Updated for 2026

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.

40hours every 2 years
Topic minimums, counted within the 40
3ethics or law

Next deadline: November 15, 2027The renewal cycle is biennial. CE must be completed by October 31 of odd years. You file your renewal by November 15, and the license expires December 31.

What the board saysNorth Dakota board rule
Application for continuing education credits must be made on the form provided by the board and must include evidence of completion of at least forty credits of continuing education completed over the two-year period1 … A minimum of three continuing education credits per reporting cycle must be in the area of professional ethics, law, or jurisprudence2 … 3. Writing or speaking3, including a paper or other presentation at a formal professional meeting … A maximum of twenty continuing education credits per reporting cycle3 will be granted for continuing education programs in this category. 4. Correspondence or online courses, recordings, or independent readings4 approved by the board or by one of the associations recognized by the board which include an examination component successfully completed by the licensee. A maximum of twenty continuing education credits per reporting cycle4 will be granted for continuing education programs in this category.
What it means
  1. 40 hours every 2 years
  2. 3 hours of ethics, law, or jurisprudence
  3. No more than 20 hours for writing or speaking
  4. No more than 20 hours of home study or online courses
N.D. Admin. Code 66-03-01-02, 66-03-01-04Last verified August 2026Ruleset 2026.1How we verify
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Requirements

North Dakota Psychologist requirements

Total

40 hoursYou need 40 hours every 2 years. The renewal cycle is biennial. CE must be completed by October 31 of odd years. You file your renewal by November 15, and the license expires December 31.

Topic minimums, counted within the 40

The remaining 37 hours are not tied to a topic minimum.
Ethics or Law
3
You need 3 hours each cycle.

Limits on how the hours are earned

Writing or speaking
max 20 hrs
Home study / self-study
max 20 hrs

Up to 20 hours may be completed through home study / self-study.

Cycle and record rules

Renewal
The renewal cycle is biennial. CE must be completed by October 31 of odd years. You file your renewal by November 15, and the license expires December 31.
Renewal fee
The board renewal fee is $250 every 2 years, and a late (delinquent) renewal adds a $100 fee.
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 adds a $100 late fee.

To keep your proof in order, see what to keep for a CE audit, which covers every state’s retention period and what the audit notice asks for.

Your hours

Check where you stand

Enter the hours you have completed this cycle to see what is left before November 15, 2027.

Your result appears here as you enter hours.

Open the full Psychologist CE hours calculator

Also hold a North Dakota LPC license? Each board runs its own CE cycle. See the North Dakota LPC requirements.

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.

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. The renewal cycle is biennial. CE must be completed by October 31 of odd years. You file your renewal by November 15, and the 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?

The renewal cycle is biennial. CE must be completed by October 31 of odd years. You file your renewal by November 15, and the 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 and verification

State source
North Dakota board rule
Fee schedule
North Dakota board fee schedule
Last verified
August 2026
Ruleset version
2026.1

We reviewed this page against the North Dakota board source, and we refresh it 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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North Dakota guides & data

What to keep for a CE audit →Learn what boards ask for in a CE audit, how long each state says to keep certificates, and what the notice looks like, then use the printable checklist.North Dakota mental health workforce data →3,482 active providers, or 435.6 per 100,000 residents, ranked 26 of 51. The page includes a county density map and free CSV downloads.

Other North Dakota CE requirement pages

North Dakota LPCNorth Dakota LMFTNorth Dakota LCSWNorth Dakota Addiction CounselorNorth Dakota PMHNP

Psychologist CE requirements in other states