61J2-3.008. Pre-licensing Education for Broker and Sales Associate Applicants

(1) Any persons desiring to become licensed as a real estate sales associate must satisfactorily complete the Commission-prescribed course designated as Course I. This course will consist of 63 hours of 50 minutes each, inclusive of examination, in the basic fundamentals of real estate principles and practices, basic real estate, and license law. This rule sets forth the course approval criteria and procedure.

(2)(a) Any licensed sales associate desiring to become licensed as a broker must satisfactorily complete the Commission-prescribed course designated as Course II. This course will consist of 72 hours of 50 minutes each, inclusive of examination, in the fundamentals of real estate appraising, investment, financing, and brokerage and management operations.

(b) For all courses approved for classroom delivery, 50 minute hours means fifty minutes of classroom instruction, exclusive of any breaks, recesses, or other time not spent in instruction. Classroom hours are the hours delivered live by an instructor in a classroom or by a live streaming or any means of video conferencing technology while the students are in attendance.

(c) Any school requesting approval for a live streaming course must submit to the DBPR at the time of course submission all course materials as well as information on the delivery method and software platform being used.

(3)(a) Accredited universities, colleges, community colleges and area technical centers in this state that offer transferable college credit courses, or real estate schools registered pursuant to Section 475.451, F.S. (“school”), may offer these Commission-prescribed courses. Satisfactory completion of these courses will not entitle any person to receive a license as a real estate broker or sales associate until such person has met all other requirements of law and has passed the applicable Commission-approved state examination which DBPR administers.

(b) The school permit holder, permitted administrative person, or permitted instructor shall, assure necessary equipment performance and administer and certify student and course compliance.

(4)(a) A grade of 70% or higher on the Commission-prescribed end-of-course examination constitutes satisfactory course completion. The school shall administer the examination upon completion of the instruction, provided the student has not missed in excess of 8 hours of classroom instruction.

(b) The school must submit to the Commission the course materials and end-of-course examinations. The school must also submit a copy of the course, and access to the course, in the format in which the course will be offered to the student. Primary schools shall submit pre-license courses for evaluation every new edition. In no event may a course evaluation submission for renewal be made more than four years after the original approval date. Secondary schools shall resubmit pre-license courses for evaluation prior to every second renewal. A primary school is a school that develops the course material for evaluation under its school name. A secondary school is a school that has been given authority by the primary school to submit the course material for evaluation under its school name. Secondary schools must submit, with the course evaluation, a letter from the primary school authorizing the secondary school to submit the course for evaluation under its school name. When delivered by distance education, the course and examination shall comply with the “Course Approval criteria” as follows:

1. Distance learning necessitates a high level of self-direction and should, therefore, require students to read, conduct research, complete timed exams and similar assignments, designed to measure the student’s competency relative to the required subject matter objectives. Distance learning study must be offered on a classroom hour per classroom hour basis.

2. Distance learning means the delivery of education offerings or courses via the internet and/or other interactive electronic media. Such offerings or courses shall be interactive, providing for the interchange of information between the student, and instructor, and shall provide for the registration, evaluation, monitoring, and verification of pre-license education: 50 minute hours for distance learning courses shall be the equivalent of the 50 minute classroom hour in a classroom delivery course.

3. Schools must demonstrate that the credit hours awarded for distance learning are appropriate to the course offered. The schools may accomplish this objective by demonstrating that students engaged in distance learning have acquired the knowledge, skills, and/or competencies that are at least equivalent to those acquired by students enrolled in classroom studies. Pre-licensure courses shall not be offered by correspondence methods, except by reason of a hardship as defined by rule.

a. The school must demonstrate that the technical processes used in the delivery of the course operate correctly and the instructional strategies its use supports.

b. The school must have in place alternative plans for the provision of uninterrupted learner services and technical support in the event of primary system failure.

c. The school must have policies and technical processes in place to verify and document student identity for enrollment, course participation and course completion.

d. Course submissions shall include a detailed course time-line, and the school shall make the timeline available to students prior to enrollment.

e. The school must present evidence by means of an objective study that the stated course hours are consistent with actual hours required to complete the course.

f. The school must describe in detail, the objective method used to insure students receive only the allotted time to complete the end-of-course examinations.

g. The school must demonstrate that permitted instructors and technical staff are available during normal business hours for student assistance. Instructor and technical assistance must be made available to students and posted in a prominent location.

h. Pre-licensing courses must conform to and follow the order of the Course I and Course II syllabus. Courses must include learning objectives for each session of the syllabus. The school must describe the method of assessment of the student’s performance periodically throughout the course of instruction.

i. End-of-course examinations shall not include aids such as, but not limited to, hint, back, or retry functionalities. The school must demonstrate that there is a reasonable method in place to prevent duplication of the end-of-course examination. Students shall not take the end-of-course examination without satisfactorily completing all sessions of the syllabus.

j. The school must require the student to submit a statement that includes, “I certify that I personally completed all assignments and have not duplicated any portion of the end-of-course examination prior to the taking of the final examination.” Thereafter, it is the responsibility of the school offering the Commission-approved courses to keep the course materials current and accurate, as changing times and laws require, and obtain approval from the Commission at least 60 days before implementing any significant changes to the course during its approval period. Approval or denial of a Commission-required pre-licensing course (Course I or Course II) will be based on the extent to which the course content covers the material set forth in the appropriate Commission-developed course syllabus, “Sales Associate Course Syllabus (Course I)” or “Broker Course syllabus (Course II).”

