CAPM Certification Renewal Guide – Earn CAPM PDUs

If you hold a CAPM certification, you must earn 15 CAPM PDU hours every three years to renew your CAPM certification. There are further CAPM certification renewal requirements as well. In this article, we have gone through all the steps you need to go through to renew your CAPM certification.

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📌 Hint: Do not skip this article, you will find FREE CAPM Certification Renewal resources throughout the article.

💡Julia Boyer earned 60 PMP PDU hours and renewed her PMP certification. Read Julia’s PMP renewal story!

According to Entrepreneur, the famous business website, CAPM is ranked as one of the nine most demanded professional certifications. Once you earned your CAPM certification, it is important to maintain it as it is a reputable and demanded professional certification by employers. Let’s look at the CAPM certification renewal requirements first.

CAPM Certification Renewal Requirements

PMI, Project Management Institute, awards the CAPM certification to professionals who are working in the field of project management after they pass a project management test. Once you earn the CAPM certification degree, you can hold it forever as long as you satisfy the CAPM renewal requirements. We have summarized the CAPM certification renewal requirements in the following table.

CAPM PDU Hours Required	Education PDUs (min)	Giving Back PDUs (max)	Renewal Cost
15	9	6	$60 for PMI Members $150 for non-Members

Let’s explain these requirements in detail. PMI dictates for every CAPM-certified professional to earn 15 CAPM PDU hours every three years. Typically, one hour of education or one hour of professional activity counts as one CAPM renewal PDU hour. The following three are the fundamental CAPM renewal PDU requirements:

A minimum of 9 PDUs must be earned through the Education category. (There is no maximum limit, all 15 PDUs can be earned through Education PDUs)
A maximum of 6 PDUs can be earned through the Giving Back category. You cannot claim more than 6 PDUs for renewing your CAPM certification.
A maximum of 2 PDUs can be earned by working as a practitioner.

As long as you satisfy these PDU requirements, PMI will approve your CAPM PDU claims, and you will proceed to renew your CAPM certification. Now, let’s explore these CAPM PDU Categories.

CAPM PDU Categories for Renewing CAPM Certification.

There are two main categories to earn CAPM PDU hours. Education and Giving Back. Education PDUs can be earned at professional seminars, webinars, classes, or even self-directed learning. Giving Back to the Profession CAPM PDUs can be earned through volunteering, mentoring, working with professional groups, and more. Each of these are the ways to earn CAPM renewal PDU hours.

The following table summarizes the 11 ways to earn CAPM Renewal PDUs.

11 Ways to Earn CAPM Renewal PDUs
Education (Min 9 PDUs)	Giving Back (Max 6 PDUs)
*1-Course or Training (Most Popular)**	1- Work as a Practitioner
2- Global Events	2- Create Content
3- Local Meetings	3- Give a Presentation
4- Online or Digital Media	4- Share Knowledge
5- Reading	5- Volunteer
6- Informal Learning

You can watch our 11 PMI Approved Ways to Earn CAPM PDU videos on YouTube.

Let’s go through each way and explore the details.

1st Way – CAPM Renewal PDU Courses

As we’ve highlighted in the table, CAPM renewal PDU course programs are the most popular way to earn PDUs among CAPM-certified professionals.

CAPM renewal PDU

While there are several benefits of renewing CAPM certification through CAPM renewal PDU courses, here are the top five reasons:

No Caps: There is no maximum limit for the education category, so, you can earn all 15 CAPM PDUs in one program, and renew your CAPM. You do not need to go elsewhere to find additional CAPM PDU hours.
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 CAPM Renewal PDU course bundle for ~$100. However, seminars or conferences start from $1,000, not only that, you cannot earn all CAPM PDU needs in one event.
Requires less effort: When you enroll in CAPM Renewal PDU Courses, all you have to do is follow the curriculum, earn PDUs, and renew your CAPM certification. However, other PDU earning ways require significant effort from the CAPM-certification holder such as creating content, sharing a presentation, volunteering, etc.
Less prone to PMI audit: Since the PDU training programs are used by many CAPM-certified professionals, PMI already has a track and record of the activities. However, for other categories, PDU submissions are more unique and may be more likely to hit a PMI audit.

Course or Training Programs Accepted by PMI as Source of CAPM PDU

PMI accepts instructor-led formal education courses or classes held in-person or online. Here is a list of courses accepted by PMI as a source of CAPM PDUs.

