Illinois broker education
Illinois 75-hour pre-license education: what counts and what comes next
For the standard Illinois broker route, the 75 hours consist of two approved courses: 60 hours of Broker Pre-License Topics and 15 hours of Applied Real Estate Principles. Finishing them establishes the education requirement. The school’s assessments, optional practice tests and PSI licensing exam serve different purposes.
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What does Illinois require for the standard broker route?
The standard requirement is 60 approved topics hours plus 15 approved applied hours. Section 5-27 sets the 75-hour requirement; Rule 1450.1105(b) identifies the two courses. The standard PSI category also requires you to be at least 18 and have a high-school diploma or equivalent.
Illinois attorneys and applicants seeking licensure by endorsement have separate qualification routes. Check the Illinois-attorney route or endorsement requirements before buying education you may not need.
| Course | Hours | What you study |
|---|---|---|
| Broker Pre-License Topics | 60 | Two 30-hour curriculum parts: an introduction to real estate, then Illinois law and transactions. |
| Applied Real Estate Principles | 15 | Interactive cases, role play and demonstrations applying the course concepts to brokerage decisions. |
The IDFPR curriculum includes property rights, federal law, agency and buyer/seller relationships in the first part. The second covers Illinois law, advertising, valuation, finance, calculations, contracts, title, leasing and management. The applied course uses situations such as presenting offers, agency disclosures, escrow, net sheets, fair housing and inspections.
Course hours are curriculum allocations, not the number or percentage of PSI questions on each topic. Use the current PSI content outline for exam coverage.
How are the course, school assessments and PSI exam different?
| Check | Approved courses and school assessments | Optional exam prep | PSI broker licensing exam |
|---|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Complete the required education and its attendance or assessment conditions. | Practice recall, calculations, application and pacing. | Meet the licensing-exam requirement through national and Illinois portions. |
| Who provides it? | A licensed education provider offering the exact approved courses and delivery methods. | A prep publisher, app, tutor or school. A prep product alone supplies no approved course credit. | PSI, the testing vendor contracted for the Illinois program. |
| Completion evidence | The provider's authenticated transcript or certificate after successful course completion. | A practice result or study history. It is not an education certificate or official PSI result. | The official PSI score report. Passing does not itself issue an IDFPR license. |
| Fees | Provider tuition and any disclosed assessment, proctoring, materials or extension fees. | The product's actual price and terms, if you choose to purchase it. | The current booklet lists $58 for the broker exam. Check your booking amount separately. |
| What passing allows | Use the education record in the standard eligibility process. It does not replace PSI approval. | Use feedback to choose the next study task. No practice percentage grants exam eligibility or licensure. | Continue the IDFPR application process. Active brokerage still requires the applicable licensing and sponsorship requirements. |
A school may sell education and optional prep in one bundle. Ask which part earns approved credit, which produces the completion record and which is extra study access. Do not assume the bundle includes PSI's fee or the later license application fee.
Which online formats count for the 60-hour and 15-hour courses?
The delivery method matters more than the label “self-paced.” Under Rule 1450.100, approved online distance education includes interaction outside real time with an Illinois instructor or a learning management system. It is different from non-interactive correspondence or home study.
| Approved delivery method | 60-hour topics course | 15-hour applied course |
|---|---|---|
| Classroom | Permitted when the exact course and format are approved. | Permitted; participation is verified. |
| Live interactive webinar | Permitted when approved; live two-way interaction. | Permitted; attend and participate under the provider's rules. |
| Online distance education | Permitted when approved; interaction and comprehension are verified. | Permitted when approved. It need not always be a live webinar. |
| Correspondence or home study | Permitted when approved; a proctored course final is required. | Not permitted for this applied course. |
Check the exact course row and its marked delivery column in IDFPR's provider directory. Watching recordings or buying a generic online package does not establish approved credit. See the approved-school verification guide for examples of reading those records.
Do you need a school final exam?
The answer depends on the approved delivery and completion method. A final-exam exemption is not an exemption from doing the course work.
Classroom, interactive webinar and online distance education
Rule 1450.1175 allows qualifying pre-license courses to use a final-exam exemption. Classroom attendance must be recorded; webinar participation includes responses to instructor polling. For online distance education using the exemption, the provider must record answers, verify a minimum 75% comprehension threshold and verify identity. If you miss that threshold, the rule requires another opportunity within the same course, with questions, choices and answers randomized into a different order. That is not a promise of unlimited retries.
