Where to take the 90-hour Idaho course
Idaho puts a real filter on online courses: state law requires the design and delivery of every distance-learning course to be certified by ARELLO or an equivalent body. The national schools do not all carry Idaho, so we list a school here only when we can confirm what it actually sells in the state.
The CE Shop
- Sells both 45-hour modules under Idaho's own course names, so you can match what you buy against the Commission's requirement line by line
- Covers all 90 hours in one purchase, in three package tiers, so you can leave out exam prep if you would rather not pay for it
- Also sells Post License Fundamentals and the Idaho Commission Core course — the two things you will need again at your first active renewal
- Free trial of the Idaho course, so you can see whether self-paced study suits you before committing money
Colibri Real Estate
- Sells Idaho exam prep, which is worth knowing about separately if you have already finished your 90 hours elsewhere and want practice questions
- We could not find a purchasable Idaho pre-licence package on its site, so it is not an option for the 90 hours themselves
- Its Idaho requirements page states that pre-licensing "must be completed in a classroom environment" and that "distance education is not permitted" — the Commission says the opposite, so do not let that page talk you out of an online course
- The same page calls the credential a "Sales Agent" licence; Idaho law issues a salesperson licence, and "associate broker" here means two years' experience, not a starting point
How to get your Idaho licence
Five steps — and two of them are clocks that start without telling you.
Complete the 90 hours
Salesperson Prelicense Module 1 and Module 2, 45 hours each. Idaho counts a classroom hour as fifty minutes of actual instruction and excludes exam time from it, so 90 "hours" is not 90 hours of your evening. You must attend all of each course and pass a Commission-approved final exam at 70%.
Get fingerprinted — but not too early
Idaho requires a fingerprint-based national criminal history check, and the results are valid for six months only. Print too far ahead of your exam and your clearance expires before you file, which means paying for it twice.
Pass both portions with Pearson VUE
Eighty scored questions on the national portion in 150 minutes, forty on the Idaho portion in 90, and a passing score of 70 for salespersons. The fee is $83. Retakes are unlimited — which is exactly why the next step surprises people.
File the application within twelve months of your first pass
The clock runs from the date you passed your first portion, and it has to cover passing the second one and submitting a completed application. Unlimited retakes do not reset it. The application fee is $135, and all 90 hours must have been completed within the previous three years.
Buy E&O cover, then find a designated broker
Idaho makes errors and omissions insurance a condition of active licensing, and you must show proof at application. A designated broker signs off on an active licence — but Idaho will issue you an inactive one and let you sit on it, so a brokerage is not a prerequisite for being licensed.
From the Idaho Real Estate Commission and its applicant education page, Idaho Code §§ 54-2012, 54-2013, 54-2018, 54-2022, 54-2023 and 54-2036, the Commission's errors and omissions insurance policy, and the Idaho Real Estate Candidate Handbook published by Pearson VUE, verified August 2026. Two things to note about sources: the Commission now sits inside the Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses, so its pages live at dopl.idaho.gov rather than the old irec.idaho.gov address, and Idaho keeps its education requirements in statute rather than in the administrative rules, which is why every figure above cites Idaho Code. We have not published a fingerprint fee because the Commission's current fee schedule does not itemise one. The $0 renewal fee is a temporary fee holiday that began on 1 January 2026 and the Commission has said it will reinstate the fee when it judges the time right — check it before you budget for a renewal.
Idaho FAQs
How many hours of pre-licensing does Idaho require?
Ninety. Idaho Code § 54-2022(1)(a) is direct about it: "For a salesperson's license, the applicant shall complete a total of ninety (90) classroom hours." The Commission splits that into Salesperson Prelicense Module 1 and Module 2, 45 hours each. Worth knowing before you plan your evenings: § 54-2036 defines a classroom hour as "a period of at least fifty (50) minutes of actual instruction" and says exam time does not count toward it.
Can I take the Idaho pre-licence course online?
Yes. The Commission says in plain terms that prelicense courses "may be taken live in a traditional classroom, through remote delivery via Zoom, or as self-paced online study." There is a real filter on which online courses qualify, though: § 54-2036 requires that the design and delivery of each distance-learning course be certified by ARELLO or an equivalent body the Commission accepts. That is a genuine narrowing of the field, and almost nobody mentions it. Be aware too that one national school's Idaho page currently states that distance education "is not permitted" in Idaho — that is not what the Commission says.
Do I have to finish all 90 hours before I sit the exam?
No, and this is stated backwards almost everywhere. Idaho ties the education requirement to the licence application, not to exam eligibility: § 54-2022(2) requires you to complete all prelicense courses "within no more than three (3) years prior to the date of the license application." Pearson VUE does not ask for a completion certificate to let you test. In practice most people still study first, because the exam is easier after the coursework — but the legal deadline is the application.
How long do I have after passing the exam?
One year from your first passed portion — and that year has to cover passing the second portion as well as filing a completed application. Pearson VUE's Idaho handbook puts it as: pass both sections "and submit a completed application for licensure within one (1) year of the date of the first passed exam section." There is no cap on retakes, which is what disguises the deadline: people assume unlimited attempts means unlimited time. Watch your fingerprints too, since those results are valid for six months only.
What does an Idaho licence actually cost right now?
The application fee is $135 and the Pearson VUE exam is $83. Renewal is currently $0 — as of 1 January 2026 the Division began a fee holiday for the Real Estate Commission, and individual broker and salesperson renewals are free while it lasts. It is explicitly temporary, so treat any renewal figure you read anywhere, including here, as something to re-check. Your other real cost is errors and omissions insurance, which is compulsory before you can hold an active licence.
Does Idaho require errors and omissions insurance?
Yes — genuinely, unlike several states that get listed as E&O-mandatory without a rule behind it. Idaho Code § 54-2013(1) says "each licensee who is actively licensed under this chapter shall, as a condition to licensing, carry and maintain errors and omissions insurance," and § 54-2012(1) makes proof of it part of the application. The Commission's policy sets the individual minimums at not less than $100,000 for each occurrence and $300,000 in the annual aggregate, with investigation and defence costs outside those limits and a deductible of no more than $3,500. It binds active licensees, so an inactive licence does not need it.
What is Idaho's post-licence education requirement?
Twelve hours plus two core courses — and the trigger is not a fixed number of months after licensure, which is how most sites describe it. Idaho Code § 54-2023(1)(a) attaches it to your first active renewal, or to your first activation after the initial licence period ends: a salesperson must then "complete two (2) commission core courses, plus the post license course." The Commission builds that post-licence course as an 8-hour Post License Fundamentals course plus a 4-hour module of your choosing. Activating during your first licence period needs none of it.