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State Cert Guide

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How many continuing education hours do I need each year for my North Carolina real estate license?

To keep an active North Carolina real estate license, you take eight hours of continuing education (CE) each year. Provisional brokers and non-BIC brokers take the General Update course plus one Commission-approved elective. Brokers-in-charge and BIC-eligible brokers should take the BICUP course plus one Commission-approved elective instead.

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The rule, fact by fact

Course hours
Eight hours of continuing education each year to keep an active licenseIt is your update course plus one Commission-approved elective, whichever update course is yours.
Verified. www.ncrec.gov (opens state website) · checked Nov 13, 2026
Who needs it
Provisional and non-BIC brokers: General Update plus one Commission-approved electiveIf you are a broker-in-charge or BIC-eligible, your update course is a different one.
Same source and date as above
Online accepted
Update courses are live, in person or online; electives can be self-paced onlineSo a self-paced online course can fill the elective, not the update course.
Verified. bulletins.ncrec.gov (opens state website) · checked Nov 13, 2026

How to get it done

  1. Step 1. Work out which update course is yours. Provisional brokers and non-BIC brokers take General Update. BICs and BIC-eligible brokers should take BICUP. A BIC or BIC-eligible broker who takes General Update and an elective keeps an active license but loses BIC status or eligibility.

  2. Step 2. Pick the delivery that fits each course. Update courses must be taken live, in person or synchronously online. Elective courses can also be self-paced online.

  3. Step 3. Take eight hours between July 1 and June 10: your update course plus one Commission-approved elective. Finish them by June 10, or your license can become inactive.

  4. Step 4. Keep your completion certificate. Your education provider issues it and reports your credit to the Commission within seven days of the course. If the credit isn't posted within 10 days, contact the provider.

Before you pay

We read the Commission's CE FAQ and one of its bulletins, not the rule text, and we haven't confirmed any course price. Before you pay, ask the provider whether the course counts for North Carolina CE and whether it is an update course or an elective.

Questions

Do I need an ethics course to renew my North Carolina real estate license?

Not for the Commission. Its CE FAQ says the National Association of REALTORS requires an ethics course, not the Real Estate Commission.

What if my license is inactive and I have no CE deficiency?

Just submit the License Activation/Affiliation Form (the activation form). The Commission's CE FAQ gives that as the step when an inactive license has no CE deficiency.

What do I take if my license has been inactive for less than two years and I have a CE deficiency?

Take the current year's General Update course and one elective. Then take one or two more electives to make up the hours you didn't take in the previous license year, up to a 16-hour maximum. Then submit the activation form.

What if my license has been inactive for more than two years and I have a CE deficiency?

The Commission's CE FAQ calls for two 30-hour Postlicensing courses, finished within 6 months before you submit the activation form, plus the current year's General Update and one elective. It counts that as 68 hours: 60 of Postlicensing and eight of CE.

What to do next

Start with the North Carolina Real Estate Commission's CE FAQ. Then look up the exact course on the Commission's own pages.

www.ncrec.gov

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