ACE FAQ CEC Petition

Q: How do I submit my petition for approval?

All petitions can be submitted through your My ACE Account under Petition for CECs.

*Please note that you may only petition for CECs for having taken and completed a course. A Professional may not submit a CEC petition for a course that they are planning to take as an official certificate provided by the company to show completion, is required.

Q: How do I receive CECs from a college course?

If you have completed a college course from an accredited university or college, within the dates of your recertification cycle, you have the option to submit it to ACE to earn CECs. ACE does not award CECs for diplomas, a specific course must be selected for review.

Only one submission will be reviewed. Multiple college course petition submissions will be cancelled without review.

Read this before submitting:

  1. Ensure that you are logged in to your MyACE account and click on "Petition for CECs?
    • Chrome is the recommended web browser
  2. Select Course Type: College Course
  3. Type in the Course Name as it appears on your transcript
    1. Must be within the scope of practice of an ACE Certified Professional
    2. Must have earned a grade of 'C' or higher
  4. Upload a clear copy of your transcript in PDF or JPEG format (file size must be 10 MB or less)
    1. If file is too large, an error will appear in the URL box on the top of screen. This will require resaving your file as a smaller size before submitting
    2. Transcript must show your name, name of accredited university or college, semester details, and grade
  5. Select the Completion Date from the calendar that matches the date on your transcript
    • Ensure that it was newly awarded within the dates of your renewal cycle
  6. Click Submit 
    1. An approved petition of this type may result in a maximum of 2.0 CECs
    2. A certification prep college course will only be awarded up to .5CECs
    3. A submission will be denied if:
      1. It is not a college course (i.e. a continuing education certificate course)
      2. It is not within the scope of practice of an ACE Certified Professional
      3. The transcript is not attached, or doesn't clearly show your name, name of accredited university or college, semester details, and grade of 'C' or higher
      4. It was not completed within the dates of your recertification cycle
  7. Petition to Cart (Submit non-refundable processing fee of $25)
  8. Petition will be reviewed within 30 days of submission 

Q: What if I don’t have some of the information required to complete my petition?

If you do not know some of the information that is required on the petition application or do not have a copy of any required materials, do not submit your petition. It will be denied, and the fee is non-refundable. Our team cannot review your application if the information about your course is missing. Please contact the provider of your course and ask them for the missing information.

Q: How do I contact the provider of the course I completed?

If you are missing any of the required information or materials about your course, contact the organization that provided the training. Their contact information can likely be found on their website, in the receipt that they sent you when you purchased the course, or may have been given to you as a resource at the end of the course. Reference the fact that you are submitting a petition to ACE to receive continuing education for the training they provided and mention that ACE requires certain information to be able to review the course. We find that providers are usually happy to help.

Q: How do I know when my renewal cycle started?

After logging in to your MyACE account, click on “View Full Details” under the title of your certification. Under “Your Scenario”, you will see when your renewal cycle started: “CECs completed on xx/xx/xxxx or later will count toward your current cycle.” 

Q: Why would my petition be denied?

Petitions are denied if they are missing any required information or if any information was not able to be verified or found to be false. Your petition will also be denied if the course was:

  • Not within the ACE Scope of Practice, regardless of what other profession you may practice
  • Not taken within your current renewal cycle
  • Not taught by individuals who meet credential qualifications

 

 

Q: Are my fees refunded if my petition is denied?

All petition fees are non-refundable. The petition fee is not the cost of ACE entering course credits into your account.

The petition fee is the cost of the time it takes our team to perform the detailed review of your course or event. Therefore, if the review finds that your course does not meet requirements or that your application is incomplete, it is denied and the fee is not refunded.

Q: I have a credential to practice in a healthcare/allied health field (i.e. nurse, medical doctor, dietitian, physical therapist, etc.). May I submit a petition for a course I took in that field since I currently work in that field?

Only courses within the ACE Scope of Practice will be approved. If you are dually credentialed and practice another field that allows you to perform activities beyond the scope of an ACE certified professional, courses that you take on the topics from those fields may not be used towards maintaining your ACE certifications.

Education from another field cannot be used to maintain your ACE certification. When it comes to continuing education for your different credentials, think about it as “removing your hat”.

Example: An ACE Certified Health Coach who is also a Registered Dietitian would need to remove their Registered Dietitian “hat” when considering whether to submit continuing education courses about medical nutrition therapy for clients with diabetes. Since medical nutrition therapy is outside the ACE Scope of Practice, this topic will not be approved for ACE continuing education, regardless of the ACE Certified Health Coach’s role as a Registered Dietitian.

Q: I’m typing in the course code for my approved course, but I keep getting an error message.

If your Course Provider gave you an ACE coursecode for the course you completed, you do not have to petition because the course is pre-approved.

However, if you are typing in that course code along with the date that you took the course and you keep getting an error message, the code may have been given to you in error. This may mean the provider thought their course was approved for the year that you took the course, but that it was not actually approved for that year.

If you took the course in this current calendar year, check the ACE Pre-Approved Directory. If the course is not listed there, it was not approved for this year and you will need to petition the course. If you took the course in a previous year, call ACE Educational Services at (800) 825-3636 to determine whether the course was actually approved during the year that you completed it.

Q: The course I took is listed on the ACE-Approved Directory, but there is no course code on my certificate of completion.

If the course code for an ACE-approved course is not listed on your certificate, please contact your provider to request it.

Q: Are there any other ways to receive CECs?

ACE also gives continuing education credits (CECs) for a variety of other professional development activities. Call ACE Support if you performed any of the following within your current renewal cycle:

  • Completed or renewed CPR, AED, or First Aid Training
  • Published research
  • Served on an ACE Committee
  • Authored fitness-related articles, books, book chapters, peer-reviewed journal articles, or a correspondence course
  • Attended a clinical observation of surgical procedures that can enhance the understanding of human systems that relate to your certification
  • Completed an internship in a professional setting (outside of a college internship) in fitness or health *must be within the ACE Scope of Practice
  • Served the community in a fitness-related outreach event

 

See the ACE Recertification Handbook for details and restrictions.

Q: Why isn’t the course I took on the Pre-Approved Course Directory?

ACE pre-approval is a voluntary process that organizations who provide continuing education courses may choose to complete. The Education Providers and their respective courses on the pre-approved list are listed there because they have chosen to seek ACE approval and met our high standards for quality continuing education. If the course you took is not on the list, it is most likely because the provider of the education has not chosen to submit to ACE for approval yet.

To learn more about the ACE Approved Continuing Education Provider Program, please visit the Continuing Education Provider page.

Q: Does ACE still accept mail-in petitions via paper application?

As of June 30, 2020, ACE is no longer accepting CEC petition applications nor their payments via mail. All petitions and corresponding payments must be made through your MyACE account by clicking on “Petition for CECs”. This online petition portal will walk you through the steps and resources you need to properly submit a complete application for continuing education courses that are not already approved by ACE. Please be sure to read the instructions carefully, as all petition fees are non-refundable.