NWACS and ASHA CEUs/CMHs

Earning ASHA Certification Maintenance Hours

We provide this information to help you understand the difference between ASHA-approved CEUs and ASHA CMHs. While we have done our best to ensure this information is current and correct, it is your responsibility to understand the specific requirements for professional development to maintain your licensure/certifications.

ASHA has mandated continued professional development for certification maintenance. The renewal period is every 3 years. The following are ASHA approved ways to accumulate certification maintenance hours (CMHs):

  1. ASHA continuing education units (CEUs); NWACS has opted not to offer ASHA-sponsored CE credits due to the cost. If this cost is passed on to conference attendees, registration could increase as much as $40 per person.

  2. Accumulation of professional contact hours; These are activities which can be recorded and used toward ASHA certification maintenance hours (CMHs). They will not show up on your online ASHA CE Registry, however are valid hours and can count toward your 3-year certification maintenance total. Each NWACS Conference attendee will receive a signed certificate of completion which can be used as proof of hours. The following information must be included for ASHA records:

Once you have completed 30 professional development hours, you have met ASHA’s requirement and are ready to submit your Certification Maintenance Form to verify completion. You may submit your compliance form online through your ASHA account. While you do need to keep copies of supporting documentation (i.e., certificates of completion), “there is no need to submit certificates and supporting documents unless you have been selected to participate in the audit.” (ASHA website)

For your convenience, you can download and use this Record Keeping Form for Certification Maintenance Hours (CMH) form from ASHA, or use your own method of tracking/recording your CMHs.

ASHA Certification Maintenance Hours (CMH) = 60 minutes spent in a professional development activity as a learner or participant (does not include breaks) 

1 CMH = 0.1 CEU   
10 CMH = 1.0 CEUs
30 CMH = 3.0 CEUs

10 CMH = 1 quarter hour college coursework 
15 CMH = 1 semester hour academic coursework