Free CEUs for dietitians: where to earn credits

By the DieticiansWorldwide.com editorial team · 18 October 2026 · Careers & pay

How many CEUs do dietitians need?

The answer depends on which credential and which regulator you answer to, and many dietitians answer to more than one.

CDR: the RD and DTR credentials

The Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR) calls its continuing education units CPEUs, and one CPEU equals one contact hour. Under its Universal Professional Development Portfolio guide, which applies to recertification cycles ending in 2025 and later:

• registered dietitians need at least 75 CPEUs per five-year cycle, including 1 CPEU in ethics or health equity;
• dietetic technicians, registered, need at least 50 CPEUs, also including 1 in ethics or health equity;
• cycles end on 31 May, and activities must be completed by that date in the final year, although the portfolio itself can be submitted up to 30 June;
• the portfolio has three steps: a learning plan, an activity log and a self-assessment;
• CDR selects activity logs for audit at random or for non-compliance, and you must keep your documentation for at least two years after the cycle ends.

Seventy-five CPEUs over five years averages 15 a year, or a little over one hour a month. That is a manageable target to meet entirely for free if you plan it.

State licences

A state licence is a separate obligation. CDR states that its recertification requirements may differ from those for state licensure, and that it is responsible only for its own rules. Some state boards set their own hours, cycles or topics, so check your board each time you renew. Our United States guide explains how the national credential and state licences fit together, and our guide to dietitian certification covers specialist credentials that carry their own renewal rules.

Other countries

Outside the US, "CEU" is rarely the word used, and several regulators do not count hours at all. We compare them in the table further down.

The free options CDR itself recognises

Before you search for free courses, look at the free activity types already built into CDR's rules. Several cost nothing but your time. The limits below come from CDR's CPE activity type definitions.

Professional reading: up to 35 CPEUs

Reading peer-reviewed, dietetics-related articles counts under activity type 200, up to 35 CPEUs per five years for RDs and 30 for DTRs. Online journals are acceptable, the article must be read within five years of publication, and you record the citation in your log. CDR describes a peer-reviewed journal as one usually published by a professional organisation, reporting original research or reviews, with an editorial board and author bylines. Trade magazines and "how-to" articles do not qualify.

Open-access journals make this the single largest free source of credit. Almost half of an RD's cycle can come from reading you may already be doing.

Journal clubs

A journal club counts if it is nutrition-related, pre-planned, involves at least three professionals and discusses pre-assigned peer-reviewed papers no more than five years old. Online journal clubs with interactive posts count too. CDR lists no five-year maximum for journal clubs that meet the definition. Starting one with colleagues costs nothing and gives you documented, discussion-based learning.

Precepting and professional leadership

Supervising dietetics students in an ACEND-accredited programme earns CPEUs, at 1 CPEU for 1 to 25 hours, 2 for 26 to 50 hours and 3 for 51 hours or more. Holding an elected or appointed office in a nutrition or dietetics organisation earns 3 CPEUs for each year of the term. Each is capped at 3 CPEUs a year, and the two together at 15 per five years for RDs.

Expert work

Writing a peer-reviewed paper, peer-reviewing an article, developing a course, writing exam items or presenting can count as expert work, up to 15 CPEUs per five years for RDs, with an attestation form kept for audit.

Free webinars: do they count toward CPE?

Yes, if they meet CDR's rules. Live, synchronous learning, including in-person or virtual lectures, seminars and webinars, is logged as activity type 172 if CDR has prior-approved it, or 173 if it is "CPEU eligible". For eligible but not prior-approved live activities, CDR puts the responsibility on you: the content must be nutrition and dietetics-related and include a way of assessing learners. Providers are not allowed to advertise such activities as approved by CDR, so be wary of any that do.

Recorded webinars and self-paced modules count as "enduring" activities. They qualify if CDR has prior-approved them, or if they come from providers accredited by bodies CDR lists, such as the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education, the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education or the American Nurses Credentialing Center.

Jointly accredited providers, including the CDC

One of the most useful rules for free learning is activity type 102. CDR lets RDs and DTRs claim nutrition and dietetics-related continuing education from any jointly accredited provider, whatever profession it was designed for and in any format.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is one of them. The CDC describes itself as a Jointly Accredited Provider in interprofessional continuing education and says its Clinician Outreach and Communication Activity CE is free. Not every CDC session is about nutrition, so log only those whose content is nutrition and dietetics-related.

CDR's own free CPE list

CDR publishes a list of free CPE resources, a 17-page document last updated in October 2026. For each activity it gives the provider, title, CPEU value, activity number and expiry date, and it highlights activities prior-approved to meet the ethics requirement.

