Calculating Continuing Education Credit

The number of instructional minutes or contact hours should be calculated for didactic or experiential learning. Do not count the noninstructional portions of an activity (e.g., breaks, lunch, or housekeeping information). The minimum number of contact hours that can be awarded is 1. After the first contact hour, fractions or portions of subsequent hours should be calculated.

To be eligible for credit, each session or activity must be at least 60 minutes. Credit will be awarded on the basis of the sum of individual sessions’ credit, not total instructional minutes. Live conference activities will be awarded per session, except where tracks are easily identified.

CEU (Continuing Education Units)

1 contact hour = 0.1 CEU = 60 minutes (CEUs are expressed in tenths.)

Sum all the minutes for all activities in a learning event, subtracting time for non-allowable activities.

Divide this total by 60 and then again by 10, with the fraction for the last few minutes rounded off to the nearest tenth. If the resulting computation ends in less than .5, round down to 0. If the resulting computation ends .5 or higher, round up to the nearest whole number.
1 hour plus 20 minutes = 0.1 CEU
2 hours and thirty minutes = 0.3 CEUs
2 hours and forty minutes = 0.3 CEUs

CECH (Continuing Education Contact Hours) for CHES

1 contact hour = 60 minutes of instruction

The CECH (continuing education contact hour) is equivalent to one 60-minute hour of instruction. CECH will be calculated by rounding up to the nearest ½ hour.
1 hour and 45 minutes = 2 hours
2 hours and 10 minutes = 2 hours
2 hours and 15 minutes = 2½ hours
2 hours and 35 minutes = 2½ hours

CME (Continuing Medical Education )

1 contact hour = 60 minutes. The activity should be rounded to the nearest quarter hour. One hour of instruction plus a portion is awarded as follows:

1 hour plus 1–15 minutes = 1.25 hours
1 hour plus 16–30 minutes = 1.5 hours
1 hour plus 31–45 minutes = 1.75 hours
1 hour plus 46–60 minutes = 2 hours

CNE (Continuing Nursing Education)

1 contact hour = 60 minutes

Contact hours may be awarded in increments of tenths. (ex: 2.1).

If 'rounding' is desired in the calculation of contact hours, round down to the nearest 1/10th.

CPE (Continuing Pharmacy Education)

1 contact hour = 60 minutes of instruction

1 contact hour = 0.1 CEU (This is the minimum unit of credit to be awarded for any single pharmacy education program.) The CEU (continuing education unit) is defined as 10 contact hours in organized continuing pharmacy education activity.

The activity should be calculated by rounding up to the nearest ½ hour. When the fractional part of an hour is at least 45 minutes, the fractional portion should be counted as a whole hour. Any portion of an hour 15–44 minutes should be counted as 30 minutes. Any portion of an hour less than 14 minutes should not be counted.

One hour of instruction plus a portion is awarded as follows:

1 hour plus 1–14 minutes = 0.1 CEUs
1 hour plus 15–44 minutes = 0.15 CEUs
1 hour plus 45–59 minutes = 0.2 CEUs

AAVSB RACE (American Association of Veterinary State Boards Registry of Approved Continuing Education)

1 contact hour = 50 minutes

The smallest increment to be considered for approval is ½ hour. Not all boards will accept increments smaller than 1 whole hour, even if RACE credit has been approved.

Page Last Modified: June 17, 2009