ISACA CGEIT

How To Earn CGEIT CPE Credits [updated 2021]

Fakhar Imam
March 7, 2021 by
Fakhar Imam

Introduction

Earning Continuing Professional Education (CPE) credits is mandatory to keep your CGEIT certification active and alive. CPE policy is designed to ensure that you have an adequate level of proficiency and current knowledge in the realm of enterprise’s IT governance. The CGEIT CPE policy requires that you attain CPE credits over an annual and 3-year certification period. In this article, we will delve into greater detail about everything you need to know regarding earning, tracking, and reporting CPE credits.

Earn your CGEIT certification, guaranteed!

Earn your CGEIT certification, guaranteed!

Enroll in a CGEIT Boot Camp and earn one of the most respected certifications — guaranteed.

How Do I Earn CGEIT CPEs?

ISACA offers several opportunities to earn CPEs by participating in numerous qualifying activities, including meetings, seminars, presentations, workshops, and so on. These qualifying activities incorporate managerial and technical training that must be applicable to the IT governance realm. Managerial training is related to the management of IT governance. Below, we will discuss the qualifying activities and limits, each of which has been approved by the CGEIT Certification Committee.

ISACA’s Professional Education Activities and Meetings (No Limit)—These activities include ISACA’s chapter meetings and programs, seminars, workshops, conferences, and related programs. Earning CPEs depends on the number of hours in which a CGEIT professional participates. You will earn a minimum of 1 credit hour by participating in ISACA’s chapter meetings regardless of the actual duration. Important: you must have proof of attendance for chapter meetings and programs because these activities aren’t currently reported to the ISACA’s database.

Non-ISACA’s Professional Activities and Meetings (No Limit)—These activities include in-house training, workshops, conferences, seminars, university courses, and professional meetings. In fact, these activities aren’t sponsored by ISACA. If you complete a university course, you will attain 15 CPEs Per Semester and 10 CPEs Per Quarter-Credit-Hour.

Self-study Courses (No Limit)—Self-study courses are structured courses designed for self-study. Upon completion, the course provider must issue a certification of completion that should include CPE credits attained for that course.

Professional Examinations (No Limit)—By taking a professional exam, a CGEIT can earn 2 CPE Hours for a passing score.

Question Development and Review for Exam (No Limit)—This activity includes the review or development of review materials or items for the CGEIT exam. For each accepted question, you will be able to earn 2 CPE Hours. ISACA’s CGEIT Item Review Committee will review each question for approval purposes.

Publication of Books, Monographs, and Articles (No Limit)—As a CGEIT, if you publish a book, monograph, or an article related to IT governance, you will earn CPE credits based on the number of hours you take to complete the publication.

Teaching/Presenting/Lecturing (No Limit)—These activities involve the design and delivery of self-study educational courses and professional educational presentations pertaining to IT governance. In the event of presentations and courses, you will earn five times the credit hours of the presentation time. For example, a 2-hour presentation provides 10 CPE hours.

Contribution to Enterprise’s IT Governance (20-Hour Annual Limitation)—CGEITs perform work for ISACA as well as other bodies that contribute to an enterprise’s IT governance. CPE credits can be attained and are based on the actual number of hours.

Vendor Marketing/Sales Presentation (10-Hour Limitation)—These activities include vendor products or system-specific sale presentations pertaining to the enterprise’s IT governance.

What Are Some Free Ways I Can Earn CGEIT CPEs?

By participating in a variety of programs and events, CGEIT-certified professionals can earn up to 72 free CPE hours per year.

Mentoring (10-Hour Annual Limitation)—The CGEIT can attain up to 10 free CPE hours annually for mentoring. Mentoring activities include coaching, reviewing, and providing guidance to CGEIT candidates.

Working on ISACA’s Committees/Boards (20 Hour-Annual Limitation Per ISACA Certification)—These activities require your active participation on ISACA’s boards, committees, subcommittees, task forces, or an active participation as an ISACA chapter officer. You can earn 1 CPE hour for each hour of active participation and maximum of 20 free CPEs per year.

Journal Quizzes—ISACA members can earn 1 CPE for each journal quiz completed, for a maximum of 6 free CPEs per year.

Webinars and Virtual Conferences—As an ISACA member, you can earn up to 36 free CPEs per year.

Have There Been Any CGEIT CPE Policy Changes Recently?

The last change to the ISACA certifications (e.g., CISA, CISM, CGEIT, CRISC) was made in February 2015 in the area of “Passing related professional examinations (no limit).” Per this change, twice the number of CPEs are attained for each examination hour when a passing score is accomplished on a related professional examination. Before January 1, 2014, only 1 CPE hour was earned for each examination hour. Since this change, no further changes to ISACA CPE policies are recorded so far.

How Do I Calculate CGEIT CPE Credits?

As a CGEIT, you can earn 1 CPE hour for each fifty (50) minutes of active participation (except breaks and lunches) for qualifying ISACA and non-ISACA educational professional activities and meetings. In addition, you can attain CPE credits in quarter-hour increments and can report in quarter hours (rounded to the nearest quarter hour). For example, a CGEIT can obtain 13 (13.2) CPE hours if he/she attends a 12-hour presentation (720 minutes) with 60 minutes of breaks. Below is the mathematical calculation of CPE credits.

Time spent = 12 hours

Calculating time in minutes = 12 × 60 = 720 minutes

Break time = 60 minutes

Net minutes = 720 – 60 = 660 minutes

CPE hours = 660 ÷ 50 = 13.2

CPE hours = 13 (rounded to the nearest quarter hour)

Earn your CGEIT certification, guaranteed!

Earn your CGEIT certification, guaranteed!

Enroll in a CGEIT Boot Camp and earn one of the most respected certifications — guaranteed.

What Are the CGEIT CPE Policy Guidelines?

The CGEIT CPE policy requires a candidate to attain CPEs over both an annual and a 3-year certification period. The CGEIT-certified professional must comply with certain requirements to keep their certification status active. The following requirements are ironclad and must be followed:

  • The candidate must earn and report at least 20 CPE hours per year.
  • The candidate must earn and report 120 CPE hours for a 3-year reporting period.
  • The qualifying activities must be related to IT governance.
  • The annual CPE maintenance charges must be submitted to ISACA’s international headquarters in full.
  • The candidate must provide documentation of CPE activities if ISACA requires an annual audit.
  • The candidates must comply with the ISACA Code of Professional Ethics.

If a CGEIT doesn’t comply with those requirements, his/her CGEIT certification could be revoked immediately.

Moreover, it’s very important to learn how to report CGEIT CPE credits. Below are the steps you’ll need to follow for successful tracking:

  1. Log in to theorg website.
  2. Click on the “MY ISACA” button.
  3. Click on the “My CERTIFICATIONS” button.
  4. Click on the “Manage My CPE” button.
  5. Scroll down and then click on the “Add CPE” button.
  6. Enter your CPE activity information and click on the “Save” button.
Fakhar Imam
Fakhar Imam

Fakhar Imam is a professional writer with a master’s program in Masters of Sciences in Information Technology (MIT). To date, he has produced articles on a variety of topics including on Computer Forensics, CISSP, and on various other IT related tasks.