Nearly 1 in 4 states require zero CE hours to renew a nursing license

Name: Nursing CE Burden Index (RN renewal requirements, all 50 U.S. states + D.C.)
Creator: RenewRN
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The Nursing CE Burden Index ranks every U.S. nursing board by how much it asks of an RN at renewal (continuing-education hours, mandatory topics, and fees), computed from rules we verify against official state Board of Nursing sources. Data verified through July 2026. Free to cite or embed with attribution.

Renewal burden:LightestLightModerateHeavyHeaviest

Key findings

13 of 51 jurisdictions (nearly one in four) require zero CE hours for standard RN renewal: Oregon, Connecticut, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Colorado, Mississippi, Montana, New York, Missouri, Arizona, Maine, Idaho, Indiana.
The heaviest boards ask for 15 hours per year (Delaware and peers), against a national average of 9.2.
Annualized renewal fees range from $24.33–$138.00 per year, a 5.7× gap between the cheapest and most expensive boards.
5 jurisdictions mandate reporting through CE Broker on top of their hour requirements.

All 51 jurisdictions, ranked

Rank 1 = heaviest renewal burden for an RN. Click any state for its full, source-linked requirements.

#	State	CE hrs / cycle	Cycle	Hrs / yr	Mandatory topics	Fee / yr	Score
1	Delaware	30	2 yr	15	4	$85.00	70.8
2	Maryland	30	2 yr	15	1	$95.50	58.2
3	FloridaCE Broker	24	2 yr	12	5	$37.50	57.9
4	District of Columbia	24	2 yr	12	2	$97.50	56.1
5	Pennsylvania	30	2 yr	15	2	$61.00	55.6
6	Washington	8	1 yr	8	2	$138.00	55
7	Wyoming	40	2 yr	20	0	$45.00	54.5
8	Alaska	30	2 yr	15	0	$100.00	54.1
9	Hawaii	30	2 yr	15	0	$98.00	53.7
10	California	30	2 yr	15	0	$95.00	53
11	New Jersey	30	2 yr	15	1	$60.00	50.3
12	Michigan	25	2 yr	12.5	2	$65.50	50.3
13	Illinois	20	2 yr	10	4	$40.00	48.4
14	Nevada	30	2 yr	15	1	$50.00	48.1
15	Virginia	30	2 yr	15	0	$70.00	47.5
16	New HampshireCE Broker	30	2 yr	15	0	$58.00	44.9
17	Utah	30	2 yr	15	1	$34.00	44.6
18	New MexicoCE Broker	30	2 yr	15	0	$55.00	44.2
19	Kentucky	14	1 yr	14	0	$65.00	43.9
20	Vermont	20	2 yr	10	0	$110.00	43.8
21	Louisiana	30	2 yr	15	0	$50.00	43.1
22	North Carolina	30	2 yr	15	0	$50.00	43.1
23	Kansas	30	2 yr	15	0	$42.50	41.5
24	South Carolina	30	2 yr	15	0	$37.50	40.4
25	GeorgiaCE Broker	30	2 yr	15	0	$32.50	39.3
26	Texas	20	2 yr	10	2	$34.00	37.1
27	Ohio	24	2 yr	12	1	$32.50	36.8
28	Alabama	24	2 yr	12	0	$50.00	35.6
29	Minnesota	24	2 yr	12	0	$42.50	34
30	Nebraska	20	2 yr	10	0	$61.50	33.2
31	Oregon	0	2 yr	0	2	$129.00	33
32	Oklahoma	24	2 yr	12	0	$37.50	32.9
33	Iowa	36	3 yr	12	0	$33.00	31.9
34	Rhode Island	10	2 yr	5	1	$67.50	27
35	Massachusetts	15	2 yr	7.5	0	$60.00	26.6
36	North Dakota	12	2 yr	6	0	$70.00	25
37	Arkansas	15	2 yr	7.5	0	$50.00	24.4
38	Connecticut	0	1 yr	0	1	$110.00	23.8
39	Tennessee	10	2 yr	5	0	$70.00	22.5
40	West VirginiaCE Broker	12	2 yr	6	0	$45.00	19.5
41	South Dakota	0	2 yr	0	1	$57.50	12.3
42	Wisconsin	0	2 yr	0	1	$36.50	7.7
43	Colorado	0	2 yr	0	0	$54.00	6.5
44	Mississippi	0	2 yr	0	0	$50.00	5.6
45	Montana	0	2 yr	0	0	$50.00	5.6
46	New York	0	3 yr	0	1	$24.33	5
47	Missouri	0	2 yr	0	0	$42.50	4
48	Arizona	0	4 yr	0	0	$40.00	3.4
49	Maine	0	2 yr	0	0	$37.50	2.9
50	Idaho	0	2 yr	0	0	$35.00	2.3
51	Indiana	0	2 yr	0	0	$25.00	0.1

Methodology

The index covers the standard RN license in all 50 states plus D.C. Three dimensions are measured per jurisdiction, each min-max normalized to 0–100 across the dataset, then combined into a weighted Burden Score:

CE hours per year (weight 50%): total required hours divided by the renewal-cycle length, so 2-, 3-, and 4-year cycles compare fairly.
Mandatory-topic count (weight 25%): the number of state-mandated topics an RN must specifically cover. We count topics rather than topic hours because many states fold topic hours inside the total, which would double-count.
Renewal fee per year (weight 25%): the board's RN renewal fee annualized over the cycle.

CE Broker mandates and Nurse Licensure Compact membership are displayed but not scored. They change how a nurse complies, not how much is asked. Source data is the same board-verified ruleset that powers our state requirement pages, each of which links its official Board of Nursing source and verification date. Data verified through July 2026.

Caveat: zero CE hours does not always mean zero requirements. Several zero-hour states use alternative competency pathways (practice hours, certification). See renewing without CE hours.

Want the dollars isolated? Our companion study Cost to Keep Your License ranks the same 51 boards by annualized renewal fee alone.

Cite or republish this data

These figures are free to cite, quote, or republish with attribution and a link (CC BY 4.0). Suggested citation:

RenewRN, “The Nursing CE Burden Index” (July 2026), renewrn.net/research/nursing-ce-burden-index, compiled from official state Board of Nursing sources.

BibTeX

@dataset{renewrn_ce_burden_index_2026,
  title  = {The Nursing CE Burden Index},
  author = {RenewRN},
  year   = {2026},
  url    = {https://www.renewrn.net/research/nursing-ce-burden-index},
  note   = {CC BY 4.0; compiled from official state Board of Nursing sources}
}

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