4 Paths to Scrum Alliance Certification Renewal

The Scrum Alliance certification renewal process has 3 steps. Earning SEUs, submitting SEUs, and paying Scrum Alliance renewal fee for certification. There are several paid and free Scrum SEU earning ways. We’ve explored the most popular four paths to earn Scrum SEUs in this article.

In this article

📌 Hint: Do not skip this article, you will find FREE Scrum SEU resources throughout the article.

Scrum Alliance Certification Renewal Requirements

Before diving into how to earn SEUs, let’s go over the Scrum Alliance renewal requirements first. SEU is the abbreviation for Scrum Education Unit. An SEU is based on a 1:1 ratio of contact hours to points. For example, if you attended a Scrum SEU Course and the duration of the course is 20 hours, you will earn a maximum of 20 SEUs. Now, let’s go through the Scrum Alliance certification renewal requirements for each certification track.

Scrum Alliance requires different numbers of Scrum Alliance Renewal SEU credits for different levels of certifications.

Scrum Alliance® Certification	Scrum SEUs Required Every Two Years	Scrum Alliance Renewal Fee
Professional (CSP®-SM, CSP®-PO, CSP®, CAL)	40	$250
Advanced (A-CSM®, A-CSPO®)	30	$175
Foundational (CSM®, CSPO®, CSD®)	20	$100
Leadership (CAL-E, CAL-O, CAL-T)	10	$50

If you are holding more than one Scrum Alliance certification, you will need to submit the full amount of required SEUs for your highest-level certification, but you will only be required to submit half the amount of required SEUs for each certification in a different track thereafter.

If you have CSM certification, you can read our Scrum Alliance CSM Renewal article.

For instance, if you are holding A-CSM certification (requires 30 SEUs) and CSPO certification (requires 20 SEUs), you need to submit 40 SEUs in total (30 for A-CSM and 10 for the CSPO, half of the required SEUs).

No limits or caps exist for earning Scrum SEU credits from a certain category. So, you can attend an online self-paced Scrum SEU Course, and earn all required SEUs for your Scrum Alliance certification renewal. Your SEUs must have been earned within the renewal period, which is two years prior to your certification’s current active-through date. SEUs must have been earned within thirty (30) months for all certification renewal cycles.

Scrum Alliance Certification Renewal SEU Categories

There are four main Scrum SEU categories that Scrum Alliance accepts as a source of SEU credits.

Learning (*Most Popular)
Events
Volunteering
Other

Watch 4 Ways to Scrum Alliance Certification Renewal

We’ve explained the 4 Scrum Alliance-approved ways to Earn Scrum SEUs in our following YouTube video. Watch now.

If you have a CSM certification, you can read more on our 3 Steps to Renew CSM Certification article.

Let’s go through each SEU category one by one now.

1st Path to Scrum Alliance Certification Renewal

As we’ve highlighted in the previous section, earning Scrum Alliance renewal SEUs through the learning category is the most popular way for professionals.

Scrum Alliance Certification Renewal

While there are several benefits of Scrum Alliance certification renewal through Scrum SEU courses, here are the top five reasons:

No Caps: There is no maximum limit for the learning category, so, you can earn all Scrum SEU needs in one program, and renew your certification. You do not need to go elsewhere to find additional SEUs to renew Scrum Alliance certification.
Self-Paced: You do not need to attend an event, conference, or seminar. You can follow the courses at your place, at your pace.
Affordable: Depending on the program content, you can enroll in a self-paced Scrum SEU course bundle for ~$200-300. However, seminars or conferences start from $1,000, not only that, you may not earn all SEU needs in one event.
Requires less effort: When you enroll in Scrum Alliance Certification Renewal Courses, all you have to do is follow the curriculum, earn SEUs, and renew your Scrum Alliance certification. However, other SEU credits earning ways require significant effort from the certification holder such as creating content, sharing a presentation, authoring, etc.
Less prone to Scrum Alliance® audit: Since the Scrum SEU training programs are used by many certified professionals, Scrum Alliance already has a track and record of the activities. However, for other categories, SEU submissions are more unique and may be more likely to hit an audit.

San Francisco Business School offers a 20 SEU Course program. The program offers a self-paced business training program: Executive Leadership. SFBS awards a certificate of graduation. While earning SEUs, you will earn reputable business merits to highlight in your resume and LinkedIn.

Scrum Alliance Certification Renewal SEU Course Catalog

When we were preparing this post, we noticed that professionals were searching for the SEU Course Catalog on Google. Actually, there are no explicit courses named “SEU Course”.

Scrum Alliance accepts SEUs in the learning category including working with Scrum Alliance CSTs, CECs, CTCs, and REPs as well as through various independent learning activities, such as: preparing presentations; authoring relevant books, articles, or blogs; watching training videos/webinar; reading one or two books in depth. So, any courses that provide new insights about business or the agile world will count as SEU courses. You can attend these courses in your Scrum Alliance certification renewal journey.

SFBS has strategy, leadership, and marketing courses. These courses have been formed as SEU courses on the SFBS website. You can visit our SEU course catalog.

Watch how Natalia Earned 20 CSM SEUs and Renewed Her CSM®

Natalia Olson is a CSM-certified Professional. Natalia enrolled in the 20 Scrum SEU Program from SFBS and renewed her CSM. Watch now her CSM renewal journey.

2nd Path to Renew Scrum Alliance Certification Renewal- Events

You can earn Scrum SEUs for participating in events like Scrum Alliance Global Gatherings, Scrum Alliance Regional Gatherings, and Non-Scrum Alliance-Sponsored Events, as well as in User Groups events and activities. Presenting, coaching, and attending sessions all count as SEU-eligible activities. All of these activities will contribute to renewing Scrum Alliance certification.

