PMP PDU Guide [Updated] – Incl. Free PMP PDU Courses
Do you hold a PMP® Certification? You need 60 PMP PDU hours every three years to retain your PMP certification. PMP-certified professionals have lots of questions about the PMP PDU details. We’ve explored all topics about PMP PDU in this post.
In this article
📌 Hint: Do not skip this article, you will find FREE PMP PDU resources throughout the article.
💡Julia Boyer renewed her PMP certification. Read Julia’s PMP renewal story!
Why do I need PMP PDU Hours?
PMI requires PMP certification holders to earn 60 PMP PDU hours every three years to retain their certification. That is why you need PMP PDU hours if you hold a PMP certification.
PMP® Certification is the most renowned project management certification around the globe. There are more than one million PMP-certified professionals around the world. For sure, the US is the most dominant country for PMP certification with nearly 400,000 PMP certification holders. (Numbers taken from PMI website).
While you earned it, do not lose it just because of missing PMP PDU hours in your renewal cycle. Because many organizations looking for project management roles are requiring PMP certification. You can see a sample LinkedIn job posting from California, and PMP certification is required for the position.
What are the PMP PDU Requirements?
There are certain requirements to earn PMP PDU hours. Let’s dive into PMP PDU requirements.
There are two main PMP PDU categories:
- Education: Education PDUs can be earned at professional seminars, webinars, classes, or even self-directed learning.
- Giving Back to the Profession: Giving Back PDUs are for time spent volunteering, mentoring, working with professional groups, and more.
For each PMI certification track, there are further requirements, such as minimum and maximum PDUs that can be earned from each category.
PMP PDU requirement for certification holders is to collect 60 PDUs through a maximum of 25 Giving Back PDUs and a minimum of 35 Education PDUs. However, there is no cap for education PDUs. You can earn all 60 PDUs in the education category. You can see the PMP PDU requirements breakdown in the following figure.
The 35 Education PDUs also have other requirements:
- reporting at least 8 Ways of Working project management PDUs
- reporting at least 8 Business Acumen PDUs
- reporting at least 8 Power Skills PDUs.
There is a maximum PDU reporting cap for the Working as a Professional subcategory of the Giving Back PDU category. If you are working in a project management related job, you can report up to 8 PDUs under working as a professional PDU category.
What are the PMP PDU Courses?
As we’ve outlined in the PDU categories section, there are two main ways to earn PDU: Education and Giving Back. PDU courses are a way to earn PDU credits in Education Category.
There are six different sub-categories under the Education category to earn PDU hours. Let’s explore these:
1- Course or Training
Instructor-led formal education courses or classes held in-person or online belong to this category.
- 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 PMP® certification training courses offered by a PMI Authorized Training Partner
- Courses from other third-party providers (SFBS 60 PMP PDU Course Online program belongs to this category).
You can read more on our PMP PDU Courses article.
Watch how Julia Earned 60 PDUs and Renewed Her PMP
Julia Boyer is a PMP-certified Professional from Dallas, Texas. Julia enrolled in the 60 PMP PDU Program from SFBS and renewed her PMP. Watch now her PMP renewal journey.
2- Global Events
Meetings and events that bring together the global community are another way to earn PDUs. These events include educational sessions, keynote, and featured speakers. Typically you can earn 7 to 50 PDUs by attending these events.
3- Local Meetings
Local activities and events that are related to the project management profession count for PDUs. Often held at PMI chapters, these are also a great opportunity to network. These meetings earn typically 1 to 2 PDUs.
4- Online or Digital Media
Self-paced learning is conducted online or through varied forms of digital media. (SFBS Free PMP PDU Course Online Program belongs to this category).
5- 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 PMP certification.
6- 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 PDU.
Explore 11 Ways of Earning PMP Renewal PDU.
Can I earn Free PMP PDUs?
There are several free courses, webinars, and events that you can attend and earn PDUs toward renewing your PMP certification. However, earning all required 60 PDUs from free resources will not be practical. 60 PDU hours require around 60 hours of activity. Most of the PMP-certified professionals are full-time working busy professionals, we assume you are busy too. Therefore, it is not easy to find free events. Even if there are PDU events in your neighborhood, that may not fit your schedule.
SFBS offers a 3-hour Free PMP PDU Course program as well. You can earn 3 PDUs by attending this program.
Free PMP PDU Webinars
Some platforms schedule online free webinars. If a webinar is about project management, you can submit PDUs for the duration of the webinar. For instance, if you attended a 1-hour webinar on negotiation skills, you can submit 1 PDU in your PMI profile.
Finding free PDU resources and fitting them into your schedule can be cumbersome. Most of the PMP-certified professionals attend a self-paced PMP PDU course program, they follow the courses at their pace and earn PDUs easily.
Learn more about the 11 Free PDU Earning Ways.
How many PMP PDU Hours can I claim for Working as a Practitioner?
PMI accepts your day-to-day activities as PDUs. However, there is a maximum limit for this category. You can submit a maximum of 8 PDU hours for working as a practitioner category.
What are the best PMP PDU Online Courses?
If you’ve googled about the PMP PDU online courses, you will see several resources. Some of them offer technical courses, that will not benefit to your career. Some of them offer just PDF papers to read, and that does not bring any skills.
The best PDU online courses should offer you business courses, earn new business skills, and contribute to your career growth.
For instance, San Francisco Business School offers a comprehensive 60 PMP 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.
Program #1- Executive Leadership Program
Improve your decision-making, and cross-functional competence, expand your understanding of the global marketplace, and build your way to servant leadership. Learn how to tackle business challenges. Earns 20 PMP PDUs.
Program #2- Strategy Creation & Execution Program
Develop the global perspective, quantitative background, and creative problem-solving skills to take your strategy from formulation to execution. Harness the power of disruptive innovation to craft winning strategies and turn them into play. Earns 30 PMP PDUs.
Program #3- Marketing Strategy Program
Boost revenue and profit by targeting the right segments, designing effective go-to-market strategies, and building high-value brands. Align your marketing and promotion efforts with business strategy to maximize Return on Investment. Earns 10 PMP PDUs.
Summary
PMP certification holders need to earn 60 PMP PDU hours every three years to maintain their certification. There are two main categories of PMP PDUs: Education and Giving Back. Education PDUs can be earned through courses, webinars, events, reading, and informal learning. Giving Back PDUs can be earned through volunteering, mentoring, and working with professional groups.
There are certain requirements for earning PMP PDU hours. For the Education category, at least 35 PDUs must be earned, with a minimum of 8 PDUs in each of the Ways of Working, Business Acumen, and Power Skills subcategories. For the Giving Back category, a maximum of 25 PDUs can be earned, with a maximum of 8 PDUs for working as a professional. There is no maximum limit for earning PDUs in the education category. You can earn all 60 PDUs in the Education category.
While there are some free PDU offerings, completing 60 PDUs through free activities is not practical. Choose a PMP PDU course that will enhance your business skills and earn new certificates that will shine in your resume.