Sponsoring an AIA continuing education course usually pays off when you judge it the way you judge a specification program, not an ad buy. The return comes from three things you can count: how many design professionals complete the course, how many of them turn into follow-up conversations, and how many projects end up naming your product. Ron Blank & Associates develops and registers AIA courses with manufacturers’ own experts and reports who completed them, which gives you the data to track that return.
Why do architects take AIA courses at all?
Architects take courses because they have to and because it is how they keep up. AIA members must earn 18 learning units (LUs) each year from registered providers, and 12 of those must cover health, safety and welfare (HSW) topics (AIA). One hour of learning equals one LU.
Courses are also a main product-research channel. In AIA’s 2023 Architects Journey to Specification study, 83% of architects named continuing education and webinars as their most widely used source for staying current on products and materials, and 77% said they want manufacturers to keep them informed about new products (AIA).
What counts as “return” on a CE course?
ROI here means what you get back compared with what the course costs to develop, register and deliver. For a building product manufacturer, the return rarely shows up as a direct sale. It shows up in four stages:
- Reach: design professionals who complete the course.
- Engagement: attendees who ask questions, request samples or literature, or book a follow-up.
- Specification: projects or office master specifications that include your product.
- Recognition: firms that think of your company first when the product category comes up.
The first two stages can be measured within weeks. Specifications can take months or years, because they follow project schedules. Set expectations for each stage separately.
What can a course sponsor actually measure?
What you can track depends on how the course is delivered. These are the delivery formats and reports Ron Blank describes on its continuing education service page:
| Delivery format | How it reaches architects | Data the sponsor receives | Best ROI signal to watch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Online anytime | Available 24/7 on the provider’s site | Monthly list of who completed the course | Completions per month and cost per completion |
| Live webinar | One scheduled session; Ron Blank says a webinar can reach 100+ professionals in an hour | Attendee details for follow-up | Follow-up conversations per session |
| Face to face | Presented in person or virtually to firms | Certificates of completion; direct conversations with specifiers | Projects discussed and specifications earned |
Online courses give you the steadiest volume. Live formats give you fewer people but deeper conversations.
How do you calculate the ROI of a course?
You do not need a complex model. Track these numbers for one year:
- Total cost. Add development, registration, hosting and presenter time.
- Completions. Count everyone who finished the course in every format.
- Cost per completion. Divide total cost by completions. This is your baseline efficiency number.
- Follow-ups. Count completions that led to a sample request, a technical question or a meeting.
- Specifications influenced. Ask your reps to tag projects where the architect took your course.
- Revenue from those projects. Compare it with the total cost from step 1.
- Compare with your alternatives. Ron Blank’s FAQ puts the cost of an average direct company rep at $90,000 to $100,000 a year (Ron Blank FAQ). Weigh what a course delivers against that kind of spend.
The most common gap is step 5. If nobody tags projects to the course, the course will look like a cost even when it is working.
Which delivery format gives the best return?
The best return usually comes from using more than one format, because architects learn in different ways. In the same AIA study, 54% of architects named live or on-demand courses as a preferred way to learn about new products, and 92% of architects 43 and younger said they prefer in-person lunches to see products and build relationships (AIA).
A practical mix is an online course for steady, low-cost reach and live sessions for the firms and projects you most want to win.
Do AIA rules limit what a sponsor can promote?
Yes. AIA expects courses to be educational, not sales presentations. Its speaker agreement asks presenters to avoid endorsement, marketing or a sales focus, and to hold product-specific questions until before the program starts or after it ends (AIA speaker agreement). AIA also offers a compliance course for instructors who design and deliver product-specific learning programs (AIAU).
These rules help ROI rather than hurt it. Architects trust courses that teach, and that trust is what earns the follow-up conversation.
What lowers the return on a course?
- Slow follow-up. Ron Blank’s FAQ recommends a point person who can answer leads quickly with literature, guide specs and pricing (Ron Blank FAQ).
- A course that sells instead of teaches. It risks the course’s standing and the audience’s trust.
- Content that goes stale. Courses tied to old codes or standards draw fewer completions over time.
- No tracking. Without project tagging, you cannot connect courses to specifications.
FAQ
How long does it take to see a return on an AIA course?
Completions and follow-up requests can appear within the first month an online course is live. Specifications take longer because they follow project design schedules, so judge those over a full year or more.
Is cost per completion a good measure of ROI?
It is a good efficiency measure, not a full ROI measure. A low cost per completion means the course reaches people cheaply; you still need follow-ups and specifications to know whether it pays back.
Do AIA courses actually lead to specifications?
They can, because architects use courses to learn about products. AIA’s 2023 study found 83% rely on continuing education and webinars to stay current on products and materials. The link to a specification depends on fast, useful follow-up.
Can a sponsored course mention our product?
AIA expects the course itself to teach, not sell. Product-specific questions belong before or after the session, and product-specific learning programs have their own instructor training through AIA.
Which format should a smaller manufacturer start with?
Many start with one online course for steady reach and add live webinars or face-to-face presentations for priority firms. That mix balances cost with deeper conversations.
Why this matters for your continuing education
Architects need 18 LUs a year, and most of them use courses to learn what is new in building products. A course that teaches well and is measured well turns that requirement into steady, trackable contact with the people who write specifications. Ron Blank & Associates helps manufacturers develop and register AIA HSW courses and deliver them online, by live webinar and face to face, with reports on who took them.
Sources
- AIA, AIA & state continuing education requirements: https://www.aia.org/aia-state-continuing-education-requirements
- AIA, 2023 Architects Journey to Specification reveals post-pandemic shifts: https://www.aia.org/resource-center/2023-architects-journey-specification-reveals-post-pandemic-shifts-firm-culture
- AIA CES speaker agreement: https://www.aia.org/sites/default/files/2024-12/SpeakerAgreement-2019.pdf
- AIAU, Product Specific Learning Program compliance training: https://aiau.aia.org/course/details/aia-product-specific-learning-program-compliance-training
- Ron Blank & Associates, Continuing Education service: http://www.ronblank.com/Product_Manufacturers/Services/Continuing_Education
- Ron Blank & Associates, FAQ (Architectural Specification Program): https://www.ronblank.com/Product_Manufacturers/FAQ/ASP