West Virginia Psychologist Continuing Education Requirements
West Virginia psychologists must complete 20 continuing education hours every 2 years to renew their Psychologist license, including 3 hours of ethics, 10 hours of sponsored continuing education, and 2 hours of veterans' mental health.
20
total hours / 2 years
3
ethics hours
2
veterans' mental health hours
10
sponsored continuing education hours
Biennial · renewal date depends on the licensee's issue date.
West Virginia Psychologist requirements
| Requirement | Notes |
|---|---|
| Total continuing education | 20 hours every 2 years. |
| Renewal | Biennial cycle: counted from your license anniversary. |
| Renewal fee | $405 board renewal fee every 2 years. |
| Ethics | 3 hours required each cycle. |
| Sponsored Continuing Education | 10 hours required each cycle. |
| Veterans' Mental Health | 2 hours required each cycle. |
| Approved providers | Provider classification is enforced only for the association-tier credits tagged sponsored_continuing_education: those must come from programs approved by the American Psychological Association or any of its sponsors, the Academies of the Specialty Boards of the American Board of Professional Psychology, the West Virginia Psychological Association, the West Virginia Association of Professional Psychologists, the National Association of School Psychologists and its affiliated regional organizations, or the West Virginia School Psychologists Association (W. Va. Code R. § 17-3-20.4) — these "never need pre-approval by the Board" (CE Guidelines section A, whose auto-accept list also names the Canadian Psychological Association: "All forms of programs approved by APA, CPA, WVPA, WVSPA, WVAPP, NASP, State or Regional Boards or Associations of Psychology" — hence international professional associations are accepted alongside the § 17-3-20.4 organizations). The remainder of the 20 hours may come from the § 17-3-20.8 activity classes without provider approval. must_be_within_cycle_window is set because no carryover is permitted: nothing in § 17-3-20 or the CE Guidelines allows hours earned in excess of the requirement to be carried into a succeeding renewal period, and CE is reported per renewal period on the board's CE Audit Form ("CE's that a psychologist ... has taken during the last renewal period"), so every credited hour must fall within the current two-year cycle. Attendees may repeat a course (no rule forbids it); only presenter credit is restricted to the initial delivery. |
| Board audit | The board may audit licensees to verify CE compliance. |
Limits on how the hours are earned
Board caps and floors on where the 20 hours can come from.
- first time presentationmax 6 hrs
- publicationmax 6 hrs
- grand roundsmax 10 hrs
- academic courseworkmax 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
20 hours every 2 years.
Renewal
Biennial cycle: counted from your license anniversary.
Renewal fee
$405 board renewal fee every 2 years.
Ethics
3 hours required each cycle.
Sponsored Continuing Education
10 hours required each cycle.
Veterans' Mental Health
2 hours required each cycle.
Approved providers
Provider classification is enforced only for the association-tier credits tagged sponsored_continuing_education: those must come from programs approved by the American Psychological Association or any of its sponsors, the Academies of the Specialty Boards of the American Board of Professional Psychology, the West Virginia Psychological Association, the West Virginia Association of Professional Psychologists, the National Association of School Psychologists and its affiliated regional organizations, or the West Virginia School Psychologists Association (W. Va. Code R. § 17-3-20.4) — these "never need pre-approval by the Board" (CE Guidelines section A, whose auto-accept list also names the Canadian Psychological Association: "All forms of programs approved by APA, CPA, WVPA, WVSPA, WVAPP, NASP, State or Regional Boards or Associations of Psychology" — hence international professional associations are accepted alongside the § 17-3-20.4 organizations). The remainder of the 20 hours may come from the § 17-3-20.8 activity classes without provider approval. must_be_within_cycle_window is set because no carryover is permitted: nothing in § 17-3-20 or the CE Guidelines allows hours earned in excess of the requirement to be carried into a succeeding renewal period, and CE is reported per renewal period on the board's CE Audit Form ("CE's that a psychologist ... has taken during the last renewal period"), so every credited hour must fall within the current two-year cycle. Attendees may repeat a course (no rule forbids it); only presenter credit is restricted to the initial delivery.
Board audit
The board may audit licensees to verify CE compliance.
Full board policy details
- TIER STRUCTURE: W. Va. Code R. § 17-3-20.8 splits the 20 hours into (a) an association tier — at least 50 percent (10 hours) from programs approved by the § 17-3-20.4 organizations (APA or its sponsors, ABPP specialty-board academies, WVPA, WVAPP, NASP and its regional affiliates, WVSPA) — and (b) a remainder tier of enumerated activities: presentations attended, APA-approved self-study, formal presentations given (≤6 hours, initial delivery only), publications (≤6 hours), grand rounds (Guidelines cap: ≤10 hours), graduate psychology coursework, and other options in the CE Guidelines. There are no lettered activity categories and no rule requiring hours from a minimum number of categories.
- FORMAT: There is no self-study or home-study cap, no live or in-person minimum, and no per-day or per-course cap. "APA approved self-study programs" are an enumerated remainder-tier activity (§ 17-3-20.8 item 2), and the board's CE page confirms "psychologists can attend psychological associations and/or complete continuing education online." All 20 hours may be earned online or by self-study, subject only to the 10-hour association-tier floor.
