The rule, the deadline, where PDUs come from, and the one question to ask before you pay for anything.
If you are an RBT certified or recertified in 2026 or later, you need 12 PDUs per recertification cycle. Your first deadline is January 2028. That is the change. Everything below is the detail around it.
RBTs who recertify in 2026 complete the RBT Recertification Competency Assessment one final time. From the next recertification cycle onward, the requirement is met by earning 12 PDUs instead - no competency assessment at the 2028 renewal. This applies to recertification only. The initial competency assessment for new RBTs is not affected.
BCBAs and BCaBAs earn continuing education units (CEUs). RBTs earn PDUs. They are two different programs with two different sets of rules, and a course designated for BCBA CE is not automatically a PDU. Before you pay for anything, ask the provider one question: "Is this offered as RBT professional development?" If the answer is a shrug, keep your money.
12 PDUs over a recertification cycle. One PDU a month gets you there with months to spare. Two a month and you are done before the halfway point. The RBTs who get caught are not the ones who could not find 12 PDUs - they are the ones who started counting in the last quarter.
How many PDUs does an RBT need?
RBTs who are newly certified or recertified in 2026 or later must earn 12 PDUs per recertification cycle, per the BACB's RBT 2026 requirements.
When is the first RBT PDU deadline?
January 2028, for RBTs who recertified in 2026. The requirement took effect January 1, 2026. Nothing is due in 2027.
Where can RBTs earn PDUs?
From in-service training and from ACE events offered by BACB Authorized Continuing Education (ACE) Providers, per the BACB's RBT professional development page.
Do PDUs replace the RBT competency assessment?
For recertification only, and only from the cycle after 2026: RBTs who recertify in 2026 complete the Recertification Competency Assessment one final time, then meet the requirement with 12 PDUs from the next cycle onward. The initial competency assessment to first earn the RBT credential is unchanged.
Are RBT PDUs the same as BCBA CEUs?
No. PDUs are the RBT professional-development program; CEUs are the BCBA and BCaBA continuing-education program. A course designated for BCBA CE is not automatically an RBT PDU. Ask the provider whether the event is offered as RBT professional development.
Facts on this page were checked against the primary sources named above on July 17, 2026 at the BACB pages named above (re-read September 2, 2026 against Special Learning's regulatory canon). Regulations and board rules change. If the source and this page ever disagree, the source wins - and tell us, so we fix the page.
General educational information - not legal, medical or clinical advice, and not a substitute for reading the regulation or the board's own pages. Special Learning is an education company, not a law firm and not a credentialing body.
As a BACB ACE Provider (#OP-14-2437), Special Learning offers professional development - one valid way to build toward your 12-PDU requirement. Intro to ABA: Level 1 - Basic Training is a self-paced online course, $199.
See Intro to ABA: Level 1 - $199Authorization as an ACE Provider does not imply endorsement or approval of the ACE event content by the BACB.