Thursday, February 9, 2012

PMI Agile Contact Hours versus PMI-ACP PDUs

I get asked on a regular basis what the difference between a contact hour and a PDU is. When people come to my PMI-ACP exam prep class, they qualify to claim 21 Agile contact hours.  If they currently have another PMI credential, they could choose to apply those 21 hours as a PDU.

PMI Agile Contact Hours

When completing your PMI-ACP application, you are required to report (among other things) your "Agile" education. They will be referred to and measured as contact hours. To qualify to sit for the ACP exam, you need 21 contact hours.

  PMI Agile Education  

Professional Development Units (PDUs)

PDUs can only be applied if you have a PMI credential.  If you try to claim a PDU and you don't have a credential, PMI will politely either tell you don't have permission to that area of the website (where you claim the PDU) or they will send you a friendly email. The image below is only viewable if you have at least one PMI credential.

  Reporting PDU

 Hope this brief overview helps. If you have any questions, please leave a comment below.
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2 comments:

  1. AnonymousMarch 28, 2012 at 7:04 AM

    Thank you for a nice, illustrative explanation of this critical concept for wannabe PMI credential holders.

    I have a question on CCR & PDUs.

    Are all PMI PDUs inter-exchangeable? That is, if I'm (say) PMI-ACP certified, am I eligible to earn PDUs, and if so, can they be used for PMP renewal later.. or vice versa?

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  2. DerekMarch 28, 2012 at 11:47 PM

    It is up to the REP to identify which certification(s) PDUs are applicable to. Remember, PDUs are for an existing certification. Contact Hours are if you are applying for the certification. But, if the REP states a class is applicable to more than one certification, you may apply them to more than one.

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