How to Earn ISA CEUs for Recertification

ISA Certified Arborists need 30 CEUs every three years, plus a recertification fee of roughly $170 for members or $290 for non-members, to keep the credential active. Miss either one and the certification lapses. Getting it back means retaking the full 200-question exam, the same one every first-time candidate takes, starting from zero.

Note: For the master overview, see our Complete ISA Certified Arborist Exam Study Guide.

You passed the exam. That was the hard part, or it felt that way at the time. What a lot of new Certified Arborists don't expect is that certification isn't a trophy you earn once and keep. It's a subscription. Every three years the ISA wants proof you're still learning, and a fee alongside that proof.

Thirty CEUs sounds like a lot until you break it down: about ten a year, less than an hour of approved education a month. The arborists who struggle with recertification aren't usually the ones who can't find thirty hours of continuing education in three years. They're the ones who never wrote anything down, and found out in month 34 that they were twelve credits short with six weeks left on the clock.

What Counts as an ISA CEU

One CEU roughly equals one hour of ISA-approved instruction. The word doing the work there is approved. Not every class, webinar, or in-house training session qualifies just because the subject is trees. The credit has to come from a provider or event the ISA recognizes, which in practice means ISA chapters, ISA-partnered course providers, and a specific list of publications and programs the ISA maintains.

That approval requirement trips people up more than the hour count does. A vendor demo on a new chipper isn't automatically worth CEUs just because a certified arborist sat through it. A well-produced video from a known tree company usually isn't either, no matter how good the content is. If you're not sure whether something qualifies, check before you spend the afternoon on it. The ISA's CEU search tool and your chapter's continuing education calendar are the two places to confirm approval status before you count on the credit.

Where the Credits Actually Come From

Most Certified Arborists end up pulling CEUs from five or six different sources over a cycle, not one. Every issue of Arborist News, the ISA's member magazine, comes with a short quiz. Pass it and you earn 1.0 CEU, free for members. It takes fifteen minutes and it's one of the few sources you can knock out from the truck between jobs.

Webinars are the next easiest source. TreeStuff, Davey, and Bartlett all run free webinars through the year that carry ISA-approved credit, and your local chapter almost certainly runs its own series too. If your crew holds weekly safety meetings that cover ANSI Z133 topics, ask whether your chapter accepts sign-in sheets for credit. Many do, and that turns a training obligation you're already doing into CEUs you weren't tracking.

First Aid and CPR recertification deserves its own mention because it does double duty. You need current certification for safety compliance regardless, and completing it typically earns 4 to 8 CEUs depending on the course length and provider. That's a quarter of your three-year requirement from a class most companies already require.

Conferences are the fastest single source by a wide margin. A two-day chapter conference can net 12 to 15 CEUs, close to half of what you need, in one weekend. If your chapter's annual conference lines up with your cycle, plan to attend at least one. Writing counts too. Publishing an article in Arborist News or a chapter newsletter earns credit, and so does presenting at a workshop or teaching a course yourself. If you've been in the trade long enough to have something worth saying, the ISA would rather you say it publicly than not.

CEU Sources at a Glance

CEU Source	Typical Credit	Typical Cost
Arborist News quiz	1.0 CEU per quiz passed	Free for members
Chapter conference (2-day)	12–15 CEUs	Registration fee, varies by chapter
ISA-approved webinar	Hour-for-hour is typical for approved instruction	Often free
Safety meeting sign-in (Z133 topics)	Partial credit, chapter-dependent	Free, in-house
First Aid / CPR certification	4–8 CEUs	Varies by provider
Writing a published article	Set credit per approved submission	N/A
ISA Online Learning Center course	Hour-for-hour is typical	Paid per course
Teaching or presenting a workshop	Hour-for-hour is typical	N/A

Tracking CEUs Across a Full 3-Year Cycle

Here's what a paced cycle actually looks like, versus a cornered one. Say your three-year window opens the month you pass the exam. In year one, you go to your chapter's two-day conference (12 CEUs) and knock out two or three Arborist News quizzes as issues arrive (2 to 3 CEUs). That's roughly 14 to 15 CEUs before year one closes, essentially half the requirement, from showing up to things you'd likely attend anyway.

Year two is often when First Aid and CPR renewal lands, worth another 4 to 8 CEUs, plus a few more quizzes and maybe an ISA-approved webinar. By the end of year two you're sitting around 25 to 27 CEUs.

Year three is mop-up. A few more webinars, your weekly safety meeting sign-in sheets, one more quiz, whatever closes the gap to 30 with room to spare. The arborists who find recertification stressful are almost always the ones who skip years one and two and try to build the whole 30 in a six-month sprint at the end. It's not impossible. It's just a worse way to spend a summer than the alternative.

The tracking itself doesn't need to be complicated. Your ISA online account shows credits as they're reported, but reporting lags, especially for chapter events and third-party providers who batch-submit attendance after the fact. Keep a backup record too: a folder, physical or digital, with the certificate or confirmation email from every CEU-earning activity, and one spreadsheet row per credit noting the date, source, and amount. Check it against the ISA portal every six months. That's often enough to catch a gap while there's still a year to fix it, and rare enough that it never becomes a chore.

