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Build skills. Recertify. Unleash your potential with Continuing Education.

Leverage the power of Cisco Continuing Education Credits and take the next step in your certification journey. With Continuing Education, you can gain new technology skills while maintaining your current certification. It offers flexibility, allowing you to choose your certification path by taking courses, exams, or both. Here’s how it works:

How it works

Choose how to recertify with Continuing Education

All requirements for recertification must be completed by your certification expiration date. All certifications are active for 3 years.

The table below outlines the options for recertifying through the Continuing Education Program.

Certification level Only use Continuing Education Combine Continuing Education & Exam
Associate Earn 30 CE credits  
Specialist Earn 40 CE credits  
Professional Earn 80 CE credits
  • Earn 40 credits AND pass one professional level exam
CCIE Earn 120 CE credits
  • Earn 40 credits AND pass one technology core exam
  • Earn 40 credits AND pass any two professional level exams
  • Earn 80 credits AND pass any one professional exam
CCDE Earn 120 CE credits
  • Earn 40 credits AND pass one technology core exam
  • Earn 40 credits AND pass any two professional level exams
  • Earn 80 credits AND pass any one professional exam

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To view our full policy and a complete list of recertification options, visit the Recertification page.

CE program policy and rules

View all policies and rules

  1. Users must log in to the CE portal and accept the terms and conditions of the Continuing Education User Agreement to submit a claim or automatically earn CE credits from completing an eligible activity.
    • For validation purposes, manually submitted CE claims MUST be submitted from the Cisco.com account used to complete the eligible activity. See FAQ for more info.
  2. The Continuing Education program is open to individuals with associate, specialist, professional, or expert Cisco Certification(s) in active status.
    • Continuing Education activities must be completed prior to certification expiration.
    • If you've previously accessed the CE portal, you can submit a CE claim after your certification has expired, in accordance with the policies herein.
      • Any credits claimed after certifications have expired (for activities completed before expiration) will retroactively apply towards recertification based on the activity completion date.
  3. Manually submitted CE claims must be submitted for Continuing Education credit within 1 year (365 days) of completing an eligible activity. Claims cannot be submitted beyond the one-year window.
  4. Continuing Education credits can only be earned for completing the same training more than once if there has been a major revision since last completed/claimed. No credit can be earned a second time for completing minor version updates of a training.
    • If credits were previously granted for v1.x, then credit CAN be claimed for later completing v2.x, v3.x, etc. of the same training (Ex. PRNE 1.0 and PRNE 2.0).
    • If credits were previously granted for v1.0, then credit CANNOT be claimed for later completing v1.1, v1.2, etc. (Ex. ENCOR 1.0, ENCOR 1.1, ENCOR 1.2).
    • Credits CANNOT be claimed for both Customer and Partner facing versions of the same course (e.g. A-SDA-FASTSTART/P-SDA-FASTSTART, or CUST-SDA-ISE/P-SDA-ISE).
    • Credits will be granted for completing Alpha trainings. Continuing Education credit will not be awarded for submissions of the formally released version of the same course.
  5. Earned CE credits are valid for 3 years from the date the activity was completed.
  6. Once criteria are met, recertification(s) will be automatically processed based on the date that the last qualifying activity is completed (see the recertification policy web page for the full recertification policy).
  7. Candidates may request via the L&C Centralized Help Desk that CE credits earned for a particular activity be revoked and unapplied towards their recertification progress, but does so understanding:
    • All revocations are final and cannot be reversed.
    • Candidate forfeits credits and accepts that they cannot be reclaimed/reapplied/re-earned at a later date.
    • Candidate assumes all responsibility for impact (intended or unintended) to certification status.
  8. Credits will roll over or expire if a new recertification cycle starts:
    • CE credits are automatically applied towards recertification in the order in which they are earned and cannot be held for future use.
  9. There is no cap on the number of Continuing Education credits that can be earned from any item category.
  10. Cisco reserves the right to reject, deny, or revoke any claims for CE credit that we deem to be inconsistent with the spirit of continuous learning or the values of the Continuing Education Program.

Eligible Continuing Education activities

All requirements for recertification must be completed by your certification expiration date. Credits accumulate until you recertify your highest level of certification, at which point all certifications at that level and below become recertified. Individuals who allow their certification(s) to expire must complete the full examination process again to earn active status. Any ‘Pending’ CE credits at the time of expiration will retroactively apply towards recertification based on the activity completion date once your claim is validated.

