Renew a Colorado professional license with 90 contact hours in seven years - not five. HB 21-1104 changed the term, and plenty of guidance still has not caught up.
The cycle is seven years, not five. Colorado House Bill 21-1104 extended professional teacher, special services, principal and administrator licenses from five to seven years, effective July 1, 2021. A great deal of third-party guidance still says five, which is the single most expensive thing to get wrong here in either direction.
Within those seven years you complete 90 contact hours of professional learning, or six semester hours of college coursework, or any combination. CDE gives educators unusually wide latitude on what counts - it does not pre-approve CEUs, trainings or workshops - but the activities must align to your endorsement areas, the Colorado academic standards, the educator quality standards, school culture and climate, leadership, or student safety and well-being.
Ten of those 90 hours are spoken for, and the split depends on your role. There is also a 45-hour English learner requirement that applies to specific endorsements, starts with licenses expiring on or after Sept. 1, 2025, and counts toward the 90 for one cycle only. Both are below, because they are where an otherwise complete 90 hours turns out not to be enough - or where a requirement you have heard about turns out not to be yours yet.
One semester hour is 15 contact hours. One quarter hour is 10 contact hours. One CEU is 10 contact hours. In-service through a Colorado district or BOCES earns one semester hour of credit per 15 clock hours of participation.
In CDE's own words, the variety of useful professional development makes approving all of it impossible, so the choice is left to the educator - who then has to show on the renewal application how each activity aligns to the standards. Expect a full audit if the evaluator has questions.
Official transcripts for college coursework. For professional development, a certificate carrying your name, the title and provider, location, dates, contact hours, and the provider's signature. District transcripts are accepted, and credit has to be listed as contact hours.
Activities must be completed within the seven years immediately preceding the date you submit the renewal application, rather than within the term of the expired license.
HB 20-1128 and HB 20-1312 apply to all educators with professional licenses expiring on or after June 30, 2025, and CDE states the requirement differently for teachers than for other roles.
Large, endorsement-scoped, date-gated and single-use. CDE: "One-time upon renewal for licenses that expire on or after Sept. 1, 2025." If your license expires before that date, this is not yet your problem.
CDE: "All educators applying for a principal or administrator license - or renewing such license that expires - on or after Aug. 1, 2024" must first complete an approved Educator Effectiveness Evaluator Training (E-Train) in order to receive the credential. It is a one-time requirement, at the time of application, from Senate Bill 22-070.
The term has been seven years since July 1, 2021 under HB 21-1104. Active licensees count activities completed within the term of the active license; if the license has expired, count the seven years immediately before your application date.
Or six semester hours, or a combination, at 15 contact hours per semester hour, 10 per quarter hour, and 10 per CEU. Align every activity to your endorsements and the state standards - you will be asked how on the application.
Ten contact hours in the required areas, split according to your role, and the 45-hour English learner requirement if you hold one of the endorsements it applies to. Both count toward the 90 rather than adding to it.
Transcripts for coursework; certificates naming you, the provider, dates and contact hours for everything else. CDE audits when the alignment is unclear.
Ninety contact hours of professional learning, or six semester hours of college or university coursework, or any combination, completed within the preceding seven years. CDE converts one semester hour to 15 contact hours, one quarter hour to 10, and one CEU to 10.
Seven. Colorado House Bill 21-1104 extended professional teacher, special services, principal and administrator licenses from five to seven years, effective July 1, 2021. Guidance that still says five years predates that change.
They apply to educators whose professional licenses expire on or after June 30, 2025, and the split depends on the role. Teachers complete a minimum of 10 contact hours with at least one hour in each of two areas: behavioral health that is culturally responsive and trauma- and evidence-informed, and awareness of laws and practices for educating students with disabilities, including Child Find and inclusive learning environments. Special services providers, principals and administrators complete a minimum of 10 contact hours in the students-with-disabilities area. The hours count toward the 90, not on top of them.
Holders of a professional teacher license with an elementary, English language arts, math, science, social studies or middle-level endorsement who have not already obtained the designation - and CDE notes it is mandatory regardless of what content you currently teach. It applies one time upon renewal for licenses that expire on or after Sept. 1, 2025. Educators with a CLD, CLDB, LDE or LDEB endorsement have already fulfilled it. The 45 hours may be used toward the 90 contact hours for one renewal cycle only.
No. CDE does not pre-approve CEUs, trainings, workshops, conferences or in-services, on the grounds that the useful variety is too wide to approve. The educator chooses, then shows on the renewal application how each activity aligns to their endorsement areas and the state standards, and a full audit follows if the evaluator has questions.
Yes. Select Colorado and the system tracks the 90 contact hours across a seven-year term, applies the semester, quarter and CEU conversions, and flags the role-specific 10 hours and the endorsement-scoped English learner requirement separately so they are not discovered late. The evidence sits next to the same educator's coaching, evaluations and goals.
Educators applying for a principal or administrator license, or renewing such a license that expires, on or after Aug. 1, 2024. Under Senate Bill 22-070 they must first complete an approved training in order to receive the credential. It is a one-time requirement at the time of application, and it is scoped to the credential rather than to whether an educator evaluates others.
Not in Colorado? Find requirements for your state.
Evaluated in Colorado? See how Colorado teacher evaluation works, and how the evidence connects to the record you keep for renewal.
Part of EX in Education
Contact Hour tracking is one part of how districts support educators. In EX in Education, it connects to the bigger picture: walkthroughs, coaching, evaluations, goals, PD, recognition, surveys, and retention. Bring your own process, or start from a template, then run it across every school so every educator moves from hired to thriving.