Illinois OT License, CEU Requirements, & Discounts!

To help you maintain your Illinois OT license, I’m going to walk you through the continuing education requirements for occupational therapy professionals in IL. We’ll begin with a quick guide on Illinois OT and OTA CEU requirements for license renewal, then go into a step-by-step process with even more details.

Ultimately, we hope you join us at OT Potential to fulfill your CEU requirements in the easiest, most enjoyable way possible! 💜

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Quick Guide to OT Illinois License and CEU Requirements

Here are the basics that occupational therapists and OT assistants in Illinois need to know:

Illinois OT CE Contact Hours
Required
(Occupational Therapist)		24 hours
Illinois OTA CE Contact Hours
Required
(Occupational Therapist Assistant)		24 hours
CEU Due DateDecember 31 (odd years)
Next Renewal DateDecember 31, 2025
OTs: Max Number of Required Hours that can be Earned at OT Potential21 hours
OTAs: Max Number of Required Hours that can be Earned at OT Potential21 hours
Where to Verify CEU RequirementsIllinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation
Scope of Practice/
Licensure Law 		Illinois Compiled Statutes 225 ILCS 75/2
Ethics Hours Required1 hour; earn through OT Potential here
Other Requirements1 hour in sexual harassment prevention, 1 hour in implicit bias awareness, 1 hour in dementia recognition (for those who work with adults aged 26+), 1 hour in cultural competency every 6 years.
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More details on renewing your OT license in Illinois

Step 1: Look up your OT/OTA license.

To begin the process, I always double-check that my license is displaying correctly. You can look up your Illinois occupational therapist or occupational therapy assistant license here.

Step 2: Confirm the Illinois OT continuing education requirements. 

It’s always a good idea to check whether there have been any updates to the current licensing cycle. (One year, I completed ALL of my state of Nebraska requirements only to find out that they were waived due to COVID. 😭)

But, to get you going, here is the information I found—along with corresponding links.

Here are the basic OT/OTA CEU requirements in Illinois:

  • Due on December 31 of odd years
  • OTs/OTAs need 24 hours

Required topics:

  • 1 hour in sexual harassment prevention training
  • 1 hour in OT ethics for every renewal cycle. (To meet this requirement, check out our OT ethics courses.)
  • 1 hour in implicit bias awareness training
  • 1 hour that includes a course on dementia recognition training only if the licensee provides healthcare services to, and has direct patient interactions with, adult populations age 26 or older in the practice of the licensee’s profession.
  • 🚨NEW REQUIREMENT BEGINNING 2025: 1 hour cultural competence course, every 6 years

Verify here: Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation

Here are the specific occupational therapy continuing education requirements for coursework in Illinois:

These were copied from the ILLINOIS ADMINISTRATIVE CODE, which was updated September 11, 2020.

TITLE 68: PROFESSIONS AND OCCUPATIONS
CHAPTER VII: DEPARTMENT OF FINANCIAL AND PROFESSIONAL REGULATION
SUBCHAPTER b: PROFESSIONS AND OCCUPATIONS
PART 1315 ILLINOIS OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY PRACTICE ACT
SECTION 1315.145 CONTINUING EDUCATION

a)         Continuing Education (CE) Hour Requirements

Continuing education requirements under this Section are intended to help safeguard public health, safety, welfare, and quality outcomes.  CE must be related to a licensee’s current or anticipated roles and responsibilities in occupational therapy and must directly or indirectly serve to protect the public by enhancing the licensee’s continuing competence. 

1)         Every occupational therapist and occupational therapy assistant shall complete 24 contact hours of CE relevant to the practice of occupational therapy during each prerenewal period as a condition of renewal.  A prerenewal period is the 24 months preceding December 31 in the year of the renewal.  24 contact hours of CE is equivalent to 12 units of Continued Competency Activities (CCA) (2 contact hours = 1 unit).

2)         In each renewal period, one contact hour shall include a course in ethics.

3)         In each renewal period, one contact hour shall include a course in sexual harassment prevention training (see 20 ILCS 2105/2105-15.5 and 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1130.400).

