West Virginia Physical Therapist license renewal and CE requirements
West Virginia physical therapists must complete 24 clock hours of continuing education every two years to renew their license with the West Virginia Board of Physical Therapy.
Licenses are renewed on a two-year cycle. Online renewal opens October 1 and must be submitted by midnight on December 31 in the year the license is due to expire; there is no grace period, and licenses not renewed by December 31 become delinquent and employers are notified. Continuing education must be uploaded to the licensee's portal before renewing. W. Va. Code 30-20-14 requires renewal before January 1.
Summary
West Virginia physical therapists must complete 24 clock hours of continuing education every two years to renew their license with the West Virginia Board of Physical Therapy. Licenses are renewed on a two-year cycle. Online renewal opens October 1 and must be submitted by midnight on December 31 in the year the license is due to expire; there is no grace period, and licenses not renewed by December 31 become delinquent and employers are notified. Continuing education must be uploaded to the licensee's portal before renewing. W. Va. Code 30-20-14 requires renewal before January 1. Hours do not carry over between cycles.
West Virginia 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.
| Renewal cycle | Two-year (24 months) |
|---|---|
| Renewal deadline | Same date for every licensee, 12/31 each cycle |
| Continuing education required | Yes |
| Hours per cycle | 24 clock hours |
| Self-study or online cap | No cap stated |
| Carryover to next cycle | No |
| First renewal exempt | Not stated |
| Other accepted activities | Clinical instruction (combined with competency tools, max 8 units per license period); Competency tools such as practice review tools (combined with clinical instruction, max 8 units; a practice review tool may be used no more than every other renewal period); Hand Therapy Certification Commission (HTCC) certification examination (listed among approved providers in 16CSR1 section 11) |
W. Va. Code R. 16-1-11 defines a unit as one clock hour spent in a continuing education activity and requires all active licensees to complete 24 units of board-approved continuing education within the two-year licensing period; the board's CE page states this as 24 hours of WV board approved CE courses within the 2 year licensing period. Accumulated CEUs may not be carried over from one renewal period to another (11.2.3). A new graduate does not need continuing education hours for the current year of graduation (11.2.4); the rule text read did not state a specific reduced total for the first licensing period, so exempt_first_renewal is left null. Licensees reinstating for six months or less need only six units for that year (11.2.1); volunteer licensees need 20 units (11.2.2). The board may waive CE for illness, disability, or undue hardship, with requests due by October 1 preceding renewal (11.4). No mandatory subject, online cap, or live minimum appears in the rule text or board pages that were read.
Required CE topics for West Virginia physical therapists
The West Virginia Board of Physical Therapy pages and rules we read do not mandate specific subject areas for this license type. Hours may be in any approved subject.
Documentation and audit
| Proof submitted at renewal | Yes |
|---|---|
| Keep records for | Not stated |
| Board audits compliance | Yes |
| Approved providers | Courses must be WV Board approved; per the board's CE guidelines, courses sponsored by the APTA, the West Virginia Physical Therapy Association, the Board of Certification (BOC), and any CAPTE accredited school are automatically approved and need not be submitted for review, and 16CSR1 section 11 lists CAPTE-approved programs, the APTA, the BOC, the WVPTA, and HTCC certification examinations as approved. All licensees must upload their continuing education certificates to the licensing portal before renewing and attest on the renewal that CE requirements have been met. Each February the Board randomly audits 10 percent of active PT and PTA licensees; those who fail must complete a continuing education audit agreement with remedial actions. |
Common questions
- How many CE hours does a West Virginia PT need to renew?
