What’s the Difference Between CEUs and PDHs?
There’s never been a greater need for engineers to stay current in their field. It’s especially important for engineers to defend and maintain their P.E. licensure. While requirements for licensure vary by state, professional development hours (PDHs) play a crucial role in adapting and aligning to meet this need. But professional development goes beyond staying current with trends, techniques, and ideas. It’s also crucial for maximizing your potential.
You’ve probably heard professional development hours and continuing education units mentioned at the same time as potential solutions for these problems—but they’re not quite the same thing. Here are some key differences.
What counts as a Personal Development Hour (PDH)?
Acquiring PDH credits requires time and commitment, but there are lots of options out there, especially in today’s digital world. To get PDH credits, you could:
- Enroll in a course
- Attend a virtual seminar, symposium or committee meeting
- Participate in a training program
- Teach or present on a topic
- Publish an article or a book
- Earn a patent
What unites these activities isn’t the format but rather that they build your professional skills and knowledge.
One of the most popular PDH formats is a course. Courses are popular because they offer:
- A diverse selection of topics
- Flexible formats for working professionals
- Clear educational deliverables
- Educational support and resources provided by experienced professionals
PDH courses can focus on specific subject areas, from basic gas turbine engine technology to fracture mechanics. Still, they aren’t limited to technical knowledge—PDH courses can also include management and ethics topics.
What qualifies as a Continuing Education Unit?
To qualify as a CEU, courses have to meet the standards of the International Accreditors for Continuing Education and Training, which puts organizations through an accreditation process that includes:
- Documenting organizational education processes
- Reviewing the curriculum
- Verifying instructor credentials
- And more.
To qualify as a CEU, a course must define the learning outcomes and require learners to demonstrate their understanding of the material. This can involve:
- Quizzes,
- Written assessments,
- Group discussions, and more.
CEUs are nationally recognized and, when it comes to international recognition, they’re also more common. Even with that in mind, you should always verify whether an institution will accept your contact hours, be they PDHs or CEUs.
Major Key Difference: Hours versus Credits
Generally speaking, one contact hour of instruction, presentation, or study is worth one unit of PDH credit.
Calculating the number of credits is easy. 10 contact hours = 1 CEU
For those hours to count as CEU, there are additional requirements the provider must meet.
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