What post-licensing education is required after getting a real estate license?

About 20 states require post-licensing education before a new licensee's first renewal, and the hour counts vary widely. Florida requires 45 hours for sales associates and 60 for brokers, Illinois requires 45 hours, Georgia requires 25 hours within the first year, and North Carolina requires provisional brokers to complete 90 hours within 18 months of licensure. In states without a post-licensing requirement, continuing education for renewal takes its place.

New Alabama salespersons must complete a 30-hour post-license course within the first 6 months of licensure to maintain an active license, or within the first year to receive a permanent (original) license on inactive status. The post-license course also satisfies the 15 hours of continuing education required for the first license renewal. There is no post-license requirement for brokers.

New Alaska licensees must complete 30 hours of post-licensing education within one year of initial licensure, pursuant to 12 AAC 64.064. The coursework covers six modules: Contracts and Agreements (10 hours), Property Management (4 hours), License Law (6 hours), Paperwork and Risk Management (6 hours), Evaluation and Pricing (2 hours), and Financing and Closing (2 hours). Licensees must submit form #08-4326 (Affidavit of Post-Licensing Education) with proof of completion within 30 days after the one-year period ends. If a licensee fails to complete the requirement, the license automatically lapses 30 days after the one-year period, and reinstatement, including a reinstatement fee, is required.

New Arkansas salespersons must complete an 18-hour Arkansas Real Estate Commission (AREC) post-licensure course within 6 months of initial licensure to remain active, and the curriculum consists of three 6-hour modules. New brokers must complete a 30-hour AREC post-licensure course within 6 months of initial licensure, and this requirement must be met before an Associate Broker can become an Executive or Principal Broker. Post-license education cannot be completed before the license is issued, and it is separate from the annual 7-hour continuing education requirement.

California real estate licenses are valid for four years, and renewal requires 45 hours of DRE-approved continuing education. For a salesperson's first renewal, the 45 hours must include four separate 3-hour courses (ethics, agency, trust fund handling, and risk management), a 3-hour fair housing course with an interactive participatory component, a 2-hour implicit bias course, a minimum of 18 hours of consumer protection courses, and remaining hours in consumer service or consumer protection. For second and subsequent renewals, the 45 hours must include a 9-hour survey course covering seven mandatory subjects (or individual courses in all subjects), a minimum of 18 hours of consumer protection, and remaining hours in consumer service or consumer protection.

Newly licensed brokers in Colorado have no continuing education obligation during their initial licensure period. An initial broker license expires at midnight on December 31 of the year it was issued, and no CE is required before that first expiration date. After the initial license period, active licensees enter a three-year cycle requiring 24 hours of continuing education: 12 hours from three different versions of the four-hour Annual Commission Update Course and 12 hours of approved electives.

DC does not require separate post-licensing education beyond its standard continuing education (CE) requirements. Newly licensed salespersons, brokers, and property managers are exempt from CE for the remainder of the licensing cycle in which their license was first issued, but must renew when that first cycle ends. After the first renewal, licensees must complete 15 hours of CE every 2-year renewal cycle, including mandatory 3-hour courses in Fair Housing, Ethics, Legislative Update, and Property Management, plus 3 hours of electives.

Sales associates must complete at least 45 hours of post-licensing education before their first license renewal, and brokers must complete at least 60 hours. This education must be completed within the initial renewal period of 18 to 24 months, and failure to comply results in the license becoming null and void. A 4-year degree or higher in real estate from an accredited institution exempts the holder from the post-licensing education requirement. After the first renewal, licensees must complete 14 hours of continuing education every two years, consisting of 3 hours of Core Law, 3 hours of Ethics and Business Practices, and 8 hours of specialty education.

New Georgia salespersons must complete a 25-hour post-license course within one year of license issuance, with a possible six-month extension to 18 months under O.C.G.A. 43-40-8(d). The post-license course counts as 9 hours toward the 36-hour continuing education requirement for the first renewal cycle, leaving 27 additional CE hours needed before the first renewal deadline. Failure to complete the post-license course within the first year causes the license to lapse.

