New Jersey Physical Therapist license renewal and CE requirements

Summary

New Jersey physical therapists must complete 30 credit hours of continuing education every two years to renew their license with the New Jersey State Board of Physical Therapy Examiners (Division of Consumer Affairs). All physical therapist and physical therapist assistant licenses expire every two years on January 31 of an even-numbered year, regardless of the date of initial licensure. The biennial period runs February 1 to January 31. New Jersey also mandates specific subjects. Jurisprudence and professional ethics: 4 credit hours every renewal cycle. No more than 10 credit hours may be self-study or online.

New Jersey Physical Therapist renewal and continuing education rules

"Not stated" means the board's pages and rules we read do not address it. We do not fill in typical values.

N.J.A.C. 13:39A-9.2(a) requires each applicant for biennial renewal as a physical therapist or physical therapist assistant to complete 30 credits of continuing education during the preceding biennial period, including four credits of jurisprudence and professional ethics. Proration for a first renewal depends on when the license was issued: a licensee licensed in the first year of the biennium (February 1 of an even year through January 31 of the following odd year) completes 15 of the 30 credits, and a licensee licensed in the second year (February 1 of an odd year through January 31 of the following even year) is exempt for that period under N.J.A.C. 13:39A-9.2(b). A first-time renewer who already completed a Jurisprudence Assessment Module for licensure does not repeat it but must still complete a professional ethics course of at least 2.5 credits. A CPR course or recertification is worth 2 credits, and a post-graduate course in a DPT program is worth 15 credits per course credit.

Required CE topics for New Jersey physical therapists

State-specific subject mandates. Where a mandate applies only to some licensees, the scope is listed.

Documentation and audit

Common questions

How many CE hours does a New Jersey PT need to renew?

New Jersey physical therapists must complete 30 credit hours of continuing education every two years to renew their license with the New Jersey State Board of Physical Therapy Examiners (Division of Consumer Affairs). N.J.A.C. 13:39A-9.2(a) requires each applicant for biennial renewal as a physical therapist or physical therapist assistant to complete 30 credits of continuing education during the preceding biennial period, including four credits of jurisprudence and professional ethics. Proration for a first renewal depends on when the license was issued: a licensee licensed in the first year of the biennium (February 1 of an even year through January 31 of the following odd year) completes 15 of the 30 credits, and a licensee licensed in the second year (February 1 of an odd year through January 31 of the following even year) is exempt for that period under N.J.A.C. 13:39A-9.2(b). A first-time renewer who already completed a Jurisprudence Assessment Module for licensure does not repeat it but must still complete a professional ethics course of at least 2.5 credits. A CPR course or recertification is worth 2 credits, and a post-graduate course in a DPT program is worth 15 credits per course credit.

How often does a New Jersey PT license need to be renewed?

Physical Therapist licenses in New Jersey renew every two years. All physical therapist and physical therapist assistant licenses expire every two years on January 31 of an even-numbered year, regardless of the date of initial licensure. The biennial period runs February 1 to January 31.

What specific CE topics are required for New Jersey physical therapists?

Jurisprudence and professional ethics: 4 credit hours every renewal cycle. Citations: jurisprudence and professional ethics (N.J.A.C. 13:39A-9.2(a)).

Do New Jersey physical therapists have to submit CE certificates at renewal?

Licensees attest to completion at renewal rather than submitting certificates, the board audits a sample of renewals and asks for documentation, and records must be kept for 4 years. Documentation is not sent to the board unless the licensee receives an official continuing education audit letter, and an audited licensee has 14 days from receipt to submit the documents. N.J.A.C. 13:39A-9.4(a) requires licensees to retain continuing education documentation for at least four years following the license renewal. The board publishes approved continuing education course lists by biennial period; courses that were not pre-approved may still be credited if the board accepts them at audit.

Sources

Last verified September 7, 2026. Every value above was read from one of these.

• Continuing Education, New Jersey State Board of Physical Therapy ExaminersState board page, accessed September 7, 2026
• Frequently Asked Questions, New Jersey State Board of Physical Therapy ExaminersState board page, accessed September 7, 2026
• New Jersey State Board of Physical Therapy ExaminersState board page, accessed September 7, 2026

The 30 credits and the four credits of jurisprudence and professional ethics were read on the board's own Continuing Education page, which quotes N.J.A.C. 13:39A-9.2(a). The January 31 even-year expiration, the biennial February 1 to January 31 period, the first-renewal proration and exemption, the four-year documentation retention under N.J.A.C. 13:39A-9.4(a), and the 14-day audit response window were read on the board's FAQ page. The Division of Consumer Affairs site sits behind an Imperva bot wall that returns block pages to every automated client, so these pages were opened and read in a browser and are recorded in data/licensure/link-verified-exceptions.json. New Jersey counts credits rather than contact hours, so the unit is recorded as credit hours. exempt_first_renewal is null rather than true or false because the answer depends on which year of the biennium the license was issued; both cases are described in the notes. Carryover and online caps are not addressed on the pages read.