Get your Florida real estate course approved for online delivery
Florida lets a permitted real estate school replace classroom hours with distance learning, as long as FREC approves the course. The rules are about time: hour-for-hour content, a timed end-of-course exam, and a written method that proves students only get the allotted minutes. Vaylo Studios builds that platform for your school, on your domain.
What FREC requires of an online course
Florida Real Estate Commission, Department of Business and Professional Regulation (FREC). Summarized from the rule text, with the citation for each so you can check it yourself.
- 01
Distance learning is an approved option to classroom hours
s. 475.17(2)(a)2., F.S.
The Commission approves distance learning courses as an option to classroom hours. Completion requires a timed distance learning exam, and the statute says that exam does not have to be monitored or given at a central location.
- 02
Hour for hour with classroom
Rule 61J2-3.008(4)(b)1., F.A.C.; s. 475.17(2)(a)1., F.S.
Distance learning is offered on an hour-for-hour basis with classroom instruction. The sales associate course caps at 63 hours of 50 minutes and the broker course at 72, inclusive of the exam, so the online content carries the same weight.
- 03
Internet delivery must be interactive
Rule 61J2-3.008(4)(b)2., F.A.C.
Distance learning means delivery over the internet or similar electronic media, and it must be interactive. A stack of PDFs does not qualify.
- 04
No correspondence for pre-licensing or post-licensing
s. 475.17(7), F.S.
The Commission may not approve pre-licensure or post-licensure distance courses by correspondence methods, except in hardship cases. CE is the only level where correspondence is allowed.
- 05
Exam time is capped and you document how
Rule 61J2-3.008(4)(a), (4)(b)3. and (4)(d), F.A.C.
The end-of-course exam may not exceed the equivalent of 1.8 minutes per item, and the school describes the objective method it uses to make sure students get only the allotted time. Passing is 70% or higher.
- 06
CE exams have a fixed shape
Rule 61J2-3.009, F.A.C.
Licensees complete 14 hours of 50-minute instruction per renewal. CE exams have at least 30 items, or at least 10 for modules of 5 hours or less, all multiple choice with four answer choices, and passing is 80%. Materials and exams go in at least 60 days before use.
How the platform is built to it
Your course, on your site, under your name. Every requirement above is a feature, not a promise in the application.
Seat time measured in 50-minute hours
Every module is metered against Florida's 50-minute hour, so a 63-hour sales associate course is 63 of them, not 63 clock hours and not less. Breaks do not count toward the total.
Interactive checkpoints in every module
Questions, scenarios and responses sit inside the lesson flow so the course meets the interactive requirement on its face when a DBPR reviewer opens it.
A server-timed exam at 1.8 minutes per item
The exam clock is computed from the item count and enforced on the server, so a refresh or a second tab does not buy time. That clock is the objective method you describe in the submission.
CE exam rules in the item bank
The bank enforces four-option multiple choice, the 30 or 10 item minimum by module length, and the 80% pass mark, with the 70% mark kept for pre-licensing.
A reviewer account that sees what students see
DBPR gets access to the course in the same format students use, which the rule asks for when a distance course is submitted.
Attendance for livestream classes
If you also teach live over video, those hours count as classroom. The platform logs attendance per student against the 8-hour absence limit.
The path to FREC approval
- 1
Hold a DBPR real estate school permit.
- 2
Prepare the course materials and end-of-course exams to the Commission's course approval criteria, at the full hour-for-hour length.
- 3
Submit the materials and exams to the Commission and give DBPR access to the course in the format students will use, with a description of how exam time is limited.
- 4
For CE, submit at least 60 days before you plan to offer the course and wait for approval.
- 5
Launch once approved. Students finish with 70% or higher on pre-licensing exams and 80% or higher on CE exams.
The terms
We are building one right now for a state-approved online school in Virginia, in English and Spanish, on the same terms.
- One flat fee
- Quoted per course before any work starts. No hourly billing and no surprise line items.
- Final payment on approval
- The last payment is due when the regulator approves the course, so the platform has to pass review before it is paid for in full.
- No per-student fees
- You keep what every enrollment pays. Nothing is skimmed per seat, per certificate or per month of traffic.
- You own it
- The platform, the code and the student records are yours outright, on your site and under your brand.
Questions schools ask
Does a Florida online real estate exam have to be proctored?
Not by statute. s. 475.17 requires a timed distance learning exam and says it does not have to be monitored or given at a central location. What you do have to show is how the time limit is enforced.
Is a Zoom class distance learning in Florida?
No. Instruction delivered live by live streaming or video conferencing while students attend counts as classroom hours. For a livestream course the school also submits the delivery method and software platform.
Can I sell my pre-licensing course as a self-paced correspondence course?
Not outside a hardship case. Pre-licensing and post-licensing distance courses have to be internet delivered and interactive. Correspondence is only allowed at the CE level.
I license content from a national provider today. Can I move to my own platform?
Approval attaches to the course materials and exams the school submits to the Commission. Moving to your own platform means submitting your own approved course, not just switching software. We build the platform and prepare the access and timing documentation that submission asks for.
What are the terms for a Florida build?
A flat fee for each course, with the final payment due when FREC approves it. No per-student fees, and the platform and code are yours. English and Spanish are both available. We are building one right now for a state-approved online school in Virginia, in English and Spanish, on the same terms.
Price your FREC course
Tell us the course and how you teach it now. You get a flat price back by email, and a list of what the application will ask about the platform.
Or email [email protected]
Sources
- s. 475.17, Florida Statutes
- Rule 61J2-3.008, F.A.C. (Florida Administrative Code)
- Rule 61J2-3.008, F.A.C. (Cornell LII)
- Rule 61J2-3.009, F.A.C. (Cornell LII)
- DBPR real estate public records
Read from the sources above on October 15, 2026. Rules change, so confirm the current text with FREC before you apply. This page is not legal advice.