7 best real estate schools in Illinois (IL) for 2024

The CE Shop’s prelicensing courses meet Illinois’ 75-hour prelicensing requirement. Post-licensing courses meet Illinois’ 45-hour post-licensing continuing education, which is required every 2 years.

Prelicensing Pricing

Pros:

• Option to complete prelicensing education in as little as two weeks
• Free 5-day trial of the prelicensing course

Cons:

• Lack of access to live instructors

Course Formats: Online interactive via learning platform LEAP.

Course Access: The CE Shop’s prelicensing courses expire six months after the date of purchase and post-licensing courses expire one year after the date of purchase.

Money Back Guarantee: With the CE Shop’s “Money Back Guarantee,” you can request your money back within 30 days of purchase, as long as the course is not over 50% complete.

Student Support: Support is available seven days a week via email, chat, and phone.

Exam Prep: The CE Shop’s Exam Prep classes were created by a team of experts using the Illinois Candidate Handbook. Exam Prep’s interactive dashboards guide students through each topic while gauging their competency, so you can focus on the topics you still need to master before your upcoming exam. The CE Shop also delivers unlimited practice exams with unique questions to get you ready for the big day.

Final Exam: At the end of each course, there is a final to ensure that you have read and retained the important information.

Colibri’s prelicensing courses meet Illinois’ 75-hour prelicensing requirement. Post-licensing courses meet Illinois’ 45-hour post-licensing continuing education, which is required every 2 years.

Prelicensing Pricing

Pros:

• Self-paced options for busy students
• Next-gen student dashboard for tracking progress
• Exam Prep packages with unlimited practice tests

Cons:

• Online and livestream classes cannot be mixed and matched. Each class must be completed in the format it was started to receive credit

Course Formats: Online, self-paced, or livestream.

Course Access: Colibri’s courses are available for durations between three days and six months, depending on the course purchased.

Pass Guarantee: Colibri’s Pass or Don’t Pay Guarantee is available with all packages, with the exception of the Prelicensing Basic package. If a student does not pass the Illinois real estate license exam within 30 days of completing Colibri’s exam prep course, the school will reimburse the original cost of either your prelicensing package or the exclusive exam prep you purchased after receiving a formal reimbursement request via email.

Student Support & Engagement: Expert local instructors are available via phone or email to answer questions or offer insight.

Exam Prep: Colibri’s Exam Prep, Exam Prep Plus, and the Ultimate Prelicensing packages include CompuCram Exam Prep, which features interactive tools and pre-assessments created to help you retain real estate exam topics, including flashcards, vocabulary matching tools, and simulated tests that mirror the actual state exam.

Illinois REALTORS’ offers 60-hour broker prelicensing education and 15-hour broker prelicensing Applied Real Estate Principles’ education. Packages listed as 75-hours include both required courses. See Illinois REALTORS’s site for a complete list of online courses, webinars, and live classes.

Prelicensing Pricing

Pros:

• A variety of course platforms to accommodate various learning styles and schedules
• Ability to retake all quizzes to achieve 80% or better with D2L prelicensing packages

Cons:

• Textbook or searchable eBook is not included in the D2L prelicensing price and is non-refundable

Course Formats: Choose from online, webinars, and live classes.

Course Access: Leap Learning’s prelicensing courses expire 180 days from purchase, while its CE courses expire 120 days from purchase D2L’s Prelicensing and CE Courses expire 180 days from purchase.

Refund Policies: With Leap Learning courses, there are no refunds after 30 days, and/or if credit has been issued. With D2L courses, there are no refunds for no shows, after 90 days, and/or if credit has been issued.

Student Support & Engagement: Support varies based on the course provider and format you purchase.

Education Scholarships: Scholarships, grants, and tuition reimbursement opportunities are available for new students and professionals continuing their real estate education. Illinois REALTORS’ students use two primary sources of financial aid: REEF Scholarships and GI Bill® education benefit. GI Bill® benefits may be applied to Illinois REALTORS prelicensing classroom courses (classroom training only).