- West Virginia physical therapists must complete 24 clock hours of continuing education every two years to renew their license with the West Virginia Board of Physical Therapy. W. Va. Code R. 16-1-11 defines a unit as one clock hour spent in a continuing education activity and requires all active licensees to complete 24 units of board-approved continuing education within the two-year licensing period; the board's CE page states this as 24 hours of WV board approved CE courses within the 2 year licensing period. Accumulated CEUs may not be carried over from one renewal period to another (11.2.3). A new graduate does not need continuing education hours for the current year of graduation (11.2.4); the rule text read did not state a specific reduced total for the first licensing period, so exempt_first_renewal is left null. Licensees reinstating for six months or less need only six units for that year (11.2.1); volunteer licensees need 20 units (11.2.2). The board may waive CE for illness, disability, or undue hardship, with requests due by October 1 preceding renewal (11.4). No mandatory subject, online cap, or live minimum appears in the rule text or board pages that were read.
- How often does a West Virginia PT license need to be renewed?
- Physical Therapist licenses in West Virginia renew every two years. Licenses are renewed on a two-year cycle. Online renewal opens October 1 and must be submitted by midnight on December 31 in the year the license is due to expire; there is no grace period, and licenses not renewed by December 31 become delinquent and employers are notified. Continuing education must be uploaded to the licensee's portal before renewing. W. Va. Code 30-20-14 requires renewal before January 1.
- Does West Virginia require specific CE topics for physical therapists?
- The West Virginia Board of Physical Therapy does not list mandated subject areas for PT renewal on the pages we verified; the 24 clock hours may be in any approved subject.
- Do West Virginia physical therapists have to submit CE certificates at renewal?
- Proof of completion must be submitted with the renewal and the board audits a sample of renewals and asks for documentation. Courses must be WV Board approved; per the board's CE guidelines, courses sponsored by the APTA, the West Virginia Physical Therapy Association, the Board of Certification (BOC), and any CAPTE accredited school are automatically approved and need not be submitted for review, and 16CSR1 section 11 lists CAPTE-approved programs, the APTA, the BOC, the WVPTA, and HTCC certification examinations as approved. All licensees must upload their continuing education certificates to the licensing portal before renewing and attest on the renewal that CE requirements have been met. Each February the Board randomly audits 10 percent of active PT and PTA licensees; those who fail must complete a continuing education audit agreement with remedial actions.
Sources
Last verified September 7, 2026. Every value above was read from one of these.
- Continuing Education Requirements, West Virginia Board of Physical TherapyState board page, accessed September 10, 2026
- Renewal Information, West Virginia Board of Physical TherapyState board page, accessed September 10, 2026
- West Virginia Board of Physical Therapy homepageState board page, accessed September 7, 2026
- Rules and Laws for Physical Therapists and PTAs, West Virginia Board of Physical TherapyState board page, accessed September 10, 2026
- W. Va. Code 30-20-14 Renewal requirementsStatute or administrative rule, accessed September 7, 2026
- W. Va. Code R. 16-1-11 Continuing Education (Cornell LII mirror of 16CSR1)Third-party summary, accessed September 7, 2026
The 24-hour, two-year requirement, the upload-before-renewal rule, the October 1 to December 31 renewal window, and the 10 percent February audit were read on the board's own CE and renewal pages; the rule text (unit definition, carryover prohibition, new graduate provision, waiver, audit authority, 8-unit cap on clinical instruction and competency tools) was read on the Cornell mirror of 16CSR1 section 11. The board's PDF copy of 16CSR1 is hosted at www.wvbopt.gov, which did not resolve, and the Secretary of State's copy (apps.sos.wv.gov DocId 52589) downloaded as a scanned image PDF with no extractable text, so section 10 (renewal, including any reduced first-period requirement in 10.2.d) could not be read. Not found in any fetched source: whether the two-year cycle ends in odd or even years, a records retention period, a category or live minimum, and any online cap. The statute (30-20-14) only says renewal is annual or biennial before January 1. Source URLs updated 2026-09-10: the board retired its SharePoint .aspx paths and the three we cited began returning 404. The replacements were confirmed to return 200 and to carry the same requirements, 24 hours of board approved continuing education within the two year licensing period and a renewal window of October 1 to December 31 in the expiration year. No recorded value changed.
Provided for general reference. Requirements change through legislative sessions and rulemaking, so confirm with the West Virginia Board of Physical Therapy before relying on them for a renewal. Spot something out of date? Tell us and we will fix it.