From our annual conference to on-demand webinars, and on topics of codes, ethics, professional practice, and more, AIA Minnesota continuing education does more than just meet a requirement—it is built to move your work forward.
1.5 HSW AIA LUs
Virtual | Monday, March 16, 2026 | 11:30 am–1:00 pm CT
1.5 HSW AIA LUs
Virtual | Monday, March 24, 2026 | 11:30 am–1:00 pm CT
1.5 HSW AIA LUs
Virtual | Friday, April 24, 2026 | 11:30 am–1:00 pm CT
Learn from the architects and experts shaping practice at the annual three-day Minnesota Conference on Architecture in November.
On-demand webinars, including recordings of past conference sessions, provide access to our best programs—on your schedule.
Throughout the year, AIA Minnesota and the local chapters often provide continuing education sessions, virtual and in person, on topics such as sustainable materials and codes. Watch this page and our Events Calendar for upcoming opportunities.
Strengthen your leadership skills through an immersive program designed for mid-career architects ready to grow their impact.
Site visits to in-progress projects with your Licensing Advisor can count toward AXP hours. Check the Events Calendar for opportunities offered by local chapters, Residential Architecture Committee, and others, and our Licensure page for more on AXP.
Earn up to 6.0 AIA LUs at this unconventional, interdisciplinary design retreat, hosted every year in Duluth in late winter.
Check out our latest offerings available on demand.
1.25 AIA LUs + Ethics
1.5 AIA HSW LUs + Ethics
1.25 AIA HSW LUs
Continuing education is mandatory both for maintaining your AIA membership and maintaining your license to practice architecture in Minnesota. The requirements vary slightly and are as follows:
State of Minnesota Requirements
Continuing education is required to maintain your license in Minnesota. The requirement is 24 hours of Professional Development Hours (PDHs) every two years. Twenty-two of these must be Health, Safety, Welfare (HSW) credits, and two must address ethics in the profession. Up to 12 hours of credit can be carried over from one biennium to the next. Learn more on the AELSLAGID website.
AIA Requirements
AIA requires 18 hours of continuing education, 12 of which must address HSW issues. This is an annual requirement on a calendar-year basis. If you exceed the requirement in any given year, up to 18 hours can be carried over to the following year. If you do not meet the requirement, you have a grace period of nine months (through September 30) to make up the preceding year’s requirement (but you must meet the current year’s requirement, as well). See AIA’s FAQ and the AIA page on continuing education requirements for more information.
An AIA transcript is maintained for all AIA members on the national AIA website. Log in and access your transcript here.
State of Minnesota Requirements
For your Minnesota state licensure requirements, new licensees and new certificate holders are exempt from continuing education reporting for their first biennial renewal. Simply stated, this means you do not need to earn or report PDHs for that first renewal. This exemption is automatic; if you are renewing for the first time, you do not need to apply to receive this exemption. Learn more here.
Please note: You cannot carry over any professional development hours from an exempt period.
AIA Requirements
AIA does not offer a grace period specific for new licensees (e.g. if you are licensed in February of a given year, you have 11 months to meet the requirements; if you are licensed in October, you have two months). However, there is a nine-month grace period for all AIA members. Additionally, you can roll over up to 18 credits from the preceding year. See AIA’s FAQ and the AIA page on continuing education requirements for more information.
Yes! Members who present an approved AIA continuing education program can self-report their work the first time they lead the program. Teachers are eligible for two learning units (LUs) for each LU awarded for the program. For example, teachers of a 2.5 LU|HSW course are eligible for five additional LU|HSW credits for teaching and prep the first time the program is taught.
Do university and college faculty members receive credit for teaching? Teachers of a college or university course are eligible for self-reported credit the first time the course is taught. AIA will award 15 LUs per credit hour for semester-system courses or 10 LUs per credit hour for quarter-system programs.
In order to make presentations that will qualify for AIA credit, you need to become an AIA registered provider through AIA national (for which there is an annual fee). Each time you develop a presentation, you will submit it to AIA for review. Once approved, you can start marketing your program as offering AIA continuing education credits and use the AIA CES logo. Learn more and apply here.
Each time you present the program, you will need to upload a list of the AIA members who attended, so the credits are recorded to their transcripts. Please note that continuing education programs cannot be product or service specific.
The ethics requirement is a Minnesota licensing requirement, not a requirement of AIA and therefore your transcript will not note any programs for ethics. It’s up to the licensee to keep track of these credits.
The AELSLAGID board does not preapprove any programs for ethics or otherwise. Related to this, on their website they say, “It is up to each licensee or certificate holder to become familiar with the statutory requirements and to determine for themselves whether a particular course or activity meets those requirements.”
That said, their definition of ethics is quite broad – “Two of those hours must be dedicated to professional (but not necessarily profession-specific) ethics and those ethics hours must be earned during the proper period (they cannot be carried forward as ethics hours).”