Ask the provider whether your approved course uses that exemption or a final, and how attendance, quizzes, missed sessions and completion are handled. “No separate final” does not mean no assessment or participation requirement.
Correspondence or home study
Rule 1450.1105(h) requires a provider-prepared proctored final with at least 25 questions for every 15 credit hours and a minimum passing score of 75%. It may be administered after each 15-credit-hour block or at the course's conclusion. The registration material must explain whether the exam is electronic, paper or both. Proctored-final time does not count toward course credit hours.
Remote proctoring can be permitted. The older IDFPR curriculum PDF says in-person proctoring, but the current rule expressly permits remote proctoring that complies with state and federal law. Confirm the provider's actual arrangements. Do not book a PSI exam expecting it to satisfy the school's proctored-final requirement.
Read Part 1450, Sections 1450.1105(h), 1450.1155 and 1450.1175 for the course-specific requirements. The final-exam exemption does not apply to the separate 45-hour broker post-license education.
What if you fail a school assessment?
First identify what you took: a course comprehension check, a proctored school final, an optional practice test or the official PSI licensing exam. The name of the platform alone does not answer that question.
For a school final, get the provider's written pre-license policy. Ask how many reassessments it permits, what work must be repeated, whether further instruction or proctoring is required, what it costs and when you must finish. Use the policy for your exact course and format.
The twice-failed rule in Rule 1450.1135(f)(3) concerns continuing education, not the initial 75-hour school final. PSI's standard broker allowance of up to four attempts within the two-year eligibility period concerns the licensing examination. A school assessment failure does not use one of those PSI attempts.
Example: a school result is not a PSI attempt
In this fictional example, Dana fails the proctored final for her approved correspondence topics course. She has not yet applied to PSI. She needs the school's completion and reassessment instructions. This result is not a first PSI licensing-exam failure.
Change one fact: Dana has passed the school final but has not completed the 15-hour applied course. She still has only the topics component. Passing that final does not finish the 75-hour requirement or establish PSI approval.
What should you check before enrolling?
- Match the qualification route. Confirm that you need the standard initial broker package rather than endorsement, attorney, leasing-agent, managing-broker or post-license education.
- Verify both courses. Open the official provider record, then match the 60-hour topics and 15-hour applied courses, categories and approved delivery columns.
- Get the completion conditions. Ask about attendance, comprehension checks, any final and proctoring, missed sessions, identity checks and certificate issuance.
- Check the calendar and access period. Ask when the applied component runs and when unfinished course access expires. Include any school final and separate PSI preparation in your schedule.
- Ask for the full written price and terms. Include both components, required materials, assessments, proctoring, extensions and certificate charges. Read the refund and transfer terms before paying.
A question to send the provider
“Which exact approved 60-hour and 15-hour courses does this package include, and under which delivery methods? What must I complete to receive each certificate? Please send the final or comprehension-check policy, any reassessment charges, the course-access deadline and the full required price.”
What happens after you complete the courses?
- Check your record. The provider should issue an authenticated transcript or certificate after successful completion. Check your name, course titles, hours, provider and completion dates. Keep both components' records and ask about errors promptly.
- Follow PSI's standard eligibility process. The current booklet directs candidates to create an Illinois account and upload the course certificate. PSI reviews it and sends approval by email. Use the instructions for your qualification category.
- Confirm eligibility before relying on a test date. A school completion message, payment receipt or optional prep result is not PSI approval. See the registration guide and check the identification requirements before booking.
- Prepare for both licensing-exam portions. Work from the current national and Illinois outlines. Practice explaining why an answer fits, then use practice-test review to find recurring errors. Course completion alone does not establish readiness.
Rule 1450.400 makes the education valid for two years after satisfactory completion of all required pre-license education. Finishing only the 60-hour component does not complete that requirement. If your records have different dates or the education is nearing expiry, ask PSI to confirm the accepted completion date and remaining eligibility. See education validity for that specific issue.
Keep the deadlines separate. The school sets the access and completion terms for unfinished coursework. The two-year rule concerns completed approved education. PSI's exam-fee validity and the later license-application requirements are separate matters. Buying an extension to course access does not, by itself, establish a new education-completion date.
Passing both PSI portions is another step. Continue with the license application and sponsorship requirements before undertaking work that requires an active broker license.
