BCBA CEU Requirements Explained

How many CEUs does a BCBA need?

The BACB recertifies BCBAs on a two-year cycle. To recertify, you report continuing education units (CEUs) earned inside that cycle. The totals by credential are:

*Supervision CEUs are required only if you supervised RBTs, BCaBAs or trainees during the cycle. Registered Behavior Technicians (RBTs) do not earn CEUs; they renew every year with a competency assessment and ongoing supervision.

Ethics and supervision minimums

The 32-unit total includes two content minimums. Missing either one blocks your recertification even if your overall total is fine.

• Ethics (4 CEUs). Content must map to the BACB Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts. Topics such as assent, trauma-informed care, scope of competence, referral boundaries and dual relationships all qualify when the provider labels the event as an ethics CE.
• Supervision (3 CEUs). Required only for supervisors. Content must address the practice of supervision: onboarding, performance feedback, competency assessment and documentation.

The remaining units are general CEUs. Ethics and supervision units also count toward your 32, so you do not need 32 general units on top of them.

What counts as a CEU

The BACB accepts four categories of continuing education:

1. Learning CE. Courses, webinars, conference sessions and podcast CEUs delivered by an ACE provider. Most BCBAs earn all or nearly all of their units here. Each event must include a way to check that you engaged with the content, usually a short quiz.
2. Teaching CE. Instructing a behavior-analytic course or CE event. Units are earned once per unique course or event.
3. Scholarship CE. Publishing in, or reviewing for, a peer-reviewed behavior-analytic journal.
4. University coursework. Completing a graduate-level course in behavior analysis at a qualifying university.

Why the ACE provider matters

Only events delivered by a BACB Authorized Continuing Education (ACE) provider count as learning CE. Before you buy any course, look for:

• The provider name and ACE provider number on the course page or certificate.
• The CE type labeled clearly: general, ethics or supervision.
• The number of units, in half-unit steps, that match the instruction time.
• A certificate issued after you complete the assessment, not before.

Access Behavior Analysis is a BACB ACE provider (provider number OP-24-11350). Every CEU in our catalog shows its type and unit count before checkout, and your certificate is available in your account as soon as you pass the quiz.

Keeping records and surviving an audit

The BACB audits a random sample of recertification applications. You do not upload certificates when you recertify, so keep them where you can find them.

• Save a PDF of every certificate in one folder named by cycle, for example "2025-2027 CEUs".
• Keep a running sheet with date, provider, title, type and units. Total it every quarter.
• Keep records for at least seven years after the cycle ends.
• If a provider issues certificates only from your account, download them; do not rely on logging in later.

A simple two-year CEU plan

Spreading 32 units across 24 months is about 1.5 units per month. A plan that keeps you out of the last-minute rush:

1. Months 1–3: knock out the 4 ethics units first. They are the most common audit gap.
2. Months 4–6: if you supervise, complete the 3 supervision units.
3. Months 7–18: earn 1–2 general units per month with podcast CEUs or short courses.
4. Months 19–22: finish the remaining units with a bundle or a conference.
5. Months 23–24: total your sheet, confirm you have 32, and recertify early.

Our CEU bundles group ethics and general units together so one purchase covers a big part of the plan.

Frequently asked questions

This guide is a summary. The BACB's handbooks are the authority on requirements; check them for the cycle you are in.