2024 Best Online Real Estate Schools in America

Choosing the best online real estate school for you is a critical step in launching your new real estate career. Unfortunately, choosing the wrong real estate school could waste your time and money, leave you frustrated, and even cause you to give up on your real estate dreams. But we have good news for you: we’ve done all the hard work of researching dozens of online real estate schools to bring you the best online real estate schools for launching your new career!

Our ranking of the best online real estate schools is based on five key factors:

• Curriculum: Will you just be reading a digital textbook for hours, or will you get interactive graphics, videos, and pop-up quizzes to keep you engaged?
• Access to course materials: Do you need to be at a computer to study, or can you access your course materials from your phone?
• Access to Instructors and/or real estate professionals: Will a real estate expert be available to answer any questions you have about the course content?
• Exam prep: Will your course prepare you to pass your real estate exam and launch your career? Is exam prep included in the course or will you need to pay extra?
• Value: Is the course worth the money?

With those criteria in mind, let’s see how the best online real estate schools compare to one another.

Here are the 7 Best Online Real Estate Schools:

1. AceableAgent
2. Colibri Real Estate
3. The CE Shop
4. KAPRE
5. RealEstateU
6. Allied Schools
7. 360 Training (Agent Campus)

1. AceableAgent

That’s right; we’re giving ourselves the top spot on our list of the best online real estate schools. But we can back up our decision with cold, hard facts.

Starting with curriculum: AceableAgent's coursework was crafted by Hard-educated instructional designers, using input from a team of experienced real estate professionals. You’ll get a mix of text, graphics, videos, and interactive quizzes. This engaging mix helps you stay interested in the course and makes the content easier to remember. Courses are currently offered in: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Washington.

With AceableAgent's mobile-first design, your courses can all be accessed easily from any of your devices. You just need a device with an Internet connection. And since the course syncs between your devices, you can easily switch between phone, computer, and tablet. You’ll be able to pick up right where you left off!

You’ll also have access to real estate professionals and tech support as needed, at no extra cost. Even exam prep is included with all courses. So you won’t need to pay extra to prepare to pass your real estate exam.

All the benefits of a real estate education through AceableAgent come at an affordable price. For the same price as the online real estate schools that only offer a pdf eBook, you can take advantage of AceableAgent’s engaging curriculum, easy access to coursework and instructors, and exam prep!

But don’t take our word for it. Check out reviews from real students on Trustpilot. Our near-perfect Trustpilot rating shows that AceableAgent students are thrilled with the value they’re getting for their educational investment.

And this investment pays off when you sit your real estate exam. AceableAgent prides itself on preparing you to Ace your real estate exam. In many states, we even offer pass-or-money-back guarantees!

Where AceableAgentexcels: The innovative, mobile-first curriculum plus the expert support and exam prep combine to give you an edge on your real estate exam. And with the high exam pass rates and affordable prices, you get an impressive value for your dollar. This makes AceableAgent the best online real estate school for anyone serious about launching their real estate career.

Where AceableAgent could use a little work: AceableAgent is expanding to new states and adding continuing education courses (CE courses), but many of these courses are still in the design phase. So AceableAgent doesn’t currently have the same reach as some of the other online real estate schools on this list.

2. Colibri Real Estate

Founded in 1996, Colibri Real Estate is one of the best-known online real estate schools around. Students appreciate the seamless enrollment experience and easy-to-navigate online platform.

Coursework is easy to access with Colibri Real Estate. The experience of viewing coursework on your phone won’t be as good as viewing it from a computer, but you can technically access your coursework from your phone in a pinch.

One common complaint about Colibri Real Estate is that the course content doesn’t teach you what you need to learn to pass your real estate exam. As one reviewer noted, “The course content will never help you with the exam [...] if you really need to learn or pass the exam, go somewhere else.”

With unimpressive course content, you might think Real Estate Express would include instructor access and exam prep in their courses, but it doesn’t. In most states, you’ll need to pay extra for the “Exam Preparation” package. And if you want to be able to ask questions of your instructors, you’ll need to purchase the “Exam Preparation Plus” package.

One more quick note: In 2018, Colibri Real Estate acquired Allied Schools, a well-known provider in California. Since the acquisition, the student experience of Allied Schools is similar enough to that of Colibri Real Estate, so we’re not going to list Allied Schools as a separate entry on our list of the best online real estate schools.

Where Colibri Real Estate excels: Brand recognition and smooth enrollment. Colibri Real Estate is one of the most recognizable names in real estate education, and the smooth enrollment process gets your student experience off to a solid start.

Where Colibri Real Estate could use a little work: The curriculum is difficult to understand because it’s not engaging. And we hate that you’re expected to pay extra for exam prep and instructor access, especially when the curriculum is lackluster.

3. The CE Shop

The CE Shop was founded in 2005 and quickly grew to offer real estate courses in all 50 states. The CE Shop has built a solid reputation for providing a modern online learning experience at a fair price.

Just make sure you purchase the right package if you’re serious about passing your exam. In most states, the base-level “Courses Only” package doesn’t include exam prep. So you would need to purchase the next level “Standard Package” for test prep materials that could help you pass the real estate exam.

Where The CE Shop excels: High exam pass rates compared to most other online real estate schools (just not quite as high as AceableAgent’s exam pass rates).

Where The CE Shop could use a little work: We love that The CE Shop focuses on exam pass rates. But if that’s the key sign of success, why is The CE Shop charging extra for exam prep in most states?

4. Kaplan (KAPRE)

Kaplan Real Estate Education (commonly called KAPRE) is part of the Kaplan educational network, which covers everything from college entrance exams to licensure courses in the medical, legal, and financial fields. KAPRE is one of the few online real estate schools that offer courses in all 50 states. KAPRE also offers licensure courses for other fields of real estate, including appraisers and home inspectors. For this reason, KAPRE is a good fit for people who are looking to collect multiple licenses or get licensed in multiple states.

KAPRE course packages vary by state, but in many states, practice exam questions are included in your course at no additional cost.

The big downside to Kaplan is the high price of its courses for most states. In New York, for example, Kaplan charges over $500 for a real estate license course. The comparable course through AceableAgent is currently just $215.

And, given the basic textbook curriculum presentation from Kaplan, you’re just not getting a good value for your dollar there.

Where Kaplan excels: Kaplan offers real