Certificate of Completion
Learners need to track the courses they take for licensure, certification maintenance, or job advancement and opportunities. Continuing education organizations often issue certificates of completion to help learners document their learning.
What It Looks Like
A certificate of completion is documentation indicating that a learner has successfully completed a continuing education course. This documentation can take many forms—such as a paper certificate, an electronic certificate, or an email confirmation. In general, this documentation includes these components:
- name/logo of the educating organization
- learner’s name
- course title
- course completion date
- course location
- instructional delivery method (e.g., live, online, recorded)
- number of instructional or contact hours completed
- educating organization’s contact information
- organizational representative’s signature
These sample certificates of completion illustrate ways that Providers might document course completion.
Please note: ASHA Approved CE Providers are discouraged from mentioning “ASHA CEUs” or “ASHA Continuing Education” on any certificates or other documentation of completion. See the “How It Supports Compliance” section below for more information.
When It Happens
Organizations typically issue this documentation after a learner has met all satisfactory completion requirements. How an organization shares this documentation depends on the organization’s systems (e.g., a website download, an email, a paper certificate).
How It Supports Compliance
ASHA CE requires Providers to have a process for identifying learners who satisfactorily complete a course (Standard 7.1.3). Although issuing a certificate or other documentation of completion is not required, an organization often does it to (a) recognize the learner’s efforts and (b) allow the learner to document the course for licensure or certification renewals. Providers who issue such documentation must adhere to the following policy:
“Any documentation of learner course completion that includes reference to ASHA CEUs, ASHA Continuing Education, or being an ASHA CE Provider must clearly state that receipt of such documentation does not indicate that ASHA CEUs have been awarded. The following language is suggested: “This certificate neither awards ASHA CEUs nor verifies that ASHA CEUs have been awarded to the person named above.”
Why It Matters
States and credentialing bodies may require learners to show proof of course completion to maintain state licensure, ASHA certification, and other credentials. The information provided must be accurate and detailed enough to meet these needs. We discourage mention of ASHA CEUs or being an ASHA CE Provider (e.g., including the Provider Insignia or Brand Block) to reduce confusion about the type of credit that the learner has earned. ASHA CEUs can only be issued by the CE Registry—and only to those learners who pay to use the CE Registry. If a Provider chooses to include such information, we require a disclosure—such as the language noted in the policy excerpt above.
Bottom Line
A certificate of completion documents that a learner has finished a course—but it’s not the official record of ASHA CEUs.The ASHA CE Registry is the service that awards and tracks these units, an important distinction to make to learners.