New Illinois broker licensees must complete 45 hours of post-license education before their first renewal, consisting of three 15-hour courses covering applied brokerage principles, risk management and discipline, and transactional issues. Each course requires passage of a 50-question final examination with a minimum score of 75%. The 45-hour post-license curriculum satisfies the continuing education requirement for the initial broker license term, and brokers licensed within 180 days preceding the renewal deadline have until the second renewal deadline to complete it.

Brokers issued a license after June 30, 2014 must complete 30 hours of commission-approved post-licensing education during the first two years after the license issuance date. The 30 hours are allocated as 6 hours of Indiana real estate transactions, 6 hours of financing, 10 hours of business planning, sales, and marketing, 5 hours of negotiating and counseling skills, 1 hour of cultural diversity and fair housing, and 2 hours of construction. Completing these 30 hours satisfies the continuing education requirement for two continuing education years, so the broker does not begin annual CE until the third continuing education year.

Kansas does not require a separate post-licensing course after initial licensure. Instead, licensees must complete 12 hours of continuing education during each 2-year renewal cycle, including at least 3 hours in the Kansas Required Core course and 9 hours of elective credit. CE taken as a salesperson before obtaining a Kansas broker license does not count toward broker renewal. If a license has been inactive for 2 or more years, the licensee must complete 6 additional CE hours for each full year of inactivity plus the 12 hours for the immediate past renewal period before reactivation; after 5 or more years of inactivity, the licensure exam must also be retaken.

All sales associates licensed after January 1, 2016 must complete 48 hours of post-license education within 2 years of affiliating with a principal broker. The 48 hours consist of 32 mandatory hours covering Agency (6), Contracts (6), Commission Compliance (3), Finance (3), Advertising (3), Disclosure (3), Fair Housing (3), Technology & Data Security (3), and Risk Management (2), plus 16 elective hours. The 2-year clock begins when the licensee affiliates with a principal broker and cannot be paused, even if the license later goes into escrow. Failure to complete the 48 hours results in license cancellation.

New Louisiana licensees must complete 45 hours of post-licensing education within 180 days of their initial or upgraded license date. In the year the license is issued, those 45 hours may be used to satisfy a portion of the 12-hour annual continuing education requirement, but they do not satisfy any mandatory course topic hours. The post-licensing requirement applies to both salespersons and brokers who receive an initial or upgraded license.

Maryland does not require or recognize post-licensing education as a separate step after initial licensure. Instead, licensees must complete 15 hours of continuing education every 2-year renewal cycle. For first-renewal licensees initially licensed on or after October 1, 2023, all 15 hours are mandatory, covering contracts, brokerage relationships, real estate practice, property management, professionalism, and real estate financing.

Massachusetts requires 12 hours of continuing education per 2-year license term to renew a license as active. At least 6 of the 12 hours must be completed in specific subject-matter categories, including Fair Housing, Agency Law, Environmental Issues in Real Estate, Zoning and Building Codes, Real Estate Appraisal and Financing, Property Tax Assessments and Valuations, and Real Estate Board Regulations. Pre-licensure education cannot be used to satisfy the continuing education requirement, and Massachusetts attorneys in good standing with the Board of Bar Overseers are exempt from the CE requirement.

Michigan requires 18 clock hours of continuing education per 3-year license cycle. Each year of the cycle, licensees must complete at least 2 hours on laws, rules, and court cases and at least 1 hour on fair housing compliance, totaling 9 mandatory hours per cycle; the remaining 9 hours are elective. CE courses must be certified by CE Marketplace, and licensees must retain documentation of completed CE for at least 4 years. The 1-hour-per-year fair housing requirement took effect February 13, 2024 under 2023 Act 246. There is no separate post-licensing course required beyond the ongoing CE obligation.

New Mississippi licensees must complete a 30-hour post-license course within 12 months of receiving their temporary license. The course must be offered in no less than 15-hour increments, with no more than 8 hours earned in a single day. For salespersons, at least 24 of the 30 hours cover agency relationships, contracts, earnest money, antitrust, fair housing, ethics, and property condition disclosure. For brokers, at least 24 hours cover managing escrow accounts, intraoffice confidentiality, broker responsibilities, office policies, and MREC-required forms. Failure to complete the course within 12 months places the license on inactive status, and the temporary license expires if not completed within one year.

