Continuing education is a catch-all term that covers many post-secondary learning options. Continuing education (CE) credits refer to additional learning and training required for teachers, lawyers, nurses and other professionals to meet licensure requirements. For some professionals, like a title agent, the requirements vary by state for title company continuing education.
How To Get Continuing Education Credits for Title Companies
In some states, like Florida, you must take a 40-hour course to get credit for title company continuing education. Texas offers a whole range of resources related to requirements, what counts as a CE, rules and other useful tools. So, the first thing you should always do when you’re considering the CE requirements you need to fulfill is to research what you need to do for your state.
You may get the requirement waived if you’ve been working for a title agent within the past four years. Positions with a title company are on the rise, with a seven-percent growth potential expected through 2028 and 32,400 job openings across the US. If you’re required to have CE credits in your state, here are a few ways that will help you complete your requirement.
Participate in a Formal Course for CE Credit
The class could be in-person or online in the form of a webinar, program, or online course. To fulfill the formal CE requirements, the course must include a written outline and an instructor, with required attendance that is formally recorded. You must also receive a certificate of completion to claim credit.
Count College Course Credit
You can take college courses that count toward CE credits, but you can’t exceed one semester hour. Certified Education Unit (CEU) is a measurement that’s often used to indicate credit compliance. One CEU equals one college semester hour of CE credit. To claim your one semester hour, you’ll use your transcript with the course name and credit hours earned.
Earn In-Organization Training Credit
You can use in-organization training if you earn it in a formal setting with a written outline, formal instructor and recorded attendance. You can’t use informal training for this to CE credit to apply. You must also receive a certificate of completion with details about the number of CE hours you earned. This is a great way for your organization to achieve fulfillment for the employees who need it while covering a topic that may particularly interest the group or organization.
Take Self-Study Credit
You can take self-study or correspondence courses that may be accepted as CE credit if you pass the final exam and receive a certificate of completion. You’ll need to make sure that you’re taking into consideration the number of CE credits earned after the course of study. These self-study courses are a great way for you to fulfill the CE credit requirements while not disrupting your work or home life.
Claim Instructor Credit
If you are an instructor, you may claim CE credit if you teach a university or non-university course. You can get verification of the course that you taught as a confirmation letter on the organization’s letterhead, which states the course name as well as a class agenda, outline, or brochure.
Get Author Credit
You can get credit for the time you spend writing books and articles if they relate to an applicable topic. To get credit, you would submit a detailed description of the article or book, with 500 words equaling 10 CE credits. You’ll need to make sure that this CE credit fulfillment is acceptable, but this can be a great way to get extra credit for work that you’re already doing toward writing and publishing in your field.
Use Meeting Credit
One of the easiest ways to earn your CE credit is by attending an approved meeting. You can earn up to 10 CE credits every year if the meeting relates to an applicable topic area in which you’re working to gain and prove competence. Your approved meeting must feature a formal speaker, and it must be at least 50 minutes.
Of course, like other CE credits, you’ll need to receive a certificate of completion. For this, you can also submit a copy of the sign-in sheet, which lists the course name, date, time and duration of the meeting.
How To Make Sure You Comply and Document Your Compliance
As you review these options for fulfilling CE credits, always make sure that they comply with your requirements for course material and hours. Since you’ll need to prove your compliance with the CE requirements, you should also make sure that you can get fast and reliable reporting and printable certificates.
It’s great if you do the work and improve your learning and understanding in your chosen field of study, but you also need to submit the appropriate documentation. Otherwise, you’re not accomplishing your goal. To get the most out of your experience, seek out those courses that are of interest to you. The point of this exercise is not to bore you to tears. You should be learning and growing in your profession.
Next Step: Schedule a Demo with paymints.io
Earning the title company continuing education credits that you need may be another one of those hurdles that you have to overcome as part of your career trajectory. You might just find the coursework useful as you learn skills that will serve you well in the future.
At paymints.io, our goal is to help you find better ways to complete that friction-filled real estate transaction. With a background and expertise in real estate, technology, title insurance and lending, our team has built a secure, digital, white-label SaaS platform, designed to meet your transfer needs.
Schedule a Demo with paymints.io today!