Two things stand out when you read it:

1. Most entries come from companies that make formula, foods or nutrition products, or from food industry groups. Many are hours long and clinically detailed, especially on wounds, enteral nutrition and malnutrition, but they are sponsored. Our note above applies.
2. Public-sector options exist. The list includes the Ohio Department of Health's Provider Resources and Education Program, with free sessions on long-term care topics such as pressure injuries and behavioural healthcare in care facilities.

Because entries carry expiry dates, check the activity is still valid on the day you complete it, and download your certificate straight away.

Conferences, employers and associations

Some of the best-value credit is free at the point of use because someone else pays.

• Employer programmes. Hospitals and health systems often run in-service education, grand rounds and case conferences. Ask your education lead whether sessions are prior-approved or eligible, and keep agendas and certificates.
• Association membership. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics lists complimentary continuing professional education among member benefits. Membership is not free, but if you already pay for it, use the education it includes before buying courses.
• Poster sessions. CDR counts nutrition-related poster and e-poster sessions at professional conferences. If your employer funds a conference, the poster hall is extra credit for the same trip.
• Conferences you already attend. Count every eligible session, not just the keynote, and keep the agenda. Our events calendar lists dietetics conferences worldwide.

If you travel for work, our guide to travel dietitian jobs covers short-term contract work, where keeping licences and learning up to date takes extra planning.

How regulators outside the US count continuing education

Several regulators do not use credits or hours at all. This matters for dietitians who hold more than one registration, and for anyone moving abroad.

Sources for the table: the HCPC's CPD requirements, which state that it sets no hours or points and does not approve or endorse activities; the HCPC audit process; Dietitians Australia; the College of Dietitians of Ontario's quality assurance programme; and the Association for Nutrition. For a broader look at how dietetics is regulated in each country, use our compare countries tool.

Why the UK approach changes what "free" means

Because the HCPC sets no hours and endorses no activities, almost anything you learn from can count: reading, peer discussion, supervision, reflective case reviews, shadowing or e-learning. What it does require is variety. If you were audited and had only read journals, the HCPC says you would not meet its standard, because CPD must include at least two different types of learning. You must also show how your learning improved your practice and benefited service users. For UK dietitians, the cheapest CPD is the work you already do, written up properly.

Keeping free credit safe in an audit

Free activities are audited exactly like paid ones, and they are more likely to fail for lack of paperwork, because nobody sends you a receipt. CDR's activity definitions list the evidence to keep for each type. For most live and recorded learning, that means a certificate of completion or an agenda or timing outline, together with the provider's contact details. For reading, it means the full journal citation. For expert work, it means the attestation form CDR provides, and for precepting, a preceptor confirmation form.

Keep everything for at least two years after your cycle ends, as CDR requires. A single folder, organised by year and activity type, makes an audit request a ten-minute job rather than a weekend of searching old emails.

Common mistakes that cost credits

• Leaving ethics until last. Every RD and DTR needs 1 CPEU in ethics or health equity, and CDR says certifications logged as activity types 260 to 651 cannot be used to meet it. Pick a prior-approved ethics activity early in the cycle.
• Over-relying on one activity type. Reading is capped at 35 CPEUs for RDs, and precepting and leadership at 15 combined. Anything beyond the caps does not count, however much you did.
• Missing the mid-point deadline. The optional mid-point review must be submitted by 11.59 pm Central Time on 30 November of the year before your cycle ends, and it can be used only once per cycle.
• Assuming a cycle is exactly five years. CDR says the first cycle for newly credentialed practitioners who pass the exam after 2 June is longer than five years. Your MyCDR dashboard shows your real dates.
• Logging sessions that are not about nutrition. Content must be nutrition and dietetics-related, even from accredited providers.
• Forgetting the state board. Credit that satisfies CDR may not satisfy a licence, and the reverse.

A five-year plan that costs nothing

Here is one way an RD could reach 75 CPEUs without paying course fees, using only activity types CDR recognises:

1. Professional reading: two peer-reviewed articles a month logged as reading, building towards the 35-CPEU cap over the cycle.
2. Journal club: a monthly online or workplace journal club, logged as group learning.
3. Free live webinars: a handful a year from public-sector and jointly accredited providers, chosen for nutrition content.
4. Precepting or leadership: one student placement or one committee role a year, up to the 3-CPEU annual cap.
5. Ethics: one prior-approved ethics or health equity activity from CDR's free list, done early so it is not forgotten.

Log each activity as you complete it, keep certificates and citations in one folder, and consider CDR's optional mid-point review, which lets RDs submit their log for feedback once they have recorded between 30 and 74 CPEUs.

For pay, demand and specialisms, read our dietitian jobs outlook, and our guides to dietitian jobs and nutritionist jobs. If you specialise in kidney care, our guide to the renal dietitian role lists the learning that specialism demands.

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