Where to take the 75-hour North Carolina course
Your course has to be delivered by an education provider certified by the Commission, and it has to be the Broker Prelicensing course — North Carolina does not license "salespersons". These three all sell it.
The CE Shop
- Covers all 75 hours in one purchase, so the whole education requirement is cleared before you apply
- Sold in three tiers, so you can leave out exam prep if you would rather not pay for it
- Also carries the three 30-hour postlicensing courses, which matters here because you owe another 90 hours within 18 months of getting licensed
- Self-paced online, and North Carolina permits the full 75 hours that way
AceableAgent
- Full iOS and Android apps with progress synced to desktop, so the 75 hours can be done in gaps rather than in evenings
- Uses North Carolina's actual terminology — broker, provisional broker — so what you study matches what the Commission calls things
- Self-paced online across the whole course
- Course is broken into short units, which suits the Commission's rule that you must pass an assessment before moving on
Superior School of Real Estate
- Offers in-person and livestream classes as well as self-paced online, so you can switch format if self-study stalls
- North Carolina is its home market rather than one state in a national catalogue
- Part of the Colibri Group, so this is where Colibri's North Carolina students are sent
- Also sells the 90 hours of postlicensing you will owe within 18 months
How to get your North Carolina licence
Six steps — and the licence you get at the end of them does not yet let you work.
Finish the 75-hour Broker Prelicensing course
The Commission requires it to have been completed within the three years before you apply, so an old certificate can expire on you. A Commission "instructional hour" is 50 minutes of teaching plus a 10-minute break.
Order your criminal record report
North Carolina accepts reports from one vendor only, and the report must be dated within six months before your application. Order it before you file, not after — it gates the application, and the application gates the exam.
Apply to the Commission with the $105 fee
Coursework comes first here, application second. Once it is approved the Commission issues a Notice of Examination Eligibility valid for 180 days, and the Commission states plainly that it cannot be extended for any reason.
Pass both sections with Pearson VUE
North Carolina moved from PSI to Pearson VUE on 1 March 2024. The National and State sections are scored separately, so a strong result on one will not rescue the other.
Find a broker-in-charge
Your licence is issued inactive and on provisional status. A provisional broker must be supervised by a broker-in-charge for any activity requiring a licence, so line up the brokerage while you are still studying.
Complete 90 hours of postlicensing within 18 months
Three 30-hour courses. Miss the deadline and the licence goes inactive by operation of law — and the hours you already passed start expiring. This is the step that catches people.
From G.S. 93A-4(a), (a1) and (c), G.S. 93A-2(a2), 21 NCAC 58A .1902, 21 NCAC 58H .0101 and .0415, the North Carolina Real Estate Commission, its bulletin announcing the move to Pearson VUE, and the Commission's own candidate handbook Real Estate Licensing in North Carolina (April 2026 edition), verified August 2026. We have not published a background-check fee — the Commission states the cost varies with how many jurisdictions are searched — or a renewal fee, which statute leaves the Commission to set by rule.
North Carolina FAQs
How many hours of prelicensing does North Carolina require?
Seventy-five. G.S. 93A-4(a) requires an applicant to have "within three years preceding the date the application is made" completed, through a Commission-certified education provider, "an education program consisting of at least 75 hours of instruction". Two things hide in that sentence: the provider must be Commission-certified, and the three-year clock means a course you took and then set aside can stop counting.
Is there a salesperson licence in North Carolina?
No. Everyone licensed in North Carolina is a broker. A new licensee is a provisional broker, which G.S. 93A-2(a2) defines as one who "must be supervised by a broker-in-charge when performing any act for which a real estate license is required" until the postlicensing education is done. If a school or a job advert offers you a "North Carolina salesperson course", it is describing a licence this state does not issue.
Can I start working as soon as I pass the exam?
No. The licence is issued on inactive status. To move to active status you have to affiliate with a broker-in-charge, which means the brokerage search is a legal step rather than a career decision you can postpone. Worth knowing too: the Commission notes a provisional broker's licence can be made inactive if their broker-in-charge fails to renew or to complete their own continuing education — so your active status partly depends on someone else's paperwork.
What happens if I miss the 18-month postlicensing deadline?
Your licence goes on inactive status automatically — G.S. 93A-4(a1) and 21 NCAC 58A .1902(c) both say so, and the Commission treats that as barring brokerage activity, referral fees included. The part almost nobody mentions is what happens next: 21 NCAC 58A .1902(d)(1) requires a provisional broker reactivating an inactive licence to have completed all three postlicensing courses "within the previous two years". Come back three years later and courses you already passed may need retaking. Postlicensing credit does not keep indefinitely.
Why do I see different exam question counts on other sites?
Because North Carolina changed exam vendors and a lot of pages have not caught up. The Commission's bulletin announcing the switch states that "as of March 1, 2024… the North Carolina real estate broker license examination will be administered through Pearson VUE", with "80 scored items" on the National section and "60 scored items" on the State section. The Commission's own prelicensing FAQ page, however, still describes the retired PSI format of 135 questions with 40 state questions. We have used the figures from the bulletin and the current April 2026 candidate handbook, which agree with each other; if the two official pages matter to your planning, ring the Commission before exam day.
Can I take the whole course online?
Yes. The Commission states the prelicensing course is offered "in-person, via synchronous distance learning… or via distance courses (self-paced online courses)", and puts no cap on the self-paced share. One rule shapes how those courses feel, though: 21 NCAC 58H .0415 requires distance courses to be divided into units with an assessment completed before the next unit begins, so you cannot skim ahead to the end.