Missouri does not require separate post-licensing education beyond the standard continuing education requirement. All active licensees must complete 12 hours of MREC-approved continuing education every two years, with at least 3 hours in a CORE course identified by the Missouri Real Estate Commission (MREC). For the 2026-2028 renewal period, the CORE course must cover Fair Housing, and the remaining hours can be core or elective credit. New licensees renewing for the first time follow the same 12-hour CE requirement as all other licensees.

All new Nebraska licensees must complete 12 hours of Commission-approved post-license education (Course #7000) within 180 days of license issuance, covering topics such as completing contracts, listing agreements, and handling client funds. If a licensee fails to complete the post-license education within the 180-day deadline, the Commission places the license on inactive status until satisfactory evidence of completion is received. Completion evidence is valid for 4 years from the date of completion and may be used for any license application.

Nevada's initial real estate license is valid for one year, and first-time salespersons must complete post-licensing education before their first renewal. After the first renewal, licensees must complete 36 hours of continuing education every 2 years. Business broker permit holders must complete 3 hours of continuing education regardless of status, and property manager permit holders must complete 9 hours. The Nevada Real Estate Division requires completion of continuing education or the post-licensing course for renewal of an active real estate license.

New Jersey requires licensees to complete 12 continuing education credit hours every two-year licensing term. At least 6 of the 12 hours must be in core topics, including at least 2 hours in ethics, 1 hour in Fair Housing and NJ Law Against Discrimination, and 1 hour in agency. The remaining 6 hours can be any combination of core or elective topics. For the 2025-2027 cycle, all CE must be completed by April 30, 2027, and license renewal is due by June 30, 2027. A $200 late fee applies if CE is completed after April 30, 2027.

New York requires all real estate licensees to complete 22.5 hours of approved continuing education during each 2-year license term, except attorneys admitted to the New York State Bar. The mandatory topics include 3 hours of fair housing, 2 hours of implicit bias training, 2 hours of cultural competency, 2.5 hours of ethical business practices, 1 hour of recent legal matters, and 1 hour of agency law (2 hours for salespersons in their first licensing term), with the remaining hours as electives. Continuing education cannot be carried over to the next renewal cycle, and all renewals must be completed online through eAccessNY.

Provisional Brokers must complete 90 instructional hours of postlicensing education within 18 months of initial licensure to maintain active license status and remove provisional status. The requirement consists of three 30-hour courses: Post 301 (Broker Relationships and Responsibilities), Post 302 (Contracts and Closing), and Post 303 (NC Law, Rules, and Legal Concepts). Courses may be delivered in-person, via synchronous distance learning, or self-paced online. Completion of all three courses automatically removes provisional status. If a Provisional Broker fails to complete the requirement within 18 months, the license is placed on inactive status until the deficiency is remedied.

New resident salesperson licensees who completed the current 90-hour pre-licensure course are exempt from continuing education for their first renewal cycle and have no separate post-licensing education requirement. Licensees who completed the previous 45-hour pre-licensure course must complete 15 hours of post-licensure education within 1 year of being licensed. After the first renewal, all resident licensees must complete 12 hours of continuing education per CE cycle (November 16 through November 15) to renew as active. For the 2025-2026 CE cycle, all 12 hours are elective topics with no mandatory topic hours required.

Ohio requires salespersons to complete a 20-hour post-licensing course within 12 months of their license issue date, and brokers must complete a 10-hour post-licensing course within 12 months of their license issue date. The salesperson post-licensing course is one specific 20-hour course, not multiple courses totaling 20 hours, and the completion certificate must be emailed to PostCert@com.ohio.gov.

Provisional Sales Associates in Oklahoma must complete a 45-hour post-license course before their license expiration date. The Provisional Sales Associate license is non-renewable, so completing this course is required to move from provisional status to a full Sales Associate license. The course must be completed within the first year of obtaining the license, as the month of issuance counts toward the one-year license term.

