For many professionals, education never ends.

Many occupations require continuing education to comply with law, to remain licensed or certified, or to remain a member of an association or licensing body.

A few examples are doctors, nurses, pharmacists, lawyers, accountants, program managers, financial professionals, engineers, architects, those in acquisition and nuclear safety personnel.

The requirements vary by profession and sometimes by state. Federal agencies often impose their own requirements.

A sampling:

• The Energy Department requires those in contracting and purchasing careers and personal property managers to obtain 80 hours of continuing education every two years from the date of certification. Failure to do so can result in the certification expiring.

Project directors at Energy are required to obtain 60 hours of continuing education every two years to maintain certification.

Completing a college-level class earns Energy employees 15 hours for every semester credit. Instructing a class earns 10 hours for each semester credit.

Publishing project management articles or technical papers earns 10 to 25 hours. On-the-job activities such as mentoring also can count toward hours.

• Physicians and nurses can take continuing education on a wide range of subjects through the Centers for Disease Control and can earn free credits through MedscapeCME (cme.medscape.com). Some Medscape credits are available through a special application for iPhones.

The Veterans Affairs Department Employee Education System offers opportunities for employees in a variety of health fields.

• NASA requires industrial hygienists to obtain certification maintenance points and sponsors courses for them.

• Because Defense Department acquisition workers are required by law to have at least a bachelor's degree and some business courses, the Air Force uses a tuition assistance program that pays 100 percent of the cost to help employees meet the requirements, said Linda Cassellari, a contractor supporting the Air Force Acquisition Career Management and Resources Division. Those in the acquisition corps with a technical degree are required to have at least 12 credit hours in business courses, such as contracting and program management. Those who are in administration must have 24 credit hours in business.

Anyone can apply, but priority goes first to meeting the requirement for 12 to 24 credits in business courses, then bachelor's degrees, then master's degrees, Cassellari said.

"We hope to have enough money that we can afford 100 percent of everything, but that's not always the way," she said. However, legislation passed in 2008 set up an ongoing fund to cover development of the acquisition workforce throughout the Defense Department.

In the coming months, the acquisition career management and resources division will announce an automated, centralized system for administering acquisition tuition assistance from the fund, Cassellari said.

The acquisition corps also has different levels of certification, which require continuous learning points to maintain, ensuring employees stay up-to-date. Courses taken with the tuition assistance program count toward continuous learning points, Cassellari said.

Defense requires acquisition employees to get 40 points a year. One point usually equals one hour. Points can be earned by taking classes, through on-the-job experience, and by attending professional conferences or workshops.

Paying for it

Many agencies have decentralized oversight of ensuring that employees have certifications and meet other training or continuing education requirements. But ultimately, individual employees are responsible for knowing what's required of them.

Offices can pay for courses or cover travel to conferences.

Agencies also are authorized at their discretion to pay for employees to obtain professional credentials, including licenses and certifications.

Employees are allowed to accept free training, or be reimbursed for training and related travel and other expenses from nonprofit organizations, such as professional associations, as long as they have prior approval from their agencies. Approval is to ensure that the employee is not compromising his integrity and that the training does not constitute a payment for services from the agency.

While agencies are prohibited from paying directly for an individual's membership in a professional association or society, sometimes membership is included in the registration fee for a conference or included with certification, both of which can be paid. Or the agency can buy an organizational membership, or a membership for a specific position, which would go to the person in that position.