CySA+: Earning CEUs and renewing your CompTIA certification

As a CySA+-certified professional, you must keep your CompTIA Cybersecurity Analysts (CySA+) certification current. Continuing Education Units (CEUs) are the metric CompTIA uses to help you maintain your CompTIA certification status.

The CySA+ certification requires you to earn at least 60 CEUs to meet your renewal requirements. The Continuing Education (CE) program helps you to participate in various activities to earn those CEUs.

In this article, we'll take a deep dive into CySA+ renewal requirements, CySA+ activity options, ways to calculate CEUs and submission of all activities.

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What are the CySA+ renewal requirements?

The CySA+ certification is valid for three years from the day you pass the exam. Once certified, you can renew the certification by participating in various Continuing Education (CE) approved activities that meet certain requirements:

• Time: The activities must be completed within the three-year renewal cycle
• Relevance: At least 50% of the activity content must be related to one or more of the CySA+ exam objectives
• Documentation: You are required to submit all documentation on time to attain CEUs

You will need to pay an annual CE renewal fee of $50. However, some renewal activities can be used to waive the fee. 

What are some activity options for CySA+ renewal?

There are a variety of activity types to earn CEUs. Each activity incorporates a specific number of CEUs that can be submitted based on an activity type. 

When completing activities for your CySA+ exam, you must ensure that 50% of the subject you are teaching or writing about must relate to one or more of the CySA+ exam objectives. The following sections summarize CE program activities and the number of CEUs associated with each activity type.

Earning an additional CompTIA certification

If you earn an additional higher-level CompTIA certification, you will be awarded 60 CEUs that meet the renewal requirements of your CySA+ certification. You may want to consider the CASP+, the only higher-level option above the CySA+.

Earning a non-CompTIA certification

Earning certain non-CompTIA certifications will also result in acquiring the 60 CEUs for your CySA+ certification. All documentation of your non-CompTIA certification should be submitted to CompTIA. This documentation includes a copy of the certificate transcript or badge link issued by your certification body.

IT industry participation

You can earn CEUs by participating as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) in a CompTIA exam development workshop. These CEUs can be attained within a three-year CE cycle. One CEU is awarded for each workshop hour that you participate as a CompTIA SME. The workshop you attend must correspond to your CySA+ certification.

Creating instructional materials

You can earn two CEUs for each hour of creating instructional material and a maximum of 30 CEUs for your CySA+ certification. The instructional material must be created within your three-year renewal cycle, and at least 50% of the instructional material must correspond to one or more of your CySA+ exam objectives. 

You’ll need to submit the documentation to CompTIA to earn CEUs. This includes a syllabus or lesson plan with your name, the date the material was created and a copy of the instructional material.

Teach or mentor

Teaching or mentoring allows you to earn one CEU for each hour, up to a maximum of 30 CEUs. This activity must be completed within your three-year certification cycle, and teaching or mentoring must be related to one or more of your CySA+ exam objectives.

Publishing a blog

Publishing at least a 500-word blog post results in earning one CEU and a maximum of 18 CEUs. At least 50% of your blog post content must be related to one or more of your CySA+ exam objectives. In addition, CompTIA requires the URL of the published work with your name and publication date. You also need to provide a description of the content covered.

Publishing a book

You can earn a maximum of 50 CEUs by publishing a book. The book must be written during your three-year CySA+ renewal cycle. At least 50% of your book content must be related to one or more of your CySA+ exam objectives. CompTIA requires the URL of the published book.

Publishing a relevant industry whitepaper or article

Publishing at least a four-page whitepaper or article results in earning four CEUs and a maximum of 18 CEUs. At least 50% of your whitepaper or article content must be related to one or more of your CySA+ exam objectives. In addition, the URL of the published work with your name and publication date is also required by CompTIA. You also need to provide a description of the content covered.

Completing a college course

You can earn 10 CEUs for each three-to-four-credit-hour class. This activity allows you to earn a maximum of 60 CEUs. At least 50% of your course content must be related to one or more of your CySA+ exam objectives.

Completing a training course

You can earn one CEU for each hour of training and a maximum of 60 CEUs. However, training content must relate to one or more of your CySA+ exam objectives. The submission of relevant documentation is also required.

Attending a conference or/and live webinar

You can earn one CEU for each hour of attending a conference and a maximum of 15 CEUs. However, the conference session content must relate to one or more of your CySA+ exam objectives. The submission of relevant documentation is also required. The same rule is applicable to earn CEUs if a candidate attends a live webinar.

How do I calculate my CEUs?

Calculating your CEUs is easy, as there is no hard-and-fast rule you must follow to reach your required number. For your CySA+ certification, you need to earn 60 CEUs. Thus, you will add up your earned CEUs until they reach 60. 

Below is one example of 60 CEUs for your CySA+ certification.

Creating instruction material with 15 hours of participation: 

• Total of 30

Teaching or mentoring with 30 hours of participation: 

• Total of 30

The grand total of these two different activities provides 60 CySA+ CEUs, which are required for renewal.

You can also verify whether your CE activities are valid or not. CompTIA provides a CEU Assessment Tool that determines if your CE activities meet the CE program requirements.

How do I submit my completed activities?

CompTIA offers two submission methods: manual submission and automated submission.

Manual submission

Using this method, the candidate can log into their CySA+ certification account to submit their approved activities for receiving the CEUs.

Automated submission

Completing one of the following activities will be subject to automatic renewal of your CySA+ certification:

• Obtaining a higher-level CompTIA certification.
• Passing the most current or latest release of your CySA+ exam
• Passing the CompTIA’s recertification exam

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Earning CEUs Summary 

You must earn 60 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) to renew your CompTIA CySA+ certification. These CEUs must be earned within your three-year renewal cycle. CompTIA’s Continuing Education (CE) program offers a variety of approved activities to help you earn the required number of CEUs. 

Once you have successfully earned the required CEUs, you must submit them to CompTIA for approval. Upon successful approval, your certification will be renewed for three years.

For more on CySA+, visit the Infosec CySA+ hub and watch our webinar, CompTIA CySA+ certification (CS0-003) changes: Everything you need to know.