Virtual and in-person instructor-led courses from PMI Training
Online courses are available on demand
Academic education through programs accredited by the PMI Global Accreditation Center (GAC)
Training courses offered by PMI Authorized Training Partners
Disciplined Agile or CAPM® certification training courses offered by a PMI Authorized Training Partner
Courses from other third-party providers (SFBS 15 CAPM PDU Course Online program belongs to this category).

San Francisco Business School offers a comprehensive 15 CAPM PDU Online Course program. The program offers three self-paced business training programs: Executive Leadership, Strategy Creation & Execution, and Marketing Strategy. For each course in the program, SFBS awards a certificate of graduation. While earning PDUs, you will earn reputable business merits to highlight in your resume and LinkedIn.

2nd Way – Attending Global Events

Several project management conferences, events, and activities are organized throughout the year. You can attend these events and earn CAPM Renewal PDU credits. Typically, a one-day activity earns 6 CAPM PDUs. So, if you attended a two-day event, you will earn around 12 CAPM PDUs.

Attending global events has benefits like expanding your professional network and learning the changing trends in your domain. However, there are some pitfalls to these events.

Typically organized in big cities. If you are living in a relatively smaller city, you might not see any events to earn CAPM PDUs.
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. Typically, 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.
Does not earn 60 PDUs at once. Although it requires a significant amount of time and money, you cannot earn all 15 CAPM PDUs through one event.

Considering you are a full-time working professional and looking to earn 15 CAPM Renewal PDU hours in one step, we do not recommend this way for earning PDUs.

3rd Way – Local Meetings

PMI has an extensive network in many countries and cities. In many major cities, there are PMI chapters and they organize 1-2 hour events every month. Typically, one presenter talks about a topic for 1-2 hours and the attendees follow the activity. These activities typically earn 1-2 PDUs.

4th Way – CAPM Renewal PDU Online or Digital Media

PMI accepts self-paced learning activities as a source of PDUs. You can find several CAPM renewal PDU programs online, many offering limited PDUs. San Francisco Business School offers a self-paced Free PMI PDU Course Online Program. If you attend this program, you can earn 3 Free CAPM PDUs and submit them in the Online or Digital Media sub-category under the Education category.

5th Way – Reading

Self-directed reading relevant to the certification you hold can be claimed for PDUs. For instance, reading a project management-related blog, a business education blog, or a book can count PDUs toward renewing your CAPM certification. 1 hour of reading counts as 1 PDU, however, everyone’s reading pace is different. So, earning CAPM renewal PDUs through reading resources is not a crystal clear way to go.

6th Way – Informal Learning

You can earn PDUs by engaging in structured professional discussions with others, for example, mentoring or “lunch and learn” sessions. For instance, if you are giving a presentation to your colleagues about project management, you can submit this as PDUs.

Important Note: The 7th through 11th Way of Earning CAPM Renewal PDUs below are under the Giving Back category. As we’ve outlined at the beginning of the article, you can claim a maximum of 6 PDUs through Giving Back PDUs.

7th Way – CAPM Renewal PDU Working as a Practitioner

By working in your certified role, you can earn PDUs by applying your knowledge and skills in a practical setting. If you are working in a project management-related role, you can earn PDUs as working as a practitioner. However, it has a limitation. PMI accepts a maximum of 2 PDUs in a three-year cycle for the work as a practitioner category.

After earning 2 PDUs under the Working as a Practitioner category, you will need additional PDUs to complete your 15 CAPM PDU cycle. SFBS offers 45, 30, and 15 PDU programs as well.

8th Way – Create Content

Do you write articles or blogs? Give webinars? Make videos? Today’s digital world is full of new content and anything you create counts towards your re-certification. Typically, you can submit CAPM PDU hours for the hours you worked on project management content creation. For instance, if you wrote a blog post for an hour, you can claim 1 PDU in your PMI profile.

Creating content is cumbersome. There are several aspects of curating quality content. If your profession involves creating content, it is fine, you can earn CAPM renewal PDU hours while you are working. However, just to earn PDUs, creating content is a tough path.

9th Way – Give a Presentation

If you speak at your organization, at a PMI chapter event, or at a conference, you can claim PDUs for it. For instance, if you gave a speech in a project management activity for an hour, you can submit 1 hour PDU for this activity in your PMI profile.

