Continuing Education Units (CEUs)

CEUs are professional development hours that are awarded to individuals who have participated in non-credit educational activities that meet identified goals.

Some regulators refer to these activities as CEUs (continuing education units), CPEs (continuing professional education units), or PDHs (professional development hours). We use the term, CEU, as the descriptor for all these activities.

CEUs matter when you're hosting an event where participants attend, in part, to maintain a license or show/demonstrate continued professional development. Continuing education credit is their opportunity to earn required contact hours.

Not every organization can confer continuing education credit. Only those authorized by regulators can do so. And here's what regulators expect from licensed providers like us.

The event must be under capable direction, under responsible sponsorship, and presented by qualified instructors.

Continuing Education at Bradley University is a licensed provider of CEUs, CPEs, and PDHs. Our staff registers participants’ professional development activities and maintains those records for seven years.

Some of our customers include Caterpillar, Inc., the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC), the National Private Truck Council (NPTC), and Bradley University. 

How are CEUs calculated?

One Continuing Education Unit (CEU) is generally considered to be equivalent to ten contact hours of participation in an organized continuing education experience. A CEU can be awarded in whole units or fractions of a unit (one-tenth unit, for example). 

For what kinds of activities is Bradley qualified to confer CEUs?

Continuing Education at Bradley University is licensed to award three different types of continuing education credit.

Type 1

CEUs may be awarded on behalf of regulatory agencies that require ongoing professional development activities by their licensees. We are authorized to offer CEUs for these agencies and professions:

Agencies

• Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation
• Illinois State Educator Preparation and Licensure Board (SEPLB)

Professions

• Clinical Professional Counselors
• Marriage and Family Therapists
• Nursing Home Administrators
• Physical Therapists and Physical Therapist Assistants
• Professional Counselors
• Professional Engineers (Professional Development Hours)
• Social Workers
• Structural Engineers (Professional Development Hours)

Type 2

We are authorized to offer CEUs on behalf of Bradley University. When an individual participates in a Bradley-sponsored non-credit educational activity offering CEU contact hours, we are a recognized provider of CEUs.

Type 3

We can certify CEUs. Once your participants have successfully completed their professional development hours, we can provide them with a certificate that validates their participation. Your participants can then use these certificates to notify regulatory agencies that the work has been completed.

Create Your CEU Plan

If you are ready to formalize your CEU plan, here is the process you can expect to follow to arrange credit for your event. We are available at every step to assist you in developing this plan.

1. Your organization provides information to Continuing Education about the program you wish to certify for CEUs.
2. We calculate the appropriate credit, based on national standards.
3. We notify you of the credit we’ve assigned.
4. On the day of the educational event, we collect information about participants wishing to secure CEUs for the program.
5. We award the CEUs to the participants.
6. If necessary, we notify regulators or professions of the participants’ work.
7. We maintain a record of the CEUs for up to 7 years.
8. We assess your organization, or your participants, a $15 per participant fee.

We will help you in every step of this process to ensure that your participants can earn required contact hours.