How to Create CEU Courses for Social Workers Online (2026)

Short answer: To offer continuing education credit to licensed social workers in most US states, you get approval through the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program, either as an ACE provider or for an individual course. ACE defines one CE credit as 60 minutes of instruction. An online course needs a posttest (10 questions for the first hour, 5 more for each additional hour), a pilot test with at least five testers when credit is based on reading or includes posttest time, an evaluation from every participant before credit is awarded, and records kept for at least seven years.

A note on terms: ACE uses “CE,” “CE credits,” or “continuing education clock hours.” A CEU strictly means 10 hours of participation (1 CE = 0.1 CEU), and the handbook says not to use “CEU” to measure social work credit unless you use it correctly. This guide uses “CE” from here on.

Who Can Offer CE Courses for Social Workers?

You don’t need to be a university or a hospital. Private practices, clinical supervisors, training institutes, and nonprofits can apply. ACE does ask for some structure: a continuing education director who is an employee of your organization (unless ACE grants an exception), and a licensed social worker as your social work consultant or planner. Instructors need professional qualifications in good standing and either social work faculty status, specialized graduate training in the subject, or at least five years of practice or research in it.

There are two approval pathways:

How Is CE Credit Calculated for Social Work Courses?

Under ACE Standard 4.8, one CE credit is 60 minutes of instruction. The course must run at least 60 minutes, and the first 60 minutes must be uninterrupted instruction. After the first hour, you can award credit in quarter-hour increments, rounding up.

What doesn’t count: breaks of any kind, registration or check-in time, and long introductions such as a round of participant introductions. A brief speaker introduction can count.

What ACE Requires of an Online (Distance Learning) Course

For self-paced and live online courses, four standards do most of the work:

State Social Work CE Requirements: A Starting Point

ACE credit is widely accepted, but each state board sets its own hours, cycle, and required topics, and those change. Use this table to plan, then check with your state board before you promise credit to anyone. The one rule ASWB states directly: New York doesn’t accept ACE provider or course approval.

Which Social Work CE Topics Are in Steady Demand?

Social workers look for two kinds of courses: ones that meet a required renewal topic, and ones that build a clinical specialty. Four categories come up again and again:

What ACE Requires of Your Course Platform, and What Stays With You

ACE sets rules for you, the provider, not for your software. Still, five requirements land on the platform you choose:

What stays with you, on any platform: setting credit from your pilot test, choosing who signs certificates, and keeping records for seven years. Standard 7.3 lists what to keep:

• Participant attendance, with name and profession, and verification of attendance
• Participant evaluations and your evaluation summaries
• Certificates of credit, or the ability to generate them
• Course title, date, location, and credits awarded
• Course outline or syllabus, learning objectives, and materials
• Instructor resumes, qualifications, and licensure information
• Pilot tests and posttests
• Grievances and resolutions, and accessibility accommodation requests
• CE director and social work consultant records, and any cosponsor agreements

ACE can ask for these records at any time and expects a response within 30 days, or within 24 to 48 hours if the request is urgent.

Setting Up a Social Work CE Course on Ruzuku

Here’s how the five platform requirements map to Ruzuku. Certificates need the Pro plan; everything else works on every plan. Ruzuku records lesson completion, not minutes watched, so your credit hours come from your syllabus and pilot test.

1. Set your credit from the pilot test: Run the full course with your pilot testers and ask each for their exact time. Award no more than the average, in quarter-hour steps after the first hour.
2. Turn on Required for lessons in sequence: In the lesson editor, turn on the Required toggle. A Required lesson keeps every later lesson locked until the learner completes it.
3. Build the posttest as a quiz: Add 10 questions for the first hour and 5 for each additional hour, no more than half true/false. Set the passing score you publish and turn on Required for the quiz lesson, so later lessons stay locked until learners complete it. Ruzuku lets learners retake the quiz until they pass, so state that as your retest policy.
4. Add the evaluation as two lessons at the end: Poll questions are multiple choice, so put your rating questions and learning objectives in a poll lesson. Learners can’t move past it until they answer. Then add an assignment lesson for the answers ACE wants in writing, starting with “How long did this course take you?” An assignment takes typed answers. Make each question required, and leave on the setting that requires your approval for lesson completion (it’s on by default). The assignment lesson itself isn’t locked, but its Next button stays disabled until you approve every required answer. Later lessons lock only if you also turn on Required for both evaluation lessons. Approval also means every learner’s course completion, and their certificate, waits for your review, so plan to check submissions promptly. The course is complete only when every lesson is. You can download poll, quiz, and assignment responses as CSV files for your records.
5. Set up the certificate (Pro): Paste your ACE approval statement and the credit hours into the certificate text. Ruzuku fills in the learner’s name, course title, and completion date, and emails the learner when they earn it. The issuer line is text you edit, so it can name your CE director. There’s no signature image field, so confirm with ACE how you’ll meet the signature requirement.

Frequently Asked Questions About Social Work CE Courses

How do I become an approved CE provider for social workers?

Apply to the ASWB Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program, either as an ACE provider or for an individual course. ACE expects a continuing education director, a licensed social worker as consultant or planner, qualified instructors, learning objectives, a posttest for online courses, a participant evaluation, and pilot testing where required. The ACE Handbook lists every standard.

How is instructional time calculated for social work CE credits?

ACE defines one CE credit as 60 minutes of instruction. A course must run at least 60 minutes, with the first 60 uninterrupted; after that, credit goes in quarter-hour increments, rounded up, so 2 hours 20 minutes earns 2.5 credits. Breaks and registration time don’t count. Reading-based courses use a pilot test or the word-count allowance (6,000 words per credit).

How many CE hours do social workers need per license renewal cycle?

It depends on the state. The states in our table range from 30 to 40 hours per cycle, most on a two-year cycle, with required hours in ethics and often cultural competence or other topics. Check your state board for current numbers before you plan a course around them.

Does New York State accept ASWB ACE approved courses for social workers?

No. ASWB states that New York doesn’t accept ACE provider or course approval. To offer CE credit to social workers licensed in New York, you apply separately to the New York State Education Department for approval as a social work CE provider.

Can the same CE course award credits to both social workers and counselors?

Yes, if each profession’s approval covers it. ACE approval applies to social work only, ACE doesn’t track which other boards accept its credit, and providers must not advertise ACE approval for other professions. For counselors, that usually means a separate approval, such as through NBCC.

What are the posttest requirements for ASWB ACE online courses?

A standard posttest has 10 questions for the first CE hour and 5 more for each additional hour, and true/false questions can’t be more than half. Self-paced courses may use an essay posttest with a scoring rubric instead. You set the passing score and retest policy, and state both in your promotional material.

How long must providers keep social work CE records?

At least seven years, under ACE Standard 7.3. That covers participant attendance and verification, evaluations and summaries, certificates or the ability to generate them, course materials and learning objectives, instructor qualifications, pilot tests, posttests, and grievances.

Should I call my social work courses CEUs?

Usually not. A CEU means 10 hours of participation, so one CE credit equals 0.1 CEU. ACE uses “CE,” “CE credits,” or “continuing education clock hours,” and the handbook says not to use “CEU” for social work credit unless you use it correctly.

The Bottom Line

Most of the work in a social work CE program is your curriculum, your pilot test, and your ACE application. The platform’s job is narrower: keep lessons in order, hold learners to the posttest score you publish, collect every evaluation, and issue the certificate. Pick one that does those four things, and keep your own seven-year records.