While there are thousands of CAPM-certified professionals, only a few thousand professionals could have earned CAPM PDUs through this way. Because giving a speech to top-notch professionals requires exclusive skills. Besides, you should be invited to these events as a speaker, so you can earn PDUs.

10th Way – Share Knowledge

Others can benefit from your experience and knowledge. Keep track of the time you spend mentoring and teaching and claim it towards re-certification. An example of this can be sharing your knowledge in a discussion group at work. If you have a group of professionals sharing knowledge, if you attend those activities, you can claim PDUs.

For instance, if you’ve explored the ways of using AI in project management and want to share this knowledge with your colleagues, you can earn PDUs through this activity. You can gather in a meeting room and share your knowledge with your colleagues.

11th Way – Volunteer

PMI is just one of many organizations that relies on volunteers. Why not become one and earn credit toward re-certification in the process? You can search for volunteering options at the PMI website. Note that, these activities may not be available in your location if you are living in a small city.

Can I claim CAPM PDU as fractions as well?

You can also claim PDUs as fractions as not all the events need to have multiple of 1 hour time activities. For example, an activity took 90 minutes. It means that you will earn 1.5 PDUs for this activity.

The smallest fraction of PDU one can claim is 0.25, this reflects 15 minutes in an activity that qualifies for PDU. You just need to ensure that your activity time is aligned with the CAPM PDU you are claiming.

CAPM Renewal PDU Policies

There are a few important points that you should know. Firstly you should know that you can earn CAPM PDU online once you earn PMI certification. Secondly, you can not claim redundant PDUs. Additionally, if you earn more than the required CAPM PDU in your CCR cycle within the last year of your CCR cycle, these can be applied to your next CCR.

Which CAPM renewal PDU option is the best for me?

We’ve listed 11 ways of earning CAPM PDU hours above. Which CAPM renewal PDU you want to earn is based on your choice and feasibility For example, writing an article and publishing in a research paper is quite an extensive activity and not all of you may opt to write an article for a journal.

Or you may like to register with the PMI chapter or third-party events and participate in them. These participations can help you earn CAPM PDU. However, participating in events like this need you to see the schedule and commit to the schedule. Which may be a bit hectic for you to follow if you have a busy schedule.

There are free YouTube videos, and free courses to earn CAPM renewal PDU however you cannot earn all CAPM PDU needs from free activities.

Not only the majority of the CAPM certified professionals choose, but also we do recommend that online CAPM PDU courses are the best option for many professionals. These online training programs offer you flexibility in terms of location and time. You can attend the sessions from anywhere at any time. So you do not need to commute to specific locations as well as you can learn domains and earn CAPM renewal PDU at your own pace. This also helps you to focus on specific topics for your learning and move forward on your career growth path based on your planned steps.

Moreover, these online CAPM PDU courses are quite feasible in terms of cost. So you may find these online training programs to move further in your career.

CAPM Renewal Fee

Once PMI confirms that you have met PDU requirements, you can apply for the renewal of your certification. In this regard, you will receive an email notification to apply for certification renewal. Once you receive the notification, you will be directed to the online certification system where you can proceed with the submission of your renewal fee payment.

The fee for CAPM certification renewal depends on your PMI membership. If you are a member of PMI then you need to pay a fee of US $60 for the renewal. Otherwise, you will have to pay a renewal fee of US $150. After processing your application and renewal payment, you will get an updated certificate from PMI. This will have updated activity CCR cycle dates. It may take around 6 – 8 weeks to receive your updated certificate.

Summary of CAPM Renewal PDU Ways

PMI requires CAPM-certified professionals to earn 15 CAPM renewal PDU hours every three years. There are 11 ways to earn CAPM PDUs. The first six are under the Education category and the last five are under the Giving Back category. You can earn all 15 PDUs in the Education category. However, there is a maximum of 9 PDUs earning limit for the Giving Back category.

CAPM Renewal PDU course programs are the most popular way to earn PDUs. Professionals choose to earn PDUs through courses because they are self-paced, affordable, and require less effort. Since there is no cap for the education category, professionals can earn all 15 PDUs at once through CAPM PDU course programs. One of the other benefits of PDU courses is they are less prone to PMI audits.