Registered Nurse (RN) License Renewal in Vermont

Vermont, like the other New England states on this site, doesn’t force a single continuing-education number on you. It gives you a short list and asks you to satisfy any one item. Twenty CE hours is on the list, but a nurse who’s simply been working can renew without touching it.

One of several ways to renew

For each two-year renewal, an active Vermont RN meets one of these:

• Active practice: 400 hours (50 days) in the past two years, or 960 hours (120 days) in the past five years, paid nursing work.
• 20 contact hours of CE completed in the past two years, with certificates uploaded to the renewal application.
• A nationally recognized nursing certification.
• Recent completion of an initial or re-entry nursing program.

The practical read matches New Hampshire and the option-based states: a working nurse usually clears the practice threshold and owes no CE at all, while a nurse between jobs takes the 20-hour CE path. Because the 20 hours are only one option, the CE calculator on this site shows them as a target, but remember it’s a path, not a mandate, check whether practice hours already cover you before buying CE.

The cycle

Vermont renews RN licenses every two years, expiring March 31 of odd-numbered years. Renew online through the Secretary of State’s Office of Professional Regulation, and keep documentation for whichever option you used in case of audit.

The fee

Renewal is $220, written into the nursing statute itself at 26 V.S.A. section 1577, which lists “Biennial renewal for Registered Nurses $220.00.” It’s non-refundable, and you pay it through the Office of Professional Regulation’s online services system.

That makes Vermont one of the pricier states in this reference, above California’s $190 and more than triple Georgia’s $65. The number sits in statute rather than a board fee schedule, so it moves only when the legislature moves it, which last happened in 2023.

Vermont is a compact state

Vermont implemented the Nurse Licensure Compact on February 1, 2022, one of the more recent members. If Vermont is your primary state of residence, your RN license can be a multistate license, letting you practice in the other compact states without applying separately in each. That’s an advantage in northern New England, where a Vermont nurse with a multistate license reaches New Hampshire and Maine, though note that Massachusetts has enacted but not yet implemented the compact. The privilege follows your legal residence, so it holds as long as Vermont stays home. Use the compact checker below to see exactly which states a Vermont license reaches.