CompTIA Continuing Education Requirements Explained

How CEU submission works

The submission workflow runs through your CompTIA certification account:

1. Complete a qualifying activity and gather its documentation.
2. Log in and submit the activity, entering details and uploading evidence.
3. Track your progress against your certification's CEU target as submissions are accepted.
4. Pay the CE fee (below) any time before your expiration date.
5. Renewal confirms once the CEU total and fee are both satisfied within the cycle.

The practical advice that follows from this workflow: submit as you go rather than in a year-three batch. Early submissions give you time to substitute an activity if something is not accepted, and they turn the deadline into a formality.

What continuing education costs

Renewing by CEU upload carries a fee per three-year cycle, due by your expiration date and paid via CE tokens. As of August 2026, CompTIA's CE renewal fee page lists a $75-per-cycle tier (including A+ and Data+) and a $150-per-cycle tier (including Network+, Security+, Linux+, Cloud+, Server+, Project+, PenTest+, CySA+ and SecurityX). Confirm current amounts on comptia.org before paying — fees have changed before. The fee applies to the CEU-upload path; if you renew by passing a higher certification or the latest exam version, you are paying for that exam instead, and multiple-certification holders pay CE fees only on their highest credential.

On top of the fee sits whatever your chosen activities cost, which can range from nothing (documented work experience) to the price of a paid course. Fitting these recurring amounts into a whole-of-credential budget is the job of our long-term certification cost model.

Worked example: 50 CEUs for Security+

A Security+ holder's cycle target is 50 CEUs across three years — call it 17 a year to stay comfortable. A realistic mix: a substantial training course in year one, documented relevant work experience across the cycle, and an industry activity or an additional certification in year two, with year three held in reserve for topping up whatever the official activity chart values the earlier items at. The alternative plan is simpler still: she intends to take CySA+ anyway, so she studies for CS0-004, passes, and Security+ renews as a side effect — no CEU arithmetic at all.

The pattern to copy is not the specific activities; it is the sequencing. Decide early which path you are on (CEUs, CertMaster CE, exam, or higher cert), because the CEU path rewards a three-year runway and punishes an eleven-month one.

Mistakes that cost people their renewal

Four failure patterns account for most CE-programme grief, and all four are avoidable:

1. Assuming a commonly cited CEU count is official. Forum figures for PenTest+, SecurityX and the rest circulate widely, but your certification's own renewal page on comptia.org is the only number that binds. Check it at the start of your cycle, not the end.
2. Submitting a three-year backlog in the final month. Late batch submissions leave no time to replace an activity that is not accepted, and missing documentation is far harder to reconstruct years after the fact.
3. Forgetting the fee is part of the requirement. A complete CEU total with an unpaid CE fee is not a renewal. The fee is due by your expiration date; pay it when you hit your CEU target, not on deadline day.
4. Running parallel CEU counts on stacked certifications. If you hold A+, Network+ and Security+, maintaining Security+ maintains the set — separately logging 20 + 30 + 50 units is wasted effort the stackable model exists to prevent.

Frequently asked questions

Do CEUs expire or carry over between cycles?

CEUs are counted within the three-year cycle they are earned in; do not plan on banking surplus units for a future cycle. Check CompTIA's CE pages for the current handling of activities that straddle a renewal date.

Do I need separate CEUs for each certification I hold?

The stackable model works in your favour: renewing or earning a higher certification renews lower ones, and CE fees apply only to your highest credential. Holders of one certification at each level generally maintain from the top down rather than running parallel CEU counts.

Is there an annual minimum, like some other providers require?

No — unlike programmes such as ISACA's, which requires a minimum number of hours per year, CompTIA's requirement is per cycle. You could in principle earn everything in one year, although spreading it out is safer.

What if my certification expires before I finish my CEUs?

Then the CE renewal window has closed and different rules apply — see what happens when a certification expires for the general picture, and CompTIA's policy pages for its current terms.

Where the CE programme leaves you

CompTIA's continuing education requirements come down to one number per certification (confirmed: 20, 30, 50 and 60 for A+, Network+, Security+ and CySA+), one fee tier per cycle, and a choice of four routes to satisfy them — of which the stackable higher-certification route quietly renews the most credentials for the least paperwork. Bookmark your certification's official renewal page for the activity chart, log evidence as you earn it, and decide your path at the start of the cycle rather than the end.