Eligible training

Eligible trainings are produced by Cisco or by Learning & Certifications Authorized Learning Partners/Providers. The assigned credit value can range from 4 to 64 credits, depending on the training.

The current list of CE eligible training can be found in the CE Portal Item Catalog (*note, you must have an active associate, specialist, professional, or expert certification to access the CE portal).

Training types include:

  • Instructor-Led/virtual Instructor-Led Trainings (ILT/vILT): in-person or virtual trainings delivered through Cisco or external authorized providers
  • Digital/Self-paced e-learning (ELT), with labs (note: digital training courses labeled 'lite' or "NO LABS" are NOT eligible for CE credits): this includes eligible Cisco U learning paths
  • Derivative Works (custom instructor-led trainings developed by authorized learning partners using partial Cisco content)
  • Workshops & Automation Bootcamps (focused technology specific instructor-led training events)
  • Other trainings pre-approved by the Continuing Education Technical Committee

Important:

Please be advised that inadequate completion violates the spirit and values of the Continuing Education program. Although a certificate of completion may be provided by your learning platform/provider once a certain threshold is met, to preserve the integrity of Cisco Certifications, the Continuing Education program has the right to enact a higher standard of completion. To avoid any potential sanctions, you are strongly encouraged to review and complete all materials and labs included in an eligible training.

Item authoring

A candidate can earn Continuing Education (CE) credits by participating as an Item Author for the development of Cisco Certification exams. This includes all Associate, Professional, and Expert level tracks. Credits will be granted for each item that is accepted according to the schedule below.

CE Credit for Item Writing/Exam Development
Credits granted per accepted item

Credits per accepted item

CCIE Labs Performance items (all items)

12

Tech Core/ Specialist Exams Performance items

6

Associate Performance items

4

Specialist Exams items

3

Technology Core items

3

Associate items

1

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Interested in authoring items for Cisco Certification exams? Apply to be a Subject Matter Expert (SME) today!

Note: Only items authored directly for Cisco through our SME program above are eligible for CE credits. Items authored through external vendors (VAIs) are not eligible for CE credits.

Cisco Live technical sessions

Cisco Live events are a great way to earn continuing education credits.

A candidate who attended Cisco Live can earn credits for attending approved sessions.

Cisco Live eligible sessions include:

  • Technical Breakouts (BRK)
  • DevNet Workshops (DEVWKS) *other DEV classes are NOT eligible for credits
  • Instructor-led Labs (LTR)
  • Technical Seminars (TEC)- 4 & 8-hour sessions
  • Capture the Flag (CTF) *new

Sessions must require attendees to badge-in and must be a minimum length of 45 min.

Credits are granted to candidates per the matrix below:

Session Type

Level

Credits per session

Technical Breakout / DevNet Workshops

1000 Level

Eg: DEVWKS-1020, BRKAPP-1005

1

2000 Level

Eg: BRKCCT-2406, BRKCOL-2019

2

3000 Level

Eg: BRKCRT-3008, DEVWKS-3020

3

Instructor-led Lab

1000 Level

Eg: LTRSEC-1257, LTRPRG-1125

3

2000 Level

Eg: LTRENT-2496, LTRCCT-2336

4

3000 Level

Eg: LTRCRT-3000, LTRACI-3123

5

4-Hour Technical Seminar

1000 Level

Eg: TECOPS-1000, TECOPT-1101

3

2000 Level

Eg: TECSEC-2181, TECIOT-2022

4

3000 Level

Eg: TECCRT-3406, TECIP6-3600

5

8-Hour Technical Seminar

1000 Level

Eg: TECSEC-1273

6

2000 Level

Eg: TECDCN-2002, TECRST-2166

8

3000 Level

Eg: TECSEC-3672, TECCCT-3002

10

Capture the Flag

* This applies only to the eligible & marked CTF

Missions at the Capture the Flag Booth

1000 Level

Eg: CTFCOL-1012, CTFMER-102

2

2000 Level

Eg: CTFSEC-2047, CTFDCC-2471

3

3000 Level

Eg: CTFENS-3145, CTFSEC-3614

4

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As a requirement of the validation process, you must badge into eligible Cisco Live sessions on site. Credit will not be granted to candidates who have not badged in. You must attend at least 75% of the session to earn credits.

Earn Continuing Education Credits with Cisco U. Learning Paths

Earn Continuing Education Credits with Cisco U. Learning Paths