Build a DPOR-approved online real estate course in Virginia

Virginia approves the online version of a real estate course as its own course, with its own approval. The rule is short and almost every line of it lands on the platform: engagement checks for each class hour, a monitored final for prelicense, and completion data sent to the Board within five business days. Vaylo Studios builds that platform on your site, under your brand.

Get a quote for your courseRead the DPOR rules

What DPOR requires of an online course

Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation, Real Estate Board (DPOR). Summarized from the rule text, with the citation for each so you can check it yourself.

  1. 01

    Active engagement for every class hour

    18VAC135-20-362 A and B 2

    Every course a provider offers must include a mechanism designed to reasonably ensure the licensee is actively engaged for each class hour. This applies to prelicense, CE and post-license alike, so a video that plays to an empty room does not meet it.

  2. 02

    A monitored final for prelicense

    18VAC135-20-362 A

    Prelicense courses must be taught by a certified prelicense instructor and must have a monitored, final written assessment. Online delivery does not remove the monitoring.

  3. 03

    Testing and a notarized affidavit for distance CE and PLE

    18VAC135-20-362 B 3

    Correspondence and other distance CE and post-license courses need testing procedures that verify completion. The licensee also files a notarized affidavit certifying they met the course requirements, with the provider or in their own records.

  4. 04

    The application describes your recordkeeping for that delivery type

    18VAC135-20-362 A

    A prelicense application is filed electronically and approved before the course is first offered. It includes copies of the assessments, tests or quizzes and information about recordkeeping for the type of course delivery.

  5. 05

    Student records kept five years

    18VAC135-20-362 D

    For each student: name and address, course name and clock hours attended, syllabus or outline, instructor, completion date and Board course code. Records stay open to Board inspection for a minimum of five years.

  6. 06

    Certificate fields are fixed

    18VAC135-20-362 E

    The completion certificate carries the student name, school name, course name, course approval number, completion date, hours, and the line Approved by the Real Estate Board.

  7. 07

    Completion data to the Board in five business days

    18VAC135-20-362 F

    Every provider electronically transmits course completion data to the Board, in an approved format and method, within five business days of each individual course completion.

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.

Hour-by-hour engagement log

Each class hour carries its own interaction checks and a seat-time lock, and the platform logs them per student per hour. That log is the mechanism you describe to DPOR and the evidence if the Board asks.

Monitored prelicense final

The final opens only after the hours are complete, checks the student's identity at the start, and runs under monitoring, so the monitored written assessment in subsection A holds online.

Affidavit workflow for distance CE and PLE

The completion test is built in. After a pass the student gets the affidavit pre-filled for notarization, and the signed copy uploads back to the record or downloads for the licensee to keep.

Records and certificates from the same data

The fields subsection D lists are captured as the student works, held for five years, and printed onto a certificate that carries every field subsection E requires.

Five-day completion reporting

Completions queue for transmission to the Board in its approved format the day they happen, with a dashboard that flags anything nearing the five-business-day line.

The path to DPOR approval

  1. 1

    Hold a Virginia proprietary school certificate. The application shows a minimum net worth of $2,000 through a CPA-certified letter or a balance sheet or financial statement (18VAC135-20-360).

  2. 2

    File a course approval for the online format itself: the Prelicense Education Course Approval Application (A490-0214PRE-v9) or the Continuing Education/Post License Course Approval Application (A490-214CE_PLE-vs11). DPOR lists each approved course with its format.

  3. 3

    Include the assessments, the syllabus and the recordkeeping description for online delivery with the application.

  4. 4

    Wait for Board approval before the course is first offered, then report every completion within five business days.

  5. 5

    Track the expiry. Course approvals run three years from the last day of the month they were granted.

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 Virginia require ARELLO or IDECC certification for an online real estate course?

No. The Virginia regulations do not mention ARELLO, IDECC or any third-party distance education certification. DPOR approves the course directly under 18VAC135-20-362.

My classroom prelicense course is already approved. Can I just put it online?

Not under the same approval. DPOR tracks each course by format, classroom, online or correspondence, so the online version goes in as its own course approval application.

Does the online prelicense final have to be proctored in Virginia?

The rule calls for a monitored, final written assessment for prelicense courses. The platform has to give you a way to monitor that final remotely and show who took it.

How many hours are the Virginia courses?

Principles and Practices is at least 60 class hours. CE is 16 hours for salespersons and 24 for brokers per licensing term, and post-license is 30 hours in the first year. The statutes allow all of it by correspondence or other distance learning.

Can the course run in Spanish?

Yes. The platform runs in English and Spanish, with the same engagement checks and records in both. We are building one right now for a state-approved online school in Virginia, in English and Spanish, on the same terms.

How does Vaylo price a Virginia course build?

One flat fee per course, quoted up front. The final payment is due when DPOR approves the course. No per-student fees, and you own the platform and the code. Monthly upkeep for hosting and rule changes is optional.

Price your DPOR 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

Read from the sources above on October 15, 2026. Rules change, so confirm the current text with DPOR before you apply. This page is not legal advice.

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