Pennsylvania requires 14 hours of Commission-approved continuing education (CE) during each two-year license period to renew or reactivate a license. Standard licensees renewing for the first time must complete a 7-hour General Module plus a 7-hour Residential Module or a 7-hour Commercial Module, totaling 14 hours. For the 2024-2026 cycle, standard licensees (licensed before December 1, 2023) must include 2 hours in Fair Housing and 3 hours in Agency Relationship as part of their 14 hours. Licensees who obtained a license less than 6 months before the renewal deadline are exempt from CE for that cycle but must still renew. For the 2026-2028 cycle, the Commission voted on May 5, 2026 to require a minimum of 2 hours in "Protecting Consumer's Real Property, Personal Property and Information."

South Carolina does not require post-license education after obtaining an initial real estate license. Once licensed, active associate and broker licensees must complete 10 hours of continuing education each two-year renewal cycle: 4 hours of mandatory core coursework and 6 hours of electives. Broker-in-Charge licensees also need 10 hours, structured as a 4-hour BIC course, a 4-hour mandatory core course, and 2 hours of electives. Property managers, property managers-in-charge, and timeshare salespersons are not required to complete continuing education.

New broker associates in South Dakota must complete 60 hours of post-licensing education divided across two periods: 30 hours in Period 1 (between the current and following license year) and 30 hours in Period 2 (beginning January 1 after completing Period 1, within the following two license years). After completing post-licensing education, licensees must complete 24 hours of continuing education every 2 years, with at least 12 hours in required subject areas such as real estate contracts, license law, fair housing, and ethics.

Affiliate brokers licensed after December 31, 2004 must complete a 30-hour "Course for New Affiliates" before their license is issued. Brokers must complete 120 additional hours of Commission-approved education within three years of their broker license issuance date; if not completed in that period, they receive one additional year while accruing a $50 monthly fee. After completing post-licensing requirements, all licensees must complete 16 hours of continuing education every two years, including a 6-hour Tennessee Real Estate Commission (TREC) Core Course and 10 elective hours.

Texas sales agents must complete 270 cumulative hours of qualifying education plus 8 hours of Legal Update I and II before their first license renewal. The first renewal requires 98 hours of new coursework: a 30-hour Real Estate Brokerage course, 60 hours of qualifying education (two 30-hour courses from an approved list), and 8 hours of Legal Update I and II. For subsequent renewals, 18 hours of continuing education are required every two-year cycle: 4 hours Legal Update I, 4 hours Legal Update II, 3 hours Contract-Related coursework, and 7 hours of elective CE. Brokers who sponsor one or more sales agents, or delegated supervisors, must also complete a 6-hour Broker Responsibility Course as part of the 18-hour requirement.

After obtaining a Utah real estate license, new sales agents must complete 18 hours of continuing education at their first renewal, which includes a 12-hour New Agent Course, a 3-hour Division-approved Mandatory Course, and 3 additional hours of core or elective courses. For all subsequent renewals, the requirement is 18 hours of CE every two-year cycle, including at least 9 hours of core topic courses (3 of which must be the Division-approved Mandatory Course) and 9 hours of elective courses. All CE must be completed by the 15th day of the renewal month to ensure on-time renewal.

New salespersons in Virginia must complete 30 hours of Board-approved post-license education (PLE) within one year from the last day of the month the license was issued to remain on active status. The 30-hour program consists of nine courses: Fair Housing/ADA/Civil Rights (2 hours), Real Estate Law and Regulations (6 hours), Ethics and Standards of Conduct (3 hours), Current Industry Issues and Trends (2 hours), Agency Law (3 hours), Contract Writing (6 hours), Risk Management (3 hours), Escrow Requirements (3 hours), and Real Estate-Related Finance (2 hours). Failure to complete the 30 hours within one year results in automatic placement of the license on inactive status, which prevents the licensee from practicing real estate.

Washington requires 90 hours of continuing education for the first active license renewal, including a 30-hour Advanced Practices course, a 30-hour Real Estate Law course, a 3-hour Current Issues in Washington Residential Real Estate course, and at least 27 hours of other approved continuing education. If the licensee has not yet taken the initial 6-hour Washington Real Estate Fair Housing course, that must be completed first; afterward, a 3-hour Fair Housing course is required at each renewal. All continuing education hours must be started after the date of first licensure.