Where to take the 40-hour Alaska course
The Commission publishes the list of schools it approves, and it is dominated by Alaska-based providers. Two national schools sell the pre-licensing course; only one of them is on the current list, for reasons worth explaining.
Colibri Real Estate
- Named on the Commission's own approved school list for Alaska salesperson pre-licensing, which is the strongest evidence available that your certificate will be accepted
- Covers all 40 hours in one purchase, clearing the education requirement between you and the exam
- Four package tiers, so you can take just the coursework or bundle exam prep and a pass guarantee
- Sells Alaska exam prep and Alaska continuing education separately, for the 20 hours you will owe before your first renewal
- Listed for pre-licensing only — it cannot sell you the 30-hour post-licensing course, so plan for a second provider
The CE Shop
- Launched its Alaska 40-hour course in 2025, matching the hour count Alaska law requires
- Free trial of the Alaska course, so you can see the platform before committing
- Carries Alaska continuing education packages as well, for the renewal cycle after your first
- Not yet on the Commission's approved school list, which was last revised in December 2024 and predates the launch — a timing gap rather than a rejection, but confirm approval with the Commission before you pay
How to get your Alaska licence
Four steps to the licence — and a fifth that decides whether you keep it.
Complete the 40-hour course
Forty hours of Commission-approved pre-licensing education. Note how the certificate clock runs: completion certificates are valid only for eighteen months measured from the date of your application, not from when you finished the course.
Pass the exam with Pearson VUE — in one go
Eighty scored national questions and forty scored Alaska questions, four hours in total, $115. Alaska does not let you bank a passed portion: if you pass one section and fail the other, you retake the entire examination. Budget your study accordingly.
Find a broker and E&O cover
You must work for a licensed broker, and every licensee must submit proof of errors and omissions insurance — either through the Commission's master policy or equivalent independent cover. There are no fingerprints and no background-check fee: real estate is not one of the Alaska programs that requires them.
Apply within six months of the exam
Exam scores are valid for six months only. State fees come to $370 — a $200 non-refundable application fee, a $120 licence fee and a $50 recovery fund fee. You must be at least 19, and seven years must have passed since completing any sentence imposed on conviction.
Then 30 hours of post-licensing, within a year
Within one year of the Commission issuing your initial licence you must complete 30 hours of approved post-licensing education and file proof within thirty days after that year ends. Miss it and the licence "automatically lapses" thirty days after the one-year period. This is the requirement Alaska genuinely enforces.
From the Alaska Real Estate Commission, its salesperson licensing requirements and education pages, AS 08.88.091, 095, 171 and 172, 12 AAC 64.063, 64.064 and 64.500, the Commission's application and renewal forms, and the Pearson VUE Alaska candidate handbook revised July 2026, verified August 2026. Two notes. The Commission's own exam page still shows a $100 fee; the July 2026 Pearson VUE handbook says $115, and we have used the handbook. And we have not published a passing score — the current handbook does not state one for the salesperson examination, so confirm it with Pearson VUE rather than trusting a figure copied from elsewhere. E&O premiums are not published by the Commission or its master-policy administrator.
Alaska FAQs
Does the 30-hour post-licensing course count instead of continuing education?
No — and the Commission says so in as many words: "This education is in addition to the 20 hours of continuing education that you will be required to complete prior to license renewal." So a new Alaska licensee can be looking at 50 hours of education in their first cycle: 30 post-licensing within a year of issue, plus 20 CE before renewal. Almost every comparison page treats the post-licensing course as satisfying the first renewal. It does not.
What happens if I miss the 30-hour deadline?
You lose the licence, automatically. AS 08.88.095 requires the 30 hours within one year of initial licensure, with proof filed within thirty days after that year ends — and if a licensee fails to complete it, "the license automatically lapses 30 days after the end of the one-year period." No hearing, no warning letter. You can apply to reinstate on payment of the required fees provided you remain eligible, but the lapse itself is not discretionary. The 30 hours break down as 10 in contracts and agreements, 6 in licensee law, 6 in paperwork and risk management, 4 in property management, 2 in evaluation and pricing and 2 in financing to closing.
Can I buy the post-licensing course from the same school as my pre-licensing?
Almost certainly not. Neither national school appears on the Commission's approved list for the 30-hour post-licensing course — Colibri is listed for salesperson pre-licensing only, and The CE Shop is not on the current list at all. The seven providers approved for post-licensing are Alaska-based schools. Practically, that means budgeting for two providers: the national school for your 40 hours, and an Alaska school for the 30 that keep your licence alive. Nobody tells you this before you buy, so plan for it now.
If I fail one part of the exam, do I retake just that part?
No. Alaska is unusual here. The Pearson VUE handbook is explicit: "Candidates who pass one section of the examination and fail the other must retake the entire examination." Most states let you bank a passed portion and resit only what you failed — Alaska does not, so a weak state-law section costs you the national section too. There is a 24-hour wait before rebooking, and you cannot rebook at the test centre. Your $115 buys one attempt at both.
I'm licensed in another state — what does Alaska accept?
Less than you would hope. Alaska has no blanket reciprocity and its endorsement checklist names no partner states. You still need licence history from every jurisdiction you have ever been licensed in, a pass on the Alaska state portion valid within six months, a 6-hour Alaska real estate law course, proof of pre-licensing education equivalent to the 40 hours the regulations require, E&O cover and an employing broker. In other words the education requirement does not go away — an out-of-state licensee needs the equivalent 40 hours plus the Alaska law course.