Professional Development Hours Calculator

Track your continuing education progress with the Professional Development Hours Calculator. Enter up to five activity names, their start times, end times, and any break durations — and get your total PDH hours broken down by activity. See how your completed hours stack up against your certification requirement and how many hours remain. Also try the Inter-Rater Reliability Calculator.

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Enter the total continuing education hours required for your certification renewal.

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Unpaid or non-qualifying break time to subtract.

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Results

Total PDH Hours Earned

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Hours Required

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Hours Still Needed

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Completion

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Certification Status

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Results Table

Frequently Asked Questions

What counts as a professional development hour (PDH)?

A PDH (Professional Development Hour) is one contact hour of professional development activity, such as attending a workshop, completing an online course, presenting at a conference, or participating in a structured training program. Most licensing boards define eligible activities in their renewal guidelines, so check your specific certification requirements. See also our Classroom Reading Level Calculator.

How do I calculate my total PDH hours?

Add up the total duration of each qualifying activity, then subtract any non-qualifying time such as lunch breaks or unrelated sessions. This calculator does that automatically — enter the duration and break time for each activity and it sums your net qualifying hours across all entries.

Should I subtract break time from my activity hours?

Yes. Most certifying bodies only count time spent in actual learning or professional development. Meal breaks, coffee breaks, and unrelated administrative time should be subtracted from the total session duration to arrive at your qualifying PDH count.

How many PDH hours are typically required for certification renewal?

Requirements vary widely by profession and certifying body. Engineers (PE license) commonly need 30 PDHs per renewal cycle, while nurses, teachers, and other professionals may require anywhere from 15 to 60 hours per year or biennium. Always verify the exact requirement with your licensing board. You might also find our Student-Teacher Ratio Calculator useful.

What is the difference between PDHs, CEUs, and CMEs?

These are simply different unit systems used by different professions. PDHs (Professional Development Hours) are common in engineering; CEUs (Continuing Education Units) are used broadly and equal 10 contact hours per CEU; CMEs (Continuing Medical Education credits) are used in healthcare. One PDH generally equals one contact hour of learning.

Can I carry over extra PDH hours to the next renewal period?

Carryover policies depend on your certifying body. Some organizations allow you to carry a limited number of excess hours into the next cycle, while others do not permit any carryover at all. Check your specific board's rules before counting on surplus hours.

Does online or self-paced learning count toward PDH hours?

In most cases, yes — accredited online courses, webinars, and e-learning programs are accepted by many licensing boards. However, the provider may need to be approved or accredited by a recognized body. Self-study hours may also count but often have a cap on how many can be applied per renewal cycle.

How do I convert hours and minutes to decimal hours for this calculator?

Divide the minutes by 60 and add to the whole hours. For example, 2 hours and 30 minutes = 2 + (30/60) = 2.5 hours. A 45-minute session = 0.75 hours. This calculator accepts decimal inputs, so enter 1.5 for one and a half hours.