Preparing around a full-time job? Use the working-adult study plan to choose an exam-practice budget after the course foundation is in place. Keep required class attendance and school assessments on their own calendar. If study is interrupted, the recovery-week example helps you resume without treating a study-plan reset as a new eligibility period.
Questions about Illinois pre-license education
What are the Illinois 75-hour pre-license courses?
For the standard broker route, complete the approved 60-hour Broker Pre-License Topics course and 15-hour Applied Real Estate Principles course. The latter may appear in the state directory as Applied R.E. Principles - Interactive. A similarly named post-license or leasing-agent course does not substitute for it.
Can I complete all 75 hours online?
Yes, through approved courses and formats. The 15-hour applied course may use an interactive webinar or approved online distance education. Online distance education can involve interaction with an Illinois instructor or a learning management system outside real time. Check the exact course's delivery approval; the word online is not enough.
Does Illinois require a school final exam?
Correspondence or home-study pre-license courses require a proctored final with a passing standard of at least 75%. Qualifying classroom, interactive-webinar and online-distance courses can use the final-exam exemption under Rule 1450.1175. Attendance, participation and any required comprehension checks still count. Ask which approved method your course uses.
Must a home-study final be taken in person?
Do not assume that from the older curriculum PDF. Current Rule 1450.1105(h) permits remote proctoring conducted in accordance with state and federal law. The provider determines its available arrangements. Electronic delivery does not mean the exam is unproctored, and a school final is separate from a remote PSI licensing appointment.
What happens if I fail my school's final?
Ask the provider for the written pre-license course policy, including another assessment, additional work, fees and the deadline to finish. A school assessment failure is not a PSI licensing-exam attempt. Do not apply the separate CE twice-failed rule or PSI's standard four-attempt allowance to a school final.
Does passing the school course replace the PSI exam?
No. A completion certificate documents approved education. A standard broker candidate still needs PSI eligibility approval and passing national and Illinois licensing-exam results, followed by the IDFPR licensing process. Neither a certificate nor an app practice score authorizes brokerage work.
How long is my completed education valid?
Rule 1450.400 gives two years after satisfactory completion of all required pre-license education. This is different from the school's deadline to finish an unfinished course or its online-access period. Ask PSI to confirm the accepted completion date and eligibility when the records or dates are unclear.
Can I take the two courses at different schools?
Before paying, ask the providers and PSI how each approved component will be documented and accepted. Verify both exact courses and their formats. Do not assume that separate certificates, transferred work or a partially completed course will automatically combine into accepted eligibility.
How long does the 75-hour course take to finish?
Calendar time depends on the approved format, class schedule, participation requirements and provider completion policy. A credit hour means at least 50 minutes of instruction under Rule 1450.100. Proctored-final time is excluded from credit hours. The course title is not a promise that you can finish in a particular number of days.
Does a lawyer or out-of-state licensee need the same 75 hours?
Those applicants should check their separate qualification route before buying the standard package. The PSI booklet identifies Illinois-attorney and broker-endorsement categories. An out-of-state license or legal background alone does not establish which exemption or category applies to you.
Choose your next study step
If you are choosing a course, start with approval verification and the online-format guide. If your education is complete, review the exam outline and your separate exam and licensing budget.
For optional practice alongside your course, you can download Pass Illinois. It is our exam-prep product. It supplements approved education and does not award course credit or a broker license.
Sources for the education and exam requirements
- 225 ILCS 454/5-27: statutory standard broker education requirement.
- 68 Ill. Adm. Code Part 1450: Sections 1450.100, 1450.400, 1450.1100, 1450.1105, 1450.1155 and 1450.1175 cover formats, validity, records, finals and exemptions. Relevant updated sections carry a July 7, 2025 effective-date note.
- IDFPR Broker 75-Hour Pre-License Curriculum: course structure and content. Use the current rules, rather than the older PDF's in-person-only wording, for permissible proctoring.
- IDFPR approved education provider directory: open the provider name to check its exact courses and delivery methods. Recheck before enrollment.
- PSI Illinois Candidate Information Booklet, June 24, 2026: qualification categories, certificate upload, eligibility, exam fee and licensing-exam instructions.
This guide explains the standard route and how to check course requirements. It does not approve a particular enrollment, certificate, transfer or candidate deadline. Ask the provider about its course policy and PSI or IDFPR about the decision each agency controls.