Best Real Estate Courses & Schools in Pennsylvania (2026)

Pennsylvania requires 75 hours split into two courses: a 30-hour Real Estate Fundamentals course and a 45-hour Real Estate Practice course. Your coursework must be completed within 5 years of passing the licensing exam.

Studying online at your own pace, most students finish the 75 hours of coursework in 4 to 8 weeks. Add time for your background check, exam scheduling, and finding a sponsoring broker, and most people are licensed within 3 to 6 months total.

The Pennsylvania State Real Estate Commission (SREC) mandates 75 total hours divided into two core courses: Real Estate Fundamentals (30 hours) and Real Estate Practice (45 hours). While most schools recommend taking Fundamentals first to establish baseline principles, state law allows you to take them in either order or concurrently if your schedule permits. When shopping for a provider, make sure you purchase a package that bundles both courses together—buying them separately usually ends up costing $50 to $100 more.

Most agents describe it as challenging. The exam has 120 questions split into an 80-question national section and a 40-question Pennsylvania-specific section, and you’ll need at least 75% correct on each section independently to pass — that’s 60 of 80 nationally and 30 of 40 on the state portion.

120 multiple-choice questions total: 80 on the national section and 40 on the Pennsylvania-specific section. You’ll have 150 minutes for the national portion and 60 minutes for the state portion.

You only need to retake the section you failed, not the whole exam — just reschedule with Pearson VUE and pay the $49 fee for that section again. You have up to 3 years from your first passing score to complete your license application, so there’s no need to rush.

Pennsylvania doesn’t publish a specific limit on retakes — you can keep retaking a failed section by paying the $49 fee each time until you pass.

75% on both sections independently — 60 of 80 correct on the national portion and 30 of 40 correct on the state portion.

Yes, and it’s genuinely one of the more generous reciprocity policies in the country. If you’ve been actively licensed as a broker or salesperson in another state within the past 5 years, you can skip both the national exam portion and the 75-hour pre-license course entirely — you only need to pass the Pennsylvania-specific portion of the exam.

Most Pennsylvania-approved pre-licensing courses include practice exams as part of the coursework. For additional free practice questions, check YouTube for study walkthroughs, or ask your course provider whether sample questions are available before purchasing standalone exam prep.

Take as many practice exams as you can — repetition is what turns recognition into recall. Because Pennsylvania requires a 75% pass on each section independently rather than an overall average, don’t neglect the 40-question state-specific portion just because the national section carries twice as many questions.

The Pearson VUE licensing exam consists of 120 total questions: 80 National and 40 Pennsylvania State questions. To pass, you must score at least 75% on both sections independently (60/80 on National and 30/40 on State). The state portion focuses heavily on RELRA (the Real Estate Licensing and Registration Act), SREC rules, Consumer Notice disclosures, and local escrow rules. Generic national prep tools skip RELRA nuances entirely. Look for a school or supplemental prep product that includes dedicated Pennsylvania State Law practice banks and RELRA-specific vocabulary drills.

Yes. During your very first 2-year renewal cycle, Pennsylvania requires all newly licensed salespersons to complete 14 hours of mandatory post-licensing education. SREC requires this to consist of a 7-hour General Module plus either a 7-hour Residential Module or a 7-hour Commercial Module. When evaluating real estate schools, check if their top-tier “career launcher” or “ultimate” packages include this mandatory 14-hour first-renewal course, saving you from paying extra when your renewal deadline approaches.