North Dakota Psychologist Continuing Education Requirements
North Dakota psychologists must complete 40 continuing education hours every 2 years to renew their Psychologist license, including 3 hours of ethics or law.
40
total hours / 2 years
3
ethics or law hours
Biennial renewal · calculating the next statewide deadline
North Dakota Psychologist requirements
| Requirement | Notes |
|---|---|
| Total continuing education | 40 hours every 2 years. |
| Renewal | Biennial cycle: renewal filing due November 15 of odd years; license expires December 31. |
| Renewal fee | $250 board renewal fee every 2 years; a late (delinquent) renewal adds a $100 fee. |
| Ethics or Law | 3 hours required each cycle. |
| Format limits | Up to 20 hours may be completed through home study / self-study. |
| Approved providers | All continuing education credits must be approved by the board (N.D. Admin. Code 66-03-01-03). Nine provider organizations are pre-approved and need no filing - the American Psychological Association; the Canadian Psychological Association; North Dakota or any other state or provincial psychological or behavior-analytic association or regulatory body; the Association for Behavior Analysis International; the Behavior Analyst Certification Board; the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities; the Northland Association for Behavior Analysis; the American Medical Association, for content related to practice authorized in NDCC ch. 43-32; and the Association of Social Work Boards' approved continuing education program, likewise pre-approved only for content related to practice authorized in NDCC ch. 43-32. Programs from any other provider may still be approved case by case: sponsors apply with a $25 fee, and a licensee may submit the approval application for a program at no charge. Because that case-by-case path makes the pre-approved list non-exhaustive, the provider classification is informational rather than an automatic pass/fail gate. |
| Recordkeeping | Keep CE documentation for 2 years after the end of each cycle. |
| Board audit | The board may audit licensees to verify CE compliance. |
| Late renewal | A late renewal allows a $100 late fee. |
Limits on how the hours are earned
Board caps and floors on where the 40 hours can come from.
- writing or speakingmax 20 hrs
- home study / self-studymax 20 hrs
Keeping the proof in order: what to keep for a CE audit, with every state’s retention period and what the audit notice asks for.
Total hours
40 hours every 2 years.
Renewal
Biennial cycle: renewal filing due November 15 of odd years; license expires December 31.
Renewal fee
$250 board renewal fee every 2 years; a late (delinquent) renewal adds a $100 fee.
Ethics or Law
3 hours required each cycle.
Format limits
Up to 20 hours may be completed through home study / self-study.
Approved providers
All continuing education credits must be approved by the board (N.D. Admin. Code 66-03-01-03). Nine provider organizations are pre-approved and need no filing - the American Psychological Association; the Canadian Psychological Association; North Dakota or any other state or provincial psychological or behavior-analytic association or regulatory body; the Association for Behavior Analysis International; the Behavior Analyst Certification Board; the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities; the Northland Association for Behavior Analysis; the American Medical Association, for content related to practice authorized in NDCC ch. 43-32; and the Association of Social Work Boards' approved continuing education program, likewise pre-approved only for content related to practice authorized in NDCC ch. 43-32. Programs from any other provider may still be approved case by case: sponsors apply with a $25 fee, and a licensee may submit the approval application for a program at no charge. Because that case-by-case path makes the pre-approved list non-exhaustive, the provider classification is informational rather than an automatic pass/fail gate.
Recordkeeping
Keep CE documentation for 2 years after the end of each cycle.
Board audit
The board may audit licensees to verify CE compliance.
Late renewal
A late renewal allows a $100 late fee.
Full board policy details
- TIER STRUCTURE: North Dakota recognizes four numbered categories of CE (N.D. Admin. Code 66-03-01-04). Category 1 - formal programs (courses, workshops, professional psychology conventions or conferences, institutes) requiring instructor-attendee real-time interaction on a verbal level, in person or through interactive video technologies; no cap; one credit per clock-hour unless an association recognized by the board assigns a different credit amount, which the board accepts. Category 2 - regularly scheduled postgraduate courses at an accredited college or university; no cap; credited by transcript at 10 credits per quarter hour / 15 per semester hour. Category 3 - writing or speaking; capped at 20 credits per cycle. Category 4 - self-study with an examination component; capped at 20 credits per cycle. No minimum attaches to any category, so the 40 credits may be earned WITHOUT any Category 1 hours - entirely from Categories 2 through 4 within their caps: Category 2 is uncapped and Categories 3 and 4 contribute up to 20 each (20 + 20 = 40, so even the two capped categories alone can complete the requirement exactly at their caps).
- LIVE / ONLINE FORMAT: There is no minimum live or in-person hour requirement. A live-interactive online program (real-time instructor and attendee interaction 'through interactive video technologies') is a Category 1 formal program with no cap; only non-interactive correspondence/online courses, recordings, and independent readings fall under Category 4's 20-credit self-study cap, and each Category 4 activity must include an examination component successfully completed by the licensee (N.D. Admin. Code 66-03-01-04).
- PROVIDER APPROVAL MODEL: Board-approval applies to every credit (N.D. Admin. Code 66-03-01-03) but is satisfied two ways - through the nine pre-approved provider organizations, or through case-by-case program approval (sponsor application $25; licensee application free). The board asks that case-by-case approval requests be received before October 1 of the reporting cycle (board CE page). The structured provider-type list is therefore captured as informational (provider_lists_enforced: false): an automatic hard gate would wrongly reject board-approved one-off programs from providers outside the pre-approved list.