The Recertification Fee

CEUs are only half of staying certified. You also owe a recertification fee at the end of the cycle, roughly $170 for ISA members and $290 for non-members, and you owe it regardless of how many CEUs you've banked. Thirty CEUs and no fee doesn't recertify you any more than paying the fee with zero CEUs does. Both requirements have to clear together.

The gap between member and non-member pricing, about $120, is worth weighing alongside everything else ISA membership touches. If you're deciding whether to keep paying annual dues, the recertification discount is one more line in that math, on top of the exam-day and study-guide savings covered in our full breakdown of ISA exam costs.

If You Fall Short

Miss a CEU or a fee deadline and the ISA doesn't decertify you on the spot. There's typically a 60-day grace period, with a late fee attached. Use it. Most shortfalls are small, five or six credits, and close with a couple of quizzes and a webinar before the window runs out.

Blow through the grace period and you're decertified. There's no shortcut back in. You retake the full ISA Certified Arborist exam, all 200 questions, at whatever the current member or non-member fee happens to be. Everything that made it hard the first time, the 3.5-hour length, the ten weighted domains, applies again exactly the same way. Nobody who has been through recertification once wants to do that twice, which is the whole argument for a boring, six-month check-in habit instead of a system built on memory.

Does Other Training Count?

Only if the ISA has approved the provider or the specific course. This matters most for arborists who also hold other credentials. If you're pursuing or already hold a Tree Risk Assessment Qualification (TRAQ), ISA-approved TRAQ coursework generally carries CEU credit toward your Certified Arborist recertification too, since it's ISA-run training. Credit from unrelated certifications, state pesticide applicator courses, OSHA training, and similar programs, is hit or miss. Some qualify, some don't, and the only way to know for certain is to check before you assume a course you're taking for other reasons will also cover part of your 30.

The Business Case for Staying Current

It's tempting to treat CEU tracking as paperwork you'll deal with later. The cost of getting it wrong isn't only the retake fee. A lapsed certification means you can't legally be listed as the certified arborist on municipal or utility contracts that require one, and those tend to be the better-paying roles in the field. A gap on your record, even a short one, is a harder conversation with an employer or a client than the twenty minutes a quarter it takes to stay ahead of it.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many CEUs do I need for ISA recertification?

30 CEUs across a 3-year recertification cycle, plus the recertification fee. The requirement is per cycle, not per year, so you can front-load a big conference early and coast on smaller credits later, or spread it evenly. Either works as long as the total clears 30 before your cycle closes.

How much does ISA recertification cost?

Roughly $170 for ISA members and $290 for non-members, paid every 3 years alongside the CEU requirement. The fee is separate from anything you spend earning CEUs themselves, which can range from free (quizzes, in-house safety meetings) to a few hundred dollars if you take paid courses through the ISA Online Learning Center.

What happens if I don't earn my ISA CEUs in time?

You get a grace period, typically 60 days, to close the gap with a late fee attached. Miss that window too and the certification lapses, which means retaking the full 200-question exam to regain it. This is why tracking CEUs throughout the cycle matters more than the total does. A small shortfall caught in month 30 is an easy fix; the same shortfall discovered after the grace period closes is not.

What is the easiest way to earn ISA CEUs?

A two-day chapter conference is the fastest single source, typically worth 12 to 15 CEUs. After that, Arborist News quizzes (1.0 CEU each, free for members) and ISA-approved webinars are the lowest-effort options for filling in the rest across the cycle. Writing an article, attending a workshop, and completing an ISA Online Learning Center course all count as well.

Do CEUs from other organizations count toward ISA recertification?

Only if the provider or event is ISA-approved. Always confirm approval before paying for a course, since non-approved training does not count toward the 30-CEU requirement no matter how relevant the subject matter is.

How do I track my ISA CEUs during the 3-year cycle?

Check your ISA online account periodically, since it shows credits as chapters and providers report them, though reporting often lags behind the actual event. Keep your own backup record too: save the certificate or confirmation email from every CEU-earning activity and log the date, source, and credit amount somewhere you'll actually check. A review every six months is usually enough to catch a shortfall while there's still time to fix it.

What is the grace period if I miss my ISA CEU deadline?

Typically 60 days past the end of your 3-year cycle, with a late fee attached. Use it immediately if you're short. Most gaps are only a handful of credits and close with a webinar or two before the grace period runs out.

Can I earn all 30 ISA CEUs from a single event?

Not in practice. Even the biggest two-day chapter conference tops out around 12 to 15 CEUs, roughly half the requirement, so you need at least two or three separate activities spread across the three years to reach 30.

Does TRAQ training count toward ISA Certified Arborist CEUs?

Generally yes, since ISA-approved Tree Risk Assessment Qualification coursework is ISA-run training. It counts toward your Certified Arborist recertification the same way any other ISA-approved course does, though TRAQ itself renews on a separate 5-year cycle of its own.