Mandatory Continuing Education (MCE) is education required by a state to retain licensure. Approximately 35 states and 10 Canadian Provinces have implemented a MCE license requirement, but these requirements vary from state to state, province to province. Alabama, for example, requires 12 hours per year, while Florida requires 20 hours every two years, and New York requires 36 hours every 3 years. Except for Kansas, the states with MCE also require that between 8-12 of the hours be in the area described as health, safety, and welfare (HSW).
Each state has the legal right to establish its own guidelines and requirements. However, most states' requirements are similar, whether they require architects to meet them annually or biannually. If you, like the average AIA member, have four or more
state licenses, you must meet the continuing education requirements for all
the states in which you intend to practice.
To date, most states that require MCE indicate they will accept AIA/CES transcripts as documentation for completion of valid continuing education credit. For AIA members, this means that our single record-keeping system is the documentation needed for reporting your
state MCE requirements when requested. We do, however, strongly suggest that you keep backup documentation of your activities as support, especially if the credit is a self-reported activity as it may be requested.