- REPEAT RESTRICTIONS: Continuing education credits will be granted only once for any given paper or presentation, and graduate course teaching earns its twenty credits only for the initial year of offering (N.D. Admin. Code 66-03-01-04, Category 3). No rule prohibits a licensee from repeating an attended course within a cycle.
- CYCLE PHASE: Reporting cycles are two years commencing November 1 of the year the licensee obtained the North Dakota license; individuals licensed before January 1, 1992 have cycles that began November 1, 1992 (N.D. Admin. Code 66-03-01-01). The boundary is always November 1 but the phase differs per licensee: this file pins the odd-year phase (boundary November 1, 2025 -> cycle November 1, 2025 - October 31, 2027). Licensees first licensed in an even year - and all pre-1992 licensees, whose 1992 anchor puts them on even-year boundaries - are offset by twelve months from the encoded phase; confirm each licensee's cycle from their year of initial licensure. The license itself renews annually (application due November 15 for renewal on January 1; N.D. Admin. Code 66-02-01-08); the CE report is due only every second November 15.
- CE COMPLETION DEADLINE: Credits are expected to be completed by the November 1 close of the reporting cycle - the board's fee table charges $50 for 'Incomplete continuing education requirements - Continuing education completed after November 1 of reporting cycle' - and the completed CE reporting form is due November 15 following the cycle (N.D. Admin. Code 66-02-01-08, 66-03-01-02).
- NONCOMPLIANCE PATHS: A good-cause extension (illness or serious extenuating circumstances) may be requested in writing by November 15 of the reporting year; a late request (after November 15, before January 1) carries a $100 fee. Extension terms are at the board's sole discretion; the licensee must still complete the next cycle's CE in full and undergoes mandatory audit for the two reporting cycles after the extension ends (N.D. Admin. Code 66-03-01-06). A license expired for CE noncompliance may be renewed within one year of nonrenewal by documenting the missed reporting period's CE and paying the renewal and late fees; after more than one year the individual must reapply (initiation form, online application, fees, and any examinations the board requires), with renewal issued on an affirmative board vote (66-03-01-06, 66-02-01-14).
- NO CARRYOVER / NO FIRST-RENEWAL RELIEF: Chapter 66-03-01 is silent on carryover, so excess credits may not be carried into the next reporting cycle. There is no proration, reduction, or exemption for the first reporting cycle - it simply commences November 1 of the licensure year with the full forty credits due over its two years; a licensee whose license issues late in the calendar year (e.g. December) is already inside a cycle that commenced the preceding November 1.
- ASSOCIATION-ASSIGNED CREDITS: For Category 1 formal programs, 'the number of continuing education credits assigned by an association recognized by the board will be accepted' even when it differs from clock-hours; otherwise credit is one per clock-hour (N.D. Admin. Code 66-03-01-04). An association's non-clock-hour assignment is case-by-case and cannot be verified by the engine; hours are recorded as assigned.
- OVERLAYS: North Dakota participates in PSYPACT (SB 2205, passed April 13, 2023, effective August 1, 2023) - PSYPACT authority to practice (APIT/TAP on an ASPPB E.Passport or IPC) is a mobility overlay on the North Dakota license with its own ASPPB-side renewal and adds no hours to this CE requirement. North Dakota grants psychologists no prescriptive authority; NDAC Title 66 contains no prescription-certificate tier or associated CE. This file covers the Licensed Psychologist; the Licensed Industrial-Organizational Psychologist shares this CE rule under 66-03-01-01 but is a separate credential, and psychology residents (a supervised pre-licensure status capped at three years, 66-02-01-13), limited-practice certificate holders, applied behavior analysts (now licensed by the ND Board of Integrative Health Care), and ESPB-credentialed school psychologists are out of scope.
We turn every category, format limit, and one-time rule on this page into a live checklist on your North Dakota Psychologist record, and reapply board changes automatically as they happen.
Track North Dakota Psychologist CE free →North Dakota Psychologist CE: frequently asked questions
How many CE hours do North Dakota Psychologist licensees need?
North Dakota requires 40 continuing education hours every 2 years to renew a Psychologist license. Biennial cycle: renewal filing due November 15 of odd years; license expires December 31.
How many ethics hours are required for North Dakota Psychologist licensees?
Of the total, 3 hours must be in ethics or law.
How often do North Dakota Psychologist licensees renew?
Biennial cycle: renewal filing due November 15 of odd years; license expires December 31.
How much does North Dakota Psychologist license renewal cost?
The board's renewal fee is $250 every 2 years, per the North Dakota board fee schedule. Renewing late adds a $100 delinquency fee on top. CE course costs are separate and set by course providers.
Can North Dakota Psychologist licensees complete CE online or by home study?
Up to 20 hours may be completed through home study / self-study.
Sources & verification
- State source
- North Dakota board rule
- Fee schedule
- North Dakota board fee schedule
- Last verified
- August 2026
- Ruleset version
- 2026.1
Reviewed against the North Dakota board source and refreshed from the compiled ruleset above. Methodology and disclaimer. Compliance data is for guidance only, not legal or board advice. Always confirm requirements with your licensing board before renewing. See something wrong? Report it →
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What to keep for a CE audit
What boards ask for in a CE audit, how long each state says to keep certificates, what the notice looks like, and a printable checklist.
North Dakota mental health workforce data
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Other North Dakota CE requirement pages
Psychologist CE requirements in other states
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