I. Course I submissions for classes to be offered prior to December 31, 2022 shall be evaluated based on the January 1, 2015 Revision, incorporated herein by reference and available at http://www.flrules.org/Gateway/Reference.asp?No=Ref-05977.

II. Course I submissions for classes to be offered on or after January 1, 2023 shall be evaluated based on the January 1, 2023 Revision, which is likewise incorporated herein by reference and is available at http://www.flrules.org/Gateway/Reference.asp?No=Ref-14599.

III. Course II submissions shall be evaluated based on the Revision effective January 1, 2017 “Broker Course syllabus (Course II),” incorporated herein by reference and available at http://www.flrules.org/Gateway/Reference.asp?No=Ref-09136.

IV. In addition to online availability, Course I and Course II syllabi are also available from the Commission’s office at 400 W. Robinson Street, #N801, Orlando, Florida 32801.

V. The institution or school may resubmit a denied course with the mandated changes for reevaluation.

k. During the month of August of each year, real estate instructors and other real estate education stake holders may submit written recommendations for updating the Sales Associate Course Syllabus (Course I) and Broker Course Syllabus (Course II). The purpose of submitting recommendations is to keep the course syllabi current with revised rules and statutes.

(c) The Commission will approve pre-licensure courses for a period of 24 months and evaluate the course for renewal, provided the school submits the form DBPR RE 18, “Continuing Education Course Approval Application,” incorporated by subsection 61-35.027(17), F.A.C., no more than 120 days prior to the course expiration date. The renewal application must include the course materials, the end-of-course examinations and a summary of what updates and revisions have been made to the course. A school may grade an examination within 15 days after the expiration date of the course, provided it receives the materials prior to or on the date of expiration. Schools shall notify students of the course number and expiration date upon enrollment.

(d) The school shall develop at least 2 forms of the end-of-course examination, and submit them for approval as provided in paragraph (4)(b) above. No end-of-course examination shall contain more than 15% duplication of questions. Examinations must test the course material. The answer key must be unique for each form of the examination. The answer key must reference the page number(s) containing the information upon which each question and correct answer is based. At least 70% of the questions on each form of the test shall be application oriented. Application level means the ability to use the learned material in a completely new and concrete situation. It usually involves the application of rules, policies, methods, computations, laws, theories, or any other relevant and available information. No more than 10% of the questions on each form of the test shall be at the knowledge level. Knowledge level means the recall of specific facts, patterns, methods, terms, rules, dates, formulas, names, or other information that should be committed to memory. A school offering the Commission-prescribed courses must maintain a sufficient bank of questions to assure examination validity. The sales associate end-of-course examinations shall contain at least 100 items, or 2 items per instruction hour. The broker end-of-course examinations shall contain at least 95 items, of which 5 items are 2 points each, which shall cover closing statements or escrow accounts, or 2 items per instruction hour. All Questions shall be multiple-choice with 4 answer choices each. The order of the examination questions may not follow the sequence of the course content and the item must not refer the student to the course material. The overall time to complete the end-of-course examination must not exceed the equivalent of 1.8 minutes per item.

(5)(a) The school offering these Commission-prescribed courses shall inform each student of the standards and requirements at the commencement of each course. Notice of course completion shall comply with Rule 61J2-3.015, F.A.C.

(b) In all Commission-approved courses by distance education, the school and permitholder shall provide to students an address, email address and telephone number of a permitted instructor registered with such school, who shall be available to assist the students with instruction. The school shall communicate to all students the times in which the permitted instructor will be available to assist the students with instruction.

(6) Students failing the Commission-prescribed end-of-course examination must wait at least 30 days from the date of the original examination to retest. Within one year of the original examination, a student may retest a maximum of one time. Otherwise, students failing the end-of-course examination must repeat the course prior to being eligible to take the end-of-course examination again. Schools shall administer a different form of the end-of-course examination to a student that is retaking the exam or repeating the course.

(7) Make-up classes and examinations to enable a student to take the end-of-course examination due to student or family illness may not extend more than 30 days beyond the scheduled class examination without approval from the Commission. Make-up classes must consist of the original course materials that the student missed.

(8) Any active member in good standing with The Florida Bar who is otherwise qualified under the real estate license law is exempt from the Commission-prescribed prerequisite education course for licensure as a real estate sales associate.

(9) Any applicant for licensure who has received a 4-year degree or higher in real estate from an accredited institution of higher education is exempt from the Commission-prescribed prerequisite education courses for licensure.

Rulemaking Authority 475.05 FS. Law Implemented 475.04, 475.17, 475.182, 475.183, 475.451 FS. History–New 1-1-80, Amended 8-24-80, 9-16-84, Formerly 21V-3.08, Amended 7-16-86, 10-13-88, 5-20-90, 1-13-91, 7-20-93, Formerly 21V-3.008, Amended 12-13-94, 6-14-95, 8-2-95, 12-30-97, 9-1-99, 1-18-00, 11-6-00, 1-12-04, 11-3-15, 3-27-18, 1-17-19, 12-22-20, 8-21-22.