4)         In each renewal period, one contact hour shall include a course on implicit bias awareness training (see 20 ILCS 2105/2105-15.7 and 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1130.500).

5)         In each renewal period, one contact hour shall include a course on dementia recognition training, which shall only apply to licensees who provide health care services to, and have direct patient interactions with, adult populations age 26 or older in the practice of the licensee’s profession. [20 ILCS 2105/2105-365]

6)         A CE contact hour equals 50 minutes. After completion of the initial CE hour, credit may be given in one-half hour increments.

7)         Courses that are part of the curriculum of an accredited university, college or other educational institution shall be allotted CE credit at the rate of 15 CE hours for each semester hour or 10 CE hours for each quarter hour of school credit awarded.  There is no restriction on the amount of CE hours that can be earned in this manner per renewal period.

8)         A renewal applicant is not required to comply with CE requirements for the first renewal following the original issuance of the license.

9)         Individuals licensed in Illinois but residing and practicing in other states must comply with the CE requirements set forth in this Section.

10)       CE credit hours used to satisfy the CE requirements of another state may be submitted for approval for fulfillment of the CE requirements of the State of Illinois if they meet the requirements for CE in Illinois.

11)       Credit shall not be given for courses taken in Illinois from unapproved sponsors.

 

Step 3: Earn your CEU hours.

Okay, now that you know your requirements, it is time to start earning those CEUs! There are, of course, a lot of options out there—but we hope you consider checking out the courses offered by OT Potential.

Do OT Potential courses count toward the continuing education units required to renew my license?

Yes! You can earn 21 of your continuing education hours through OT Potential, but you will still need to complete the other three required topics through places like ILOTA!

Step 4: Renew your license. 🎉

Now it’s time for the big moment. Conveniently, you can renew your license online.

Where can Illinois OT professionals get the best deals on CEUs?

At OT Potential, all of our courses are built around helping you get new evidence into practice.

But, what good is evidence-based practice if you are not reimbursed appropriately for it? Our local associations do SUCH important advocacy work to protect our reimbursements and scope of practice. That’s why we’ve made it part of our mission to support these associations.

So, we have a win-win proposition for you. Join OT Potential using the promo code “Illinois” to receive a 15% discount—and we’ll donate 15% of your total to ILOTA.

🎉 Price of OT Potential with Illinois discount = $84.15 (Reg $99)
🎉 Donation amount to ILOTA = $12.62

The best part? Whenever you renew your OT Potential membership, it will be at your discounted price. AND, we’ll make another donation to ILOTA.

This is one of the cheapest ways to earn all of your required Illinois OT CEUs, and you can feel good doing it because you are giving back to your state association.💜

ILOTA - Illinois Occupational Therapy Association

(If OT Potential is not right for you, I am also a long-time fan of Medbridge. I even offer a Medbridge Promo Code for 40% off right here.)

Conclusion

Hopefully, you found this post helpful as you pursue your license renewal in Illinois!

As you can tell, I am a continuing education nerd 🤓, so if you have any other questions about continuing education or your Illinois OT license renewal, just ask me the comments!

Okay! Ready to try OT Potential?

Get 15% off + we give 15% to support ILOTA.

Learn more, then use promo code: Illinois

4 replies on “Illinois OT License, CEU Requirements, & Discounts!”

Hello,

I see that 24 credit hours are required for OTs. Is there a minimum amount that need to be Category I?

Thank you!

Hello Beth! I’m looking at the code right now, and I don’t see a limiting number to “category B: Approved continuing education” which our courses would fall under! Is that the category you are looking at?

From OT Potential, pediatric OTs only obtain 22 of your hours, since we don’t have a sexual harassment of implicit bias training. If you work with adults, you can only get 21 of the hours since we don’t have a dementia recognition training! (But, we might come out with one this fall!)

Hi there! I’m a new grad and got my Illinois license in 2024, so this will be my first renewal cycle. Do I need to have all CEU credits completed by the end of this year to renew? Or is it not required since this is my first cycle?

Thank you!

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