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How do I get a real estate license in South Carolina?

In South Carolina the entry license is called an associate license. If you hold no real estate license and no listed degree, you must be eighteen and hold a high school diploma or an equivalent. You finish sixty hours of principles and thirty hours of advanced principles. You pass both the state and national parts of the exam and submit to a criminal records check. Brokers have other rules.

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The rule, fact by fact

Who needs it
Age eighteen, a diploma or equivalent, education proof, a records check, examsThese are among the associate rules. A broker or broker-in-charge must be twenty-one.
Verified. www.scstatehouse.gov (opens state website) · checked Nov 13, 2026
Course hours
Sixty hours of principles and thirty advanced hours, or a listed degreeThe hours must fall within five years before you apply. You may take the exam before the thirty advanced hours.
Same source and date as above
Cost
Exam fees go directly to the test providerAn applicant who sits an exam run by a test provider pays that provider. The Commission or the provider may keep reasonable fees.
Same source and date as above
Valid for
A twelve-month exam eligibility period, then one year to applyAfter you pass both parts, you apply for the license within one year. If you miss that, you retake every part.
Same source and date as above

How to get it done

  1. Step 1. Check the basics. You must be eighteen and hold a high school diploma or a certificate of equivalency. You also give a physical address where the Commission can reach you during an investigation.

  2. Step 2. Finish sixty hours of classroom instruction in real estate principles and practices. Add thirty hours in advanced principles. Both fall within five years before you apply. Or show a juris doctor or bachelor of law degree, or a bachelor's or master's degree with a major in real estate, from an accredited college or university. Another course of study the Commission approves also counts.

  3. Step 3. Take the exam. You must pass both the state part and the national part. The Commission or its test provider runs the exam.

  4. Step 4. Submit to the criminal records checks. They include a fingerprint check by SLED, a fingerprint check by the FBI and a check based on your Social Security number. You pay the cost.

  5. Step 5. Apply on the form the Commission prescribes, and send every applicable fee with it.

Before you pay

This page rests on one source, the South Carolina statute on licensure requirements. We haven't confirmed what a school or the test provider charges, which providers the Commission lists, or whether a school offers its course online.

Before you pay a school, ask whether its course counts toward the sixty and thirty hours. Ask how long your access lasts.

Questions

Why do some sources say salesperson and others say associate?

The South Carolina code now says associate. A 2024 act substituted the word associate for salesperson in the statute.

I hold a license in another state. What do I take in South Carolina?

You pass only the state part of the exam if your license in another state is active or expired six months or less before you apply. You still have to meet South Carolina's education rules.

Do I need a license to help people buy or sell property?

Usually. It is unlawful to act as a real estate broker, associate or property manager, or to advertise or provide services as one, without an active, valid license issued by the Commission. The chapter does not apply to some people, among them an owner selling, leasing or renting their own interest and an attorney acting for a client.

What does a broker license ask for?

One route is sixty hours of approved classroom instruction. It includes the thirty-hour Unit III A Broker Management and thirty-hour Unit III B Brokerage Principles courses. You also need five years of active associate licensure within the past seven years. Another route is a juris doctor or bachelor of law degree, or a bachelor's or master's degree with a major in real estate, from an accredited college or university.

What to do next

Read the statute for yourself before you enroll. It lists every rule on this page, in the South Carolina Code.

www.scstatehouse.gov

Sources we read