Typically, the duration of the activity determines the number of SEUs you will earn. For instance, if you attended a one-day Scrum Alliance SEU event, if the schedule of the event was 9 to 12 in the morning, and 1 to 5 pm in the afternoon, the total hours for the event would be 7 hours. So, you can earn 7 SEUs with this event.

Attending events has benefits like expanding your professional network and learning the changing trends in your domain. However, there are some pitfalls to these events if you are trying to go through this path in your Scrum Alliance certification renewal journey.

Typically organized in big cities. If you are living in a relatively smaller city, you might not see any events to earn Scrum SEUs.
Requires in-person attendance. Many of the events take a few days, and you have to take days off from your work to attend these events.
Expensive. On average, these events are charged $1,000/day. So, for a two-day event, you need to pay around $2,000. Travel and accommodation, if needed, are not included in these fees.
May not earn required SEUs at once. Although it requires a significant amount of time and money, you may not earn all SEUs through one event.
Considering you are a full-time professional looking to earn the Scrum Alliance SEU hours you need in one step, you may opt for other alternatives to earn SEUs.

Free Scrum Alliance SEU Webinars

One of the most popular searches on Google is Scrum SEU webinars. A webinar is an online seminar that allows participants from anywhere in the world to come together in a virtual classroom to share information via the Internet. Webinars are one of the ways to Scrum Alliance certification renewal.

There are several webinars available about agile, project management, and business topics. Typically, these webinars are 45 minutes to 1 hour in length and attendance is for free. When you attend these webinars, you can earn Free Scrum SEU credits toward renewing your Scrum certification.

3rd Path to Scrum Alliance Renewal – Volunteering

Scrum Alliance encourages professionals to give back to the community. Therefore, Scrum SEU may be earned by providing non-compensated professional Scrum services.

For instance, if you are volunteering in an activity for teaching the basics of agile to high school students, this activity can earn you SEUs. The critical point here is, that you should not be compensated if you are in a volunteering activity. You can submit SEUs for the duration of the activity. For instance, if you attended a one-hour event, you can submit 1 SEU toward Scrum Alliance renewal.

Note that, these activities may not be available in your location if you are living in a small city.

4th Path to Scrum Alliance Certification Renewal – Others

SEUs may be earned through a variety of other learning activities as Scrum Alliance acknowledges that not all learning fits neatly into the categories above. For instance, if you are reading a book, blog, or article about agile, you can earn SEUs in the Others category.

Scrum SEU Examples

In this section, we will go through Scrum SEU examples by scenarios.

Note that, the following scenarios are fictional to provide a better understanding of SEU reporting.

Scenario #1 – Jane completes a Free Scrum Alliance Renewal SEU Course

Jane works as a Scrum Master in a Fintech company. She earned her CSM certification 1 year ago, and her certification due date is approaching.

Jane searches for Scrum Alliance certification renewal on Google and finds SFBS programs. Jane attends the San Francisco Business School’s Free Scrum SEU Course Online Program. The program contains three self-paced courses, and each course is one hour in length. After completing the self-paced program, Jane can submit 3 SEUs to renew her Scrum Alliance certification.

Scenario #2 – Bruce attends a one-day Scrum Event

Bruce works as a Product Owner in a software company in Austin, Texas. Bruce has CSPO certification from Scrum Alliance.

A product analysis event named “1 Analysis” is organized in Austin. Bruce’s company is one of the sponsors of the event. Several presentations and talks were organized during this one-day event. Bruce attended this Non-Scrum Alliance-Sponsored event. The event schedule was as follows:

09:00-10:15 – Opening Talk
10:30-12:00 – Presentations in Various Rooms
12:00-13:30 – Lunch Break
13:30-14:45 – Talks in Various Rooms
15:00-16:30 – Talks in Various Rooms

Bruce earned 6 SEUs by attending this event.

Scrum Alliance Certification Renewal Cost

We’ve provided the Scrum Alliance certification renewal fees for each certification at the beginning of this article. The certification renewal fee varies by certification type.

Professional level (CSP®-SM, CSP®-PO, CSP®, CAL) certification renewal fee is $250
Advanced level (A-CSM®, A-CSPO®) certification renewal fee is $175
Foundational level (CSM®, CSPO®, CSD®) certification renewal fee is $100
Leadership level (CAL-E, CAL-O, CAL-T) certification renewal fee is $50

If you hold more than one Scrum Alliance certification, you only need to pay to renew one of your highest-level certifications — your other certifications will auto-renew when you renew that one — but you must add at least half of the SEUs required for each of your other certifications first.

For instance, if you are holding A-CSM certification (requires a $175 renewal fee) and CSPO certification (requires a $100 renewal fee), you will pay $175 in total for renewing both of your certifications.

Note that, these are the fees paid to Scrum Alliance. When you are attending SEU earning activities, you will be paying for events, courses, seminars, conferences, etc. Depending on the activity you will attend, you will have associated fees for those events as well. So, the total Scrum Alliance certification renewal cost will be more than the renewal fee paid to the Scrum Alliance.

Summary

You need to earn SEUs every two years to renew your Scrum Alliance certification. Scrum Alliance requires a different number of SEUs for each certification track. You can earn SEUs in four different categories: Learning, Events, Volunteering, and Others. Earning SEUs through Scrum SEU courses is the most popular among Scrum Alliance-certified professionals.

Professionals choose to earn SEUs through courses because they are self-paced, affordable, and require less effort. Since there is no cap for the learning category, professionals can earn all required SEUs at once through Scrum Alliance SEU course programs. One of the other benefits of SEU courses is they are less prone to Scrum Alliance audits.