- QUARTERLY LICENSE DATING: "License periods shall be dated quarterly (first day of January, April, July and October) and shall expire two (2) years after the granting of the license for psychologists" (§ 17-3-20.1); the statute matches ("The license shall be valid for a period of two years from the date issued", W. Va. Code § 30-21-8(b)). The engine models the cycle as a 24-month anniversary from the license issue date; the board's records date each period to the quarter boundary, so a licensee's recorded issue date IS the quarter start and the anniversary tracks it exactly. Thirty days before expiration the board mails a renewal notice, but failure to receive it does not excuse renewal (§ 17-3-20.2).
- COURSE REPEAT RESTRICTIONS: Presenter credit is limited to the first delivery — "up to 6 continuing education hours for the initial presentation only" (§ 17-3-20.8 item 3; CE Guidelines: "One (1) credit hour for each presentation hour for the initial time the presentation is made."). The rule imposes no general ban on an attendee repeating a course for credit.
- LICENSE STATUS RULES: There is no inactive or retired CE-exempt tier. The fee rule defines a reduced "Non-practicing Psychologists" renewal at $120 — but "Licensee must complete continuing education requirements. A letter will be issued." (17CSR1 § 17-1-2.3.2) — so non-practicing status reduces the fee, never the CE. A licensee or supervisee under an ethical inquiry "may not circumvent or prevent investigation and/or resolution of the ethical complaint by deactivating their license or supervised-psychologist status" (§ 17-3-20.10). Retired psychologists donating care to indigent patients may hold the no-fee Special Volunteer Psychologist license (W. Va. Code § 30-21-17; § 17-3-22), whose holder "agrees to participate in continuing education as required by the board for a special volunteer license" — board-set terms, manual review. No hardship waiver, extension, or exemption provision exists in the CE rule.
- LATE RENEWAL / REINSTATEMENT: No grace period or late-fee schedule is codified. "The Board reserves the right to renew a license after the normal expiration date if the circumstances justify such action." (§ 17-3-20.9) — discretionary, case by case, with a $90 reinstatement fee in the fee rule (17CSR1 § 17-1-2.10). Manual review for any lapsed license.
- DUAL PSYCHOLOGY + SCHOOL-PSYCHOLOGY LICENSURE: the 20-hour requirement satisfies both licenses for dually licensed individuals, with at least 3 hours per cycle in each area (§ 17-3-20.5) — encoded as a conditional keyed on also holding the school_psychologist license: a 3-hour school_psychology floor plus a 17-hour school_psychology ceiling that enforces the symmetric 3-hour primary-area (psychology) floor by arithmetic. Licensed psychologists who obtained school-psychology licensure under the original grandfather provisions maintain that school license by meeting the psychology renewal requirements (§ 17-3-18).
- PROGRAM PRE-APPROVAL PROCESS: programs that do not clearly fall within the recognized classes need advance board approval — "Programs which do not clearly meet any of the categories described in these Guidelines require prior approval, which must be obtained at least three (3) weeks in advance of the program. Special program approval will not be given retroactively." (CE Guidelines section F). Organizations may also apply to have specific courses board-approved: application approval fee $180 for for-profit organizations, $45 for non-profits, plus $25 to list the approved course on the board's webpage (17CSR1 § 17-1-2.11) — sponsor fees, not licensee renewal fees.
- OVERLAYS: West Virginia has enacted PSYPACT (W. Va. Code ch. 30, art. 21A — definitions including the E.Passport, the Interjurisdictional Practice Certificate, and the Authority to Practice Interjurisdictional Telepsychology at § 30-21A-1). PSYPACT authority is a mobility overlay on the home-state license administered through ASPPB credentials and carries no separate West Virginia CE obligation. West Virginia grants no prescriptive authority to psychologists — ch. 30, art. 21 contains no RxP provision.
We turn every category, format limit, and one-time rule on this page into a live checklist on your West Virginia Psychologist record, and reapply board changes automatically as they happen.
Track West Virginia Psychologist CE free →West Virginia Psychologist CE: frequently asked questions
How many CE hours do West Virginia Psychologist licensees need?
West Virginia requires 20 continuing education hours every 2 years to renew a Psychologist license. Biennial cycle: counted from your license anniversary.
How many ethics hours are required for West Virginia Psychologist licensees?
Of the total, 3 hours must be in ethics.
How often do West Virginia Psychologist licensees renew?
Biennial cycle: counted from your license anniversary.
How much does West Virginia Psychologist license renewal cost?
The board's renewal fee is $405 every 2 years, per the West Virginia board fee schedule. CE course costs are separate and set by course providers.
Are there subject-specific CE requirements for West Virginia Psychologist licensees?
Yes. In addition to ethics, West Virginia requires 10 hours of sponsored continuing education, 2 hours of veterans' mental health.
Sources & verification
- State source
- West Virginia board rule
- Fee schedule
- West Virginia board fee schedule
- Last verified
- August 2026
- Ruleset version
- 2026.1
Reviewed against the West Virginia 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.
West Virginia mental health workforce data
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Other West Virginia CE requirement pages
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