Renew PMP Certification in 7 Basic Steps
If you’ve earned PMP certification, you must be aware that you need to renew PMP certification every three years. There are certain PMP PDU requirements you must adhere and we have outlined all the 7 basic steps you need to renew your PMP certification.
In this article
📌 Hint: Do not skip this article, you will find FREE Renew PMP Certification resources throughout the article.
💡Julia Boyer earned 60 PMP PDU hours and renewed her PMP certification. Read Julia’s PMP renewal story!
There are 7 basic steps to renew PMP certification. These are
- Check your current PMP certification status on PMI website
- Make sure how many PMP PDU credits you need to renew PMP certification
- Decide how you will earn PMP PDU credits
- Attend PMP PDU Activities and Earn PDU hours
- Report Your PDUs to PMI
- Complete the CCRS Cycle
- Pay the renewal fee and renew your PMP certification
Let’s go through each of these steps one by one!
Step #1 to Renew PMP Certification – Check Your Current Status on the PMI Website
PMI has a strong website with all the details and information showing your certifications, certification status, and actions you need to take to keep your certification active. Once you earned PMP certification, you should have a PMI profile already. If you forgot your details, you can contact PMI support and ask for a password reset to log on to your profile.
Once you logged on to PMI website, you can see your certification status under the “Certification” area.
We’ve shared a screenshot from a sample profile below. As you can see in this profile, the PMP certification is in good standing, meaning not expired and just needs PDU hours to renew PMP certification. In some cases, if PMP certification was earned years ago and the certification holder did not report PDUs for several years, PMP certification can be in a suspended state or expired state. If your certification is in such a status, we recommend you to contact PMI first as earning PDUs may not be sufficient to renew PMP certification.
In the example profile above, PMI clearly states the total number of earned PDUs, which is 42, required PDUs and optional PDUs. We will describe the required and optional PDUs in the further stages of this article.
Step #2 to Renew PMP – Determine How Many PDUs You Need
In the PMP certification profile we shared above, you can see that PMI clearly shows the required PDUs, mandatory ones, and optional ones. PMI requires certification holders to earn PDUs in three-year cycles. The requirements for each certification track are different. For the PMP certification, certification holders must earn 60 PMP PDU hours every three years to renew their certification. Below is an infographic from the PMI website about PMP PDU requirements.
Let’s explain each of these steps in detail.
PMP PDU Categories
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.
PMP PDU requirements 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.
Hint: You can earn 60 PMP PDUs by enrolling in the SFBS PMP PDU Course Online program.
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.
Some of the activities you’ve attended previously might have earned you PDUs to renew PMP certification. For instance, if you have attended a seminar, a conference, or a project management-related training, these activities can count for PDUs towards renewing PMP certification. You can claim those PDUs through your PMI profile, and check how many more PDUs you will need to renew your PMP certification.
Step #3 – Decide How You Will Earn Remaining PDUs to Renew PMP Certification
After you’ve submitted your earned PDUs, the PMI dashboard will show how many Education PDUs and Giving Back PDUs you will need to complete your PMP renewal cycle. Depending on the missing PDU hours, you should decide how you will earn the PDUs.
If you need Education PDUs, there are six different sub-categories under the Education category, and if you need Giving Back PDUs, there are five sub-categories. The following table summarizes the 11 ways to earn Renew PMP PDUs.
| 11 Ways to Earn PMP Renewal PDUs | |
| Education (Min 35 PDUs) | Giving Back (Max 25 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 | |
Step #4 – Attend PDU Activities and Earn PDUs
Note that, you can earn all PDU hours you need through education activities. However, there is a maximum of 25 PDUs limit for Giving Back PDUs. Even if you attend several giving-back activities, you will be able to report a maximum of 25 PDUs every three years.
Let’s explore the six different ways to earn Education PDUs to renew PMP certification.
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.
If you need Giving Back PDUs, you will have the following five options to earn PDUs and renew PMP certification.
1- 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 up to 8 PDUs as working as a practitioner. However, it has a limitation. PMI accepts a maximum of 8 PDUs in a three-year cycle for the work as a practitioner category.
After earning 8 PDUs under the Working as a Practitioner category, you will need additional PDUs to complete your 60 PMP PDU cycle. SFBS offers 45, 30, and 15 PDU programs as well.
If you need fewer than 60 PDUs, you can opt for one of these programs.
2- 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 PDUs 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 PMP renewal PDU hours while you are working. However, just to earn PDUs, creating content is a tough path.
3- 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 nearly one million PMP-certified professionals, only a few thousand professionals could have earned PMP 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.
4- 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.
5- 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.
Explore 11 Ways of Earning PMP Renewal PDU.
Step #5 to Renew PMP – Report PDUs to PMI
Once you attended PDU earning activities, report them to PMI. You can see our PDU claim article defining how to report PDUs step by step. After you log on to PMI, when you click on the report PDUs button, you will see 11 ways to Earn PDUs. The first six are under the Education category, and the next five are under the Giving Back category.
After you select the activity type, you will be asked to enter activity details on the next page. You will be asked to provide details about the provider, activity name, description, dates attended, etc. There are mandatory and optional fields. You must type details for the mandatory fields, however, you can skip the optional ones.
As you can see above, we provided the details of the activity, dates attended, and the number of PDUs earned through each category. Note that, while you are typing provider names, some providers’ names are suggested. Your provider name might not be on the list. Do not worry, just type the provider name, do not pick any provider from the drop-down menu, and proceed to provide the next details about the PDU activity.
PDU distribution of the activity should be provided by your provider. If you are unsure about the distribution of the PDUs for each category, you can ask your provider or PMI for further guidance.
Hit on the “submit” button, and claim PDU hours. On the next page, you will see the summary of your PDU claim.
Step #6 – Complete the CCRS Cycle
If you’ve completed the required PDUs in your CCRS cycle, you will see the “Eligible to Renew” note at the top of the screen.
You can see in the screenshot that 52 education PDUs have been earned and 8 Giving Back PDUs have been earned. A total of 60 PDUs have been earned, and PMP certification is eligible to be renewed. The next step is renewal fee payment.
Step #7 to Renew PMP – Pay the PMP Renewal Fee
The final step to renew your PMI certification is paying the renewal fee. In our case, the PMP certification renewal fee is $120. However, if you opt to be a PMI member, you will be paying a less price.
PMI membership has a yearly cost as well. Consider the benefits of being a PMI member and if you opt to be a PMI member, you can add to your cart and checkout together with your PMI certification renewal fee.
Summary
If you earned PMP certification, you need to earn 60 PDUs every three years to renew PMP certification. We’ve explored the seven basic steps to renew your PMP. First, you need to check the current status of your PMP certification. Second, you need to determine the missing PDU hours you need to renew PMP certification. Third, you need to decide which PDU activities you need to attend to earn PDUs.
Once you completed the PDU hours, the next steps are completing the cycle and paying the PMP renewal fee. Then, your certification will be in good standing for three years.