State license renewal
Pharmacy CE Requirements by State
Continuing education hours, renewal cycles and state-mandated topics for pharmacist license renewal, each taken from the state board's own website and linked to the exact wording. Free courses that a board's rule accepts are listed on each state's page.
Compare states
Pharmacy CE hours by state
| State | CE hours | CE period | Mandated topics | Free courses that count |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AlaskaPharmacist (RPh) | 30 | Every 2 years | — | — |
| CaliforniaPharmacist (RPh) | 30 | Every 2 years | Board-provided law and ethics webinars; Cultural competency | — |
| ColoradoPharmacist (RPh) | 24 | Every 2 years | — | 206 |
| DelawarePharmacist (RPh) | 30 | Every 2 years | Medication safety/errors | 206 |
| District of ColumbiaPharmacist (RPh) | 40 | Every 2 years | Medication and dispensing errors; LGBTQ cultural competency; Live continuing education; District public health priorities | — |
| IndianaPharmacist (RPh) | 30 | Every 2 years | — | — |
| KansasPharmacist (RPh) | 30 | Every 2 years | Board-provided CE | 206 |
| KentuckyPharmacist (RPh) | 15 | Every year | Opioid epidemic or opioid use disorder | — |
| MainePharmacist (RPh) | 15 | Every year | — | — |
| MarylandPharmacist (RPh) | 30 | Every 2 years | Preventing medication errors; Live instruction | 206 |
| MassachusettsPharmacist (RPh) | 20 | Every year | — | — |
| MinnesotaPharmacist (RPh) | 30 | Every 2 years | — | 206 |
| MississippiPharmacist (RPh) | 15 | Every year | Opioid abuse and prevention or addiction-related issue; Live instruction | — |
| MissouriPharmacist (RPh) | 30 | Every 2 years | — | 206 |
| MontanaPharmacist (RPh) | Competency options | Every year | — | — |
| NevadaPharmacist (RPh) | 30 | Every 2 years | Nevada pharmacy law | — |
| New MexicoPharmacist (RPh) | 30 | Every 2 years | Patient safety; Pharmacy law; Safe and appropriate use of opioids | — |
| New YorkPharmacist (RPh) | 45 | Every 3 years | Strategies and techniques to reduce medication and prescription errors; Pharmaceutical compounding; Live instruction | 206 |
| OhioPharmacist (RPh) | 30 | Every 2 years | — | — |
| OklahomaPharmacist (RPh) | 15 | Every year | — | 206 |
| OregonPharmacist (RPh) | 30 | Every 2 years | Pharmacy law; Patient safety or medication error prevention; Cultural competency; Oregon Pain Management Commission training | — |
| PennsylvaniaPharmacist (RPh) | 30 | Every 2 years | Patient safety | 206 |
| Rhode IslandPharmacist (RPh) | 15 | Every year | Pharmacy law; Live continuing education | — |
| South CarolinaPharmacist (RPh) | 15 | Every year | Monitoring controlled substances | 206 |
| TennesseePharmacist (RPh) | 30 | Every 2 years | Live contact hours | — |
| UtahPharmacist (RPh) | 30 | Every 2 years | — | 206 |
| VirginiaPharmacist (RPh) | 15 | Every year | Live or real-time interactive courses | 206 |
| WashingtonPharmacist (RPh) | 30 | Every 2 years | Health equity; Suicide screening and referral (one time) | 206 |
| WisconsinPharmacist (RPh) | 30 | Every 2 years | — | 206 |
Not yet covered: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, Vermont, West Virginia, Wyoming. We publish a state only when its board or state law states the rule on an official page we can cite; third-party summaries are not used.
Hours are per renewal and in the unit each board uses (contact hours unless noted). A dash under free courses means the board's rule does not name an accreditor we track, not that no free course would count.
Questions
Pharmacy CE requirements, answered
Which states do not require continuing education for pharmacists?
Every state we checked requires continuing education or a continuing competency option.
What is a common two-year CE requirement for pharmacists?
30 hours is the most common total among the verified two-year CE periods in this guide (17 states). Hours, cycles and accepted units differ, so use your own state's page.
Which state CE topic requirements are verified here for pharmacists?
Selected topic requirements are verified for 17 of the 29 states and jurisdictions covered: California (Board-provided law and ethics webinars, Cultural competency); Delaware (Medication safety/errors); District of Columbia (Medication and dispensing errors, LGBTQ cultural competency, Live continuing education, District public health priorities); Kansas (Board-provided CE); Kentucky (Opioid epidemic or opioid use disorder); Maryland (Preventing medication errors, Live instruction); Mississippi (Opioid abuse and prevention or addiction-related issue, Live instruction); Nevada (Nevada pharmacy law); New Mexico (Patient safety, Pharmacy law, Safe and appropriate use of opioids); New York (Strategies and techniques to reduce medication and prescription errors, Pharmaceutical compounding, Live instruction); Oregon (Pharmacy law, Patient safety or medication error prevention, Cultural competency, Oregon Pain Management Commission training); Pennsylvania (Patient safety); Rhode Island (Pharmacy law, Live continuing education); South Carolina (Monitoring controlled substances); Tennessee (Live contact hours); Virginia (Live or real-time interactive courses); Washington (Health equity, Suicide screening and referral (one time)). Consult each board for its complete requirements.