Kaplan’s prelicensing courses meet Illinois’ 75-hour prelicensing requirement. Post-licensing courses meet Illinois’ 45-hour post-licensing continuing education, which is required every 2 years.

Prelicensing Pricing

Pros:

• Video courses feature expert instructors complemented by text-based content to help reinforce concepts
• Choose between a prelicensing online video package or a prelicensing hybrid package with home study + online video training methods
• Stop and start video courses as needed without losing your place

Cons:

• Zoom is required for live online classes

Course Formats: Choose either an online video package or a hybrid package, with home study and online video training methods.

Course Access: Prelicensing students have six months to complete their course from the date of purchase.

Pass Guarantee or Refund Policy: Kaplan offers a full tuition refund within 30 days of purchase, but only if the course or class has not been completed.

Student Support & Engagement: Real estate experts are available to answer any questions via email. General support is also available via live chat.

Exam Prep: To strengthen your knowledge and tailor your exam prep specifically to your area of strength and weakness, Kaplan’s Exam Prep QBank test engine features online question banks to test your knowledge on state and national tested topics.

Net Real Estate School offers 75-hour broker prelicensing packages which include the required 60-hour broker prelicensing education and 15-hour broker Applied Real Estate Principles.

Prelicensing Pricing

Pros:

• Family-owned, small school means individualized attention for students
• Three attempts to pass the school exam
• No bells and whistles makes classes more affordable

Cons:

• Students who want a more robust course experience will not appreciate the barebones offerings
• 60-hour course no longer offered separately

Course Formats: Choose between live classes and online/distance learning webinars.

Course Access: Prelicensing Live course registration is valid for six months for each course.

Refund Policy: There are no refunds for the Prelicensing Live course.

Student Support: Full instructor support with tutoring is available via Zoom and included at no additional charge with the Prelicensing 75-Hour Online Broker Self-Paced class. For the Prelicensing 45-Hour Managing Broker package, the instructor is available five days per week to answer any questions.

Final Exam: While the 75-Hour Online Broker Self-Paced class includes a school final exam, there are no final exams required to take or pass a CE course.

Exam Prep Pricing

Pros:

• Designed for various learning styles, including visual and audible
• Interactive and user-friendly features
• Webinars are live, online, and available 5 times weekly

Cons:

• No pre-licensing or CE courses offered

Course Format: Live, online webinars.

Course Access: One week to three months, depending on the package purchased.

Pass Guarantee or Refund Policy: PrepAgent offers a 100% satisfaction guarantee if you are not satisfied with a product. School must be contacted within 120 days of your purchase for a refund.

Student Support: Support is available by phone Monday through Friday, 9am to 3pm CT. Outside of normal business hours, email or text your questions to PrepAgent.

Exam Prep: PrepAgent’s Exam Prep Ebook includes over 100 pages that review key concepts of the real estate exam. For visual learners, there are more than 75 real estate Exam Prep videos. These engaging, animated videos can help you master the core New Jersey real estate concepts.

Real Estate Institute’s prelicensing courses meet Illinois’ 75-hour prelicensing requirement. Post-licensing courses meet Illinois’ 45-hour post-licensing continuing education, which is required every two years.

Prelicensing Pricing

Pros:

• Small but engaging course catalog make it easy to quickly achieve professional goals
• Start-to-finish course support from academic and administrative professionals
• Multiple class locations and adaptable learning options

Cons:

• No exam prep or managing broker pre-licensing packages offered

Course Formats: Online or class/webinar.

Course Access: All courses expire six months after the date of enrollment. In some cases, expired prelicensing course enrollments may be extended for a fee.

Refund Policy: Course enrollments are non-refundable.

Student Support: The Real Estate Institute team is available by live chat or phone to answer detailed licensing questions, provide technical support, offer one-on-one instructor support and even encouragement to students who are about to take their licensing exams.

Final Exam: The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation requires students who take the new 45-hour post-licensing program to pass a final exam for each 15-hour course.