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South Carolina Board of Examiners in Opticianry

  1. Renew My License
  2. Licensure Requirements
  3. Manage my License
  4. Application Status
  5. Board Orders
  6. Licensee Lookup
  7. Document Submission
  8. Continuing Education
  9. Applications and Forms
  10. Military Spouse Licensure

Opticianry Continuing Education

Every licensed optician is required to have four (4) hours of continuing education credit annually by October 1st. One (1) hour of the four (4) may be in practice management.

If the optician holds a contact lens license, an additional one (1) hour is due in contact lens work. This makes a total of five (5) hours that are due annually from contact lens dispensing opticians.

Every registered apprentice is required to have four (4) hours of continuing education credit annually by October 1st.

Board Clarification of Annual CE Requirement

Requirements & Deadlines

The criteria for course approval by South Carolina is as follows:

1. General criteria requirements for all education:

  • Courses and speakers must be ABO/NCLE approved.
  • ABO/NCLE certificates of attendance must be awarded.
  • Opticianry and contact lens courses must be technical in content.
  • One course hour of practice or retail management will be approved.
  • Course content must be generic in nature and presented in a manner that does not promote the sales or marketing of one product or one service or a business.
  • 50 minutes of education equals one hour of credit.
  • No home study courses or Internet (on-line) courses will be approved.
  • No law courses from other states will be approved for South Carolina.
  • Continuing education credit will not be waived unless you are living outside of the United States and then it is temporarily waived until your return and must be made up before the next renewal.

2. Specific requirements for education administered in South Carolina in addition to all the requirements listed above in #1:

  • Courses must be submitted for board approval at least 45 days in advance of their administration.
  • Courses must be open to all South Carolina licensed opticians and registered apprentices.
  • Administration of education can be monitored by the Board.
  • A list of South Carolina licensees and apprentices with exit signatures from each day's attendance may be required for credit to be given.
Reporting

CE Broker is the official CE tracking system of the Board. All licensees shall register CEs to their CE Broker account by October 1, 2025. If you have not yet activated your account, this can be done by visiting https://cebroker.com/sc/account/basic/.

How to Create a CE Broker Account

Once you have activated your account, CE courses can be reported for the current renewal cycle. The links below can offer assistance:

If you have questions concerning setting up your account or problems with your account with CE Broker, please contact their customer support directly from Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. EST at (877) 434-6323 or support@cebroker.com.

Resources

Below is a list of Continuing Education providers. Please ensure that all Continuing Education is ABO/NCLE approved.

South Carolina Association of Opticians