DRE Update: Continuing Education for California Real Estate Licensees

Published: September 4, 2026

Continuing education (CE) is essential for protecting consumers and upholding professionalism in real estate.

CE helps licensees stay current on California laws, regulations, and ethical standards, reducing the risk of mistakes, misrepresentation, or even unlawful conduct. By completing CE, licensees reinforce their fiduciary duties, maintain their skills and knowledge, and help preserve public trust in California’s real estate industry. For these reasons, all California real estate licensees must complete CE to renew their license every four years.

Included below are the renewal requirements for salespersons and broker/officers renewing for the first time, as well as for subsequent renewals.

Salespersons renewing their license for the first time must complete 45 hours of DRE-approved CE, including:

• Four separate 3-hour courses on ethics, agency, trust fund handling, and risk management
• One 3-hour course on fair housing with an interactive component where you role-play as both a consumer and a real estate professional
• One 2-hour course on implicit bias training
• At least 18 hours of consumer protection courses
• The remaining hours can be either consumer service or consumer protection courses

Brokers/Officers renewing their license for the first tme must complete 45 hours of DRE-approved CE, including:

• Five separate 3-hour courses on ethics, agency, trust fund handling, risk management, and management & supervision
• One 3-hour course on fair housing with an interactive component where you role play as both a consumer and a real estate professional
• One 2-hour course on implicit bias training
• At least 18 hours of consumer protection courses
• Remaining hours can be either consumer service or consumer protection courses

All Licensees for subsequent license renewals must complete 45 hours of DRE-approved CE, including:

• One 9-hour CE survey course covering ethics, agency, trust fund handling, risk management, management and supervision, fair housing, and implicit bias training, OR take individual courses in each of these subjects
• At least 18 hours of consumer protection courses
• Remaining hours can be either consumer service or consumer protection courses

Additional Information

DRE's Education and Research section is responsible for the review and approval of all real estate license continuing education course offerings. There are currently 63 continuing education course providers offering 525 approved courses. If you are a licensee looking to complete continuing education hours, DRE encourages you to visit www.dre.ca.gov for more information about DRE's education requirements and approved courses.