CE funding, childcare/pregnancy, living abroad, course cancellation, working in a non-CE state, or divorce to be emergencies.
• The Board does not pre-approve CE courses or providers; compliance relies on self-reporting against WAC 246-915-085(1)'s eleven activity categories plus a post-renewal audit process, each category with its own documentation standard (certificates, synopses, transcripts, letters, etc.).

Provider Requirements

The Board does not pre-approve continuing education courses or providers; licensees may only report activities that specifically relate to the practice of physical therapy. Acceptable CE falls into eleven defined categories under WAC 246-915-085(1) -- live/online/recorded courses, unstructured electronic media, books/articles, presentation preparation, published scholarly research, clinical instruction of students, professional-certification courses, higher-education courses, science-based conferences, board-certification exams, and the jurisprudence exam -- each with its own documentation standard, and licensees must retain proof (certificates, synopses, transcripts, etc.) in case of a post-renewal audit.

Tips for Washington PTs

• Track your 200 hours of applied practice separately from your 32 CE hours -- they're two distinct requirements, and clinical employment records or documented nonclinical activities (teaching, research, board service, consulting) are what satisfy the 200-hour side.
• Knock out the one-time 3-hour suicide assessment training early in your career -- it only has to be done once, but it must come from a provider on the Department of Health's approved model list to count.
• If you hold the spinal manipulation endorsement, plan 10 of your 32 CE hours around spinal-manipulation content (with at least 5 in procedural technique) so you're not scrambling to find qualifying courses near renewal.
• Don't count on carry-over -- Washington requires all CE and 200 application hours to be completed fresh within each 2-year cycle, so hours banked early don't roll into the next renewal.
• If you go inactive, you're off the hook for CE and the 200-hour requirement while inactive, but you'll need to complete both within the two years immediately before you request to return to active status -- plan that runway before you apply to reactivate.
• Request any CE extension well before your renewal deadline -- the Board only grants extensions for genuine emergencies, and processing takes six weeks or longer, so waiting until the deadline is close guarantees you won't get relief in time.

Sources

Each figure on this page is taken directly from the Board of Physical 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.

PT Requirements in Nearby States

Other Professions in Washington