ICF Member Eligibility Requirements

To be a member of the International Coaching Federation you must meet at least one of the following requirements:

Hold a current ICF Credential (ACC, PCC, or MCC);
Have completed at least 60 hours of coach-specific training that meets ICF standards. (see what qualifies as coach-specific training below); or
Be enrolled in 60 hours of coach-specific training in a program that has either the ICF Accredited Coach Training Program (ACTP) or Approved Coach-Specific Training Hours (ACSTH) distinction. (For new members only.)

What qualifies as coach-specific training?

Training that is accepted as coach-specific training includes:

Training from an Accredited Coach Training Program (ACTP) or a program that has received the ICF Approved Coach Specific Training Hours (ACSTH) designation
Training from a Continuing Coach Education (CCE) provider, subject to these limitations:
- All hours approved in Core Competencies will be accepted
- A maximum of 12 hours outside of the Core Competencies will be accepted
Training that has not been previously approved by ICF and that is specifically marketed as teaching coaching skills or teaches how to apply technical skills in a coach-like manner and teaches coaching skills in accordance with the ICF Core Competencies (e.g., university-based training, training from a non-ICF-accredited organization)

Training that is not accepted as coach-specific training includes:

Training that is marketed as teaching other skills, even though the skills can be used by a coach in some manner
Personal development courses
Education in other areas such as psychology, counseling, NLP, etc., unless it was actually taught as coach training and from the perspective of the ICF Core Competencies

Teaching coaching classes does not count as coach-specific training unless:

If all three of the above apply, the class may be counted only one time, not each time that the same class was delivered.

Of the 60 hours required, at least 48 of the hours must be:

Student contact hours – clock hours spent in synchronous (real-time) interactions between faculty and students. This may include time spent in direct instruction (voice-to-voice or in-person training), real-time discussions, observation of and feedback on practice coaching sessions, and mentoring students.
Coach-specific training developed and delivered based on the ICF Core Competencies (all 11 ICF Core Competencies must be covered).

Of the 60 hours required, no more than 12 of the hours may be:

Homework/Independent Study – clock hours spent outside of real-time interaction between faculty and students (asynchronous). These may include outside reading, writing, research, journaling and various other activities that may occur outside of the synchronous setting. All asynchronous hours must be part of the training program and require some method of validating that the activity was completed by the student.