What Is the American Psychological Association (APA) and What Does APA Approval Mean for Continuing Education?
The American Psychological Association (APA) is the largest professional organization for psychologists in the United States, and its approval of a continuing education (CE) sponsor signals that the sponsor's courses meet APA's standards for content and instructional quality. For psychologists who need CE credits to renew their license, taking courses from an APA-approved sponsor is one of the most reliable ways to ensure those credits will be accepted — but APA approval applies to the sponsor, not to individual courses, and state licensing boards still set their own rules. If you are a psychologist choosing CE courses, look for a provider that explicitly states it is approved by APA to sponsor continuing education for psychologists, and confirm your state board accepts APA-approved credits before you enroll.
What the APA actually is
The APA is a professional membership organization representing psychologists across research, clinical practice, education, and public policy. Beyond publishing journals and setting ethical guidelines (such as the Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct), the APA operates a continuing education sponsor approval system. Under this system, organizations apply to become APA-approved sponsors of CE for psychologists, and once approved, they may offer courses that carry APA-recognized credit.
This distinction matters: the APA approves the sponsor, not each individual course. The approved sponsor is responsible for the quality and content of every program it offers. As Genesis Continuing Education states on its site, "The Genesis Continuing Education Group is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The Genesis Continuing Education Group maintains responsibility for this program and its content." That sentence is the standard language you should look for when evaluating any CE provider.
What APA approval means for your CE credits
When a provider is APA-approved, the CE credits it issues are generally recognized by state licensing boards as valid continuing education for psychologists. This is the practical benefit: instead of hoping a board will accept a course, you are working with a sponsor whose approval status is designed to satisfy that requirement.
However, APA approval does not override state rules. Each state licensing board decides:
- How many CE credits psychologists must earn per renewal cycle
- What topic areas are required (for example, ethics, cultural competence, or suicide prevention)
- Whether APA-approved sponsors are accepted, and whether other approvals also qualify
- Any caps on credit types, such as limits on home-study or online courses
So the correct sequence is: confirm your state's requirements first, then choose APA-approved courses that fit those requirements.
APA approval vs. other accrediting bodies
APA approval is specific to psychologists. Other mental health professions rely on different approval systems, and a course approved for one group may not count for another.
| Approval body | Primarily serves | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| APA | Psychologists | Approves the CE sponsor; credits generally accepted for psychologist license renewal |
| NBCC | National Board for Certified Counselors / counselors | Governs certification and CE for counselors; some courses are not available for CE for psychologists |
| ASWB | Social workers | Relevant to social work licensing and exams |
Genesis Continuing Education illustrates this overlap and its limits. Its free ethics course based on the APA Ethical Principles and Code of Conduct is offered for 1 CE or 1 clock hour, while a separate NBCC ethics course is explicitly labeled "not available for CE for psychologists." In other words, the same site can serve psychologists, counselors, social workers, marriage and family therapists, and addiction professionals — but you have to check which approval applies to the course you want.
How to check whether a course counts for you
Use this sequence before you spend time or money on a course:
- Identify your license and state. Find your state board's current CE requirements, including total hours and mandatory topics.
- Look for the sponsor approval statement. On the course or provider page, find language stating the provider is approved by APA to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. If it is missing, treat the course as unverified for psychology credit.
- Check the credit amount and format. Confirm how many CE credits or clock hours the course awards and whether online or home-study formats are accepted by your board.
- Watch for exclusions. Some courses on a multi-professional site are not valid for psychologists even when the site overall is APA-approved, as the NBCC ethics course example shows.
- Verify before completing. If anything is unclear, contact the provider or your board before finishing the course, not after.
Practical takeaways
- APA approval is a sponsor-level credential, not a course-level stamp — the sponsor, not the APA, stands behind each program's content.
- APA-approved CE is generally accepted for psychologist license renewal, but your state board's rules are the final authority.
- APA approval does not transfer to other professions; counselors, social workers, and other clinicians should check NBCC, ASWB, or their own board's requirements.
- A provider can be APA-approved and still offer courses that are not valid for psychologists, so read the individual course page rather than assuming.
- Free courses can carry CE credit too — Genesis, for example, offers free courses for 1 CE or 1 clock hour — but free does not automatically mean it counts for your license.