To get your Pennsylvania real estate license, you have to start with 75 hours of required coursework. The good news is that there are plenty of online schools to help—the bad news is that you have to choose one. We can help! We did a deep dive into all the top real estate schools in PA and compared them to make the decision. Here are the top five schools to help you learn how to become a real estate agent in Pennsylvania:
- Kaplan: Best for post-licensing support
- Fortune Academy: Best for engaging course formats
- AceableAgent: Best for live tutoring and support
- The CE Shop: Best live online course schedule
- Colibri Real Estate: Best for a pass guarantee
Want to learn more about the Pennsylvania real estate license process before jumping into school details? I’ve got you covered! Click here to jump to the “How to Get a Real Estate License in Pennsylvania” section below.
The Close’s Top Picks of Online Real Estate Courses PA
| Kaplan: Best for post-licensing support | |||
| Fortune Academy: Best for engaging course formats | |||
| AceableAgent: Best for live tutoring and support | |||
| The CE Shop: Best for live online course | |||
| Colibri Real Estate: Best for pass guarantee |
Best for Post-licensing Support: Kaplan
My Expert Opinion on Kaplan
Kaplan is our top choice for real estate courses in PA because it’s well-known for high-quality education and offers a variety of packages for current and aspiring PA agents. Purchase individual prelicensing packages to meet the most basic requirements, or opt for the Career Launcher package that includes exam prep and career support after you get your Pennsylvania real estate license. The school also offers live online classes to learn directly from real estate instructors. The live online learning hub provides a student community, additional resources, and specific tools from Kaplan instructors.
💡Room for Improvement: One of the few features that Kaplan doesn’t offer is a mobile app to help students complete their online courses. You can still access Kaplan’s real estate classes PA from any device, but an app would make the learning process even smoother. Kaplan also doesn’t offer courses to become a real estate broker in PA.
Kaplan Cost
Kaplan has multiple packages for almost every Pennsylvania real estate agent’s career level. There are individual and package options to get your real estate license, renew your license with continuing education, and even improve your career with professional development.
Keep in mind that since Kaplan is a well-known national online real estate school, it offers similar education packages in other states. Read our guide to real estate license reciprocity to learn more about getting licensed in more than one state.
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Use Promo Code: KAPRE5—Save 5%
Need to see more before making a decision? Check out our walkthrough video for Kaplan below:
Best for Engaging Course Formats: Fortune Academy
My Expert Opinion on Fortune Academy
Fortune Academy has the most unique options of all the real estate schools in Pennsylvania. Not only does it offer self-paced online courses, but it also has a mobile app and audio courses. Additional prelicensing packages include Exam Prep Edge and resources for building your sphere of influence and starting your business. Another unique feature of Fortune Academy’s real estate courses in PA is the two 14-hour CE course packages, one for residential and another for commercial agents. Overall, Fortune Academy is an ideal choice for PA real estate agents wanting a flexible learning environment.
💡Room for Improvement: Even though Fortune Academy has the most unique and engaging online formats, it doesn’t offer livestream courses. This would be an ideal option for students who want the flexibility of online learning but still need access to instructors while going through the coursework.
Fortune Academy Cost
Fortune Academy offers a variety of packages to get and renew your Pennsylvania real estate license, and each one has different pricing. Here’s more information on how their packages are organized:
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| Post-licensing & Professional Development |
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| Continuing education |
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| Broker prelicensing |
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Use Promo Code: Close30 – Save 30%
Best for Live Tutoring & Support: AceableAgent
My Expert Opinion on AceableAgent
AceableAgent is a great choice if you need a real estate license PA online course while you are on the go. AceableAgent is one of the only online real estate schools with a mobile app, which makes it much easier to complete the course in small bits over time. Plus, students consistently say that the courses are well-structured, with both video and written formats. Upper-level packages include exam prep, private tutoring, live webinars, and an AI instructor to help you answer questions at any time.
💡Room for Improvement: The courses on AceableAgent are all self-paced. If you prefer instructor-led courses, this might not be the best fit for you. Plus, AceableAgent doesn’t offer continuing education or broker prelicensing courses.
AceableAgent Cost
Here are the prices and features for AceableAgent’s Pennsylvania prelicensing and exam prep courses:
| Type of Education | ||
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Click our AceableAgent link—Save 25%
Need to see more before making a decision? Check out our walkthrough video for AceableAgent below:
Best for Live Online Courses: The CE Shop
My Expert Opinion on The CE Shop
The CE Shop stands out because it has a live online schedule that allows you to get your Pennsylvania real estate license in just two weeks! Like many of the other Pennsylvania real estate schools, it also offers online, self-paced courses in multiple package options. However, its live online schedule allows you to learn directly from an instructor and complete all your license requirements extremely fast. Plus, The CE Shop also offers a variety of courses for post-licensing, license renewals, and becoming a broker.
💡Room for Improvement: Even though The CE Shop’s courses are exclusively online, it doesn’t have a mobile app to maximize the course experience. Like Kaplan, its courses are still easily accessible from any device, but a mobile app would elevate the experience even more.
The CE Shop Cost
The CE Shop has the widest variety of education options, whether you’re learning how to become a real estate agent in Pennsylvania or upgrading your licensing to become a broker. Let’s go over some of the options and costs:
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Use Promo Code: TheClose35 – Save 35%
Need to see more before making a decision? Check out our walkthrough video for The CE Shop below:
Best for a Pass or Don’t Pay Guarantee: Colibri Real Estate
My Expert Opinion on Colibri Real Estate
Colibri Real Estate’s courses offer different features from the other online real estate classes in PA. It has multiple prelicensing packages with career coaching videos, narrated lessons, real estate study guides, exam prep from CompuCram, and live instructor Q&A sessions. One of Colibri’s standout features is its Pass or Don’t Pay Guarantee. This guarantee is only included with exam prep packages. However, having a guarantee can give you the confidence to ace your exam and start your new career with your real estate license.
💡Room for Improvement: If you love the prelicensing classes from Colibri, you’ll be sad to find out that it doesn’t offer broker licensing classes. Plus, although continuing education classes are offered in a very similar format, they are only offered through Colibri’s sister site, McKissock Learning.
Colibri Real Estate Cost
Colibri offers online courses in Pennsylvania to get your license, prepare for the exam, and complete your first-time renewal. Here are the general prices of each:
| Type of Education | ||
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| Prelicensing |
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Use Promo Code: TheClose40 – Save 40%
Need to see more before making a decision? Check out our walkthrough video for Colibri Real Estate below:
How to Get a Real Estate License in Pennsylvania
| Step 1: Meet Pennsylvania Requirements |
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| Step 2: Complete Prelicensing Courses |
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| Step 3: Get Fingerprints & Background Check |
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| Step 4: Apply for Your Pennsylvania License |
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| Step 5: Take the Real Estate Exam |
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| Step 6: Pick a Sponsoring Brokerage |
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| Step 7: Start Your Real Estate Career |
How We Selected the Best Online Real Estate Schools in Pennsylvania
In terms of our methodology at The Close, our team of licensed real estate professionals, writers, and editors created a weighted rubric to evaluate each school. Our experts have done hours of research to analyze dozens of real estate schools to determine the best for our readers. The features we explored are essential for students to become successful agents and brokers in the real estate industry.
Our detailed criteria included the following:
- Course Features (25%)
- This comprises items that assist agents and brokers in completing their education, like pass and refund guarantees, career and instructor support, coaching, training, interactive study groups, and course extensions.
- Value (20%)
- Pricing and availability of coursework are important factors to assess. This accounts for real estate school offerings in prelicensing, post-licensing, continuing education, broker prelicensing, and exam prep.
- Learning Format & Accessibility (20%)
- Real estate professionals must consider the best format for their learning, which includes self-paced, on-demand video, livestream, and in-person classes. Also, accessibility via multiple devices, like computers, tablets, and mobile devices, determines the convenience for users.
- Expert Score (15%)
- The Close closely reviews each course for standout features, details, ease of use, and the value for money spent from a real estate expert’s perspective.
- Help & Support (10%)
- If students need additional support, knowing the customer service options through phone, email, live chat, and ticket system is necessary.
- Reputation (10%)
- This examines the reputation of each real estate school through the lens of current and past students, reviewing the customer reviews and popularity of each provider.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What are the requirements to be a real estate agent in Pennsylvania?
To become a real estate agent in Pennsylvania, you must be at least 18 years of age, a US citizen or lawfully admitted resident, and possess a high school diploma or equivalent. You must also take 75 hours of required prelicensing and pass the Pennsylvania real estate exam with a score of 75% or higher.
How many times can you fail the PA real estate exam?
If you don’t pass the Pennsylvania real estate exam, don’t worry! PA allows an unlimited number of exam attempts within five years for the salesperson exam and ten years for broker candidates. The clock starts once you finish your prelicensing course, so it’s smart to choose a course with exam prep.
How long does it take to get a real estate license in PA?
Pennsylvania requires 75 hours of prelicensing education, plus whatever additional time you take to prepare for the exam. With a self-paced course, you can take months to work through the material, or you can choose a live online option (like The CE Shop) and complete it all within two weeks.
Your Take
Learning how to become a real estate agent in Pennsylvania is relatively straightforward. Since one of the hardest parts of the process is choosing your real estate school, we did all the digging for you. Once you decide what you want from a real estate school, it’s much easier to see which of these options best fits your needs. How do you like to do your online education—live, self-paced, or with an instructor? Let us know in the comments!
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