ACE CPT Recertification: 2.0 CECs, a Hands-On CPR/AED Card and the $129 Renewal Every Two Years

When an ACE CPT certification expires

ACE's Certification and Recertification Handbook (revised September 2026) gives the rule: ACE certifications are valid for two years and expire on the last day of the month in which you earned them, two years later. The clock starts in the month you earn the accredited certification, not when you bought a study program.

A worked example (Passy's arithmetic on ACE's rule): if you pass on March 9, 2027, your certification runs until March 31, 2029. Your My ACE account shows the exact start and end dates of your renewal cycle.

A few rules frame the whole cycle:

• You can renew early. The handbook allows renewal at any point in the cycle, but the continuing education must be earned inside the current cycle and can't be banked for the next one.
• ACE reminds you. It emails reminders 12 and 6 months before expiration, plus more messages in the final months.
• There's no inactive status. ACE doesn't grant retired, inactive or emeritus status. A certification is either current or it isn't.
• A certificate stops renewing once you're certified. If you also passed ACE's open-book Personal Training Certificate exam, ACE's renewal page says that certificate becomes non-renewable once you earn the NCCA-accredited certification. Only the certification needs renewing after that. The certificate vs certification guide explains the two credentials.

The four ACE CPT renewal requirements

The handbook lists four requirements, repeated every two years, for each ACE certification:

The agreements row is worth a second look before you renew, because the Code of Ethics and scope of practice are exam content as well as renewal paperwork. The Domain IV guide lists the nine Code of Ethics principles. If you haven't passed yet, planned ACE CPT practice includes risk-management and ethics questions for that domain.

ACE renewal fees, checked October 27, 2026

ACE's renewal page lists these fees per credential (the petition fee in the last row comes from the handbook):

The handbook adds that each certification has its own renewal fee, and that the same CECs can count toward more than one ACE certification if the subject is appropriate for each. ACE also mentions a reinstatement fee for documented emergencies (covered below) but doesn't publish its amount on the pages Passy checked.

Continuing education courses carry their own prices on top of the renewal fee. ACE sells a 24-month CEC Power Pass that, according to its Power Pass page, includes renewal for one cycle, unlimited access to more than 120 ACE courses and six specialist programs, and ACE's CPR/AED Smart Certification (U.S., Canada and Mexico only). Check the current price on that page; Passy didn't compare it with paying per course.

For what the exam costs before any of this, see the ACE CPT exam cost guide.

What counts toward your 2.0 ACE CECs

ACE-approved courses are the main route. The handbook says ACE reviews and approves more than 5,000 courses from more than 400 providers each year. Look for the ACE-approved logo and the number of CECs a course is worth. Courses from ACE are entered into My ACE automatically; for other approved providers, you enter the course (CEP) number, the CEC value and the completion date yourself.

The handbook also accepts other professional activities:

Three limits apply to all of it:

• No repeats. A course you took in an earlier cycle won't count again.
• No rollover. CECs above 2.0 aren't credited to the next cycle.
• Petitions have criteria. A course that wasn't submitted to ACE can be petitioned for $25, reviewed within 30 days. ACE awards CECs only if the instructor holds an ACE certification or a four-year degree in exercise science or a related field, and never for activity classes, topics outside the scope of practice, or time spent testing. The fee isn't refunded if ACE declines.

If you also hold the NASM-CPT, its renewal runs on NASM's own rules; the NASM CPT recertification guide covers them.

A two-year ACE renewal timeline, worked through

This is Passy's illustration for a fictional trainer, Dana, who passed on June 14, 2027. Her certification expires June 30, 2029.

If Dana misses June 30, 2029, ACE's "up to 3 months" late fee ($169) would cover a renewal through September 2029 and the "up to 6 months" fee ($199) through December 2029, by Passy's reading of ACE's table. Either way, her next cycle still runs from June 30, 2029. The handbook's own example: a cycle from July 31, 2023 to July 31, 2025, renewed late on November 30, 2025, continues with July 31, 2025 to July 31, 2027. CECs earned during the grace period to complete the late renewal don't roll forward either.

If your ACE CPT certification lapses

The handbook calls the six months after expiration a "grace" period, and is precise about what it means:

• You aren't certified during it. The certification is "technically expired," and you are not a current ACE Certified Professional.
• Employers won't find you. ACE's public "Is my professional certified with ACE?" search doesn't show people in the grace period until they finish renewing.
• You renew with a penalty. Submit through My ACE or by email to ACE Support with the renewal fee plus the penalty fee.
• After six months, the certification is lost. The handbook says you then have "no option but to re-register to take the exam to re-earn the certification." ACE's fee table lists a "Formerly ACE Certified Professional" exam fee of $199 for Personal Trainer.

If you do end up re-testing, the exam is the same 150-question accredited exam, and a full 3-hour timed rehearsal is part of the ACE CPT prep planned for launch. The ACE CPT exam format guide explains what has stayed the same since the 2023 outline.

There is one exception to re-testing. For documented serious illness, bereavement, natural disasters and other emergencies, ACE's Credentialing Department considers reinstatement for people 6 to 12 months past expiration, once per certification, with proof of 2.0 CECs, a current CPR/AED card and a reinstatement fee. ACE's Director of Credentialing makes the final decision.

Your next step on ACE CPT renewal

Once you pass, open My ACE, note your cycle's end date, and put two reminders in your own calendar: one for your CPR/AED card's expiration and one about 60 days before your certification expires. If you're still preparing, renewal is two years away; the first job is passing, so start with the 20 free ACE CPT practice questions and see how planned ACE CPT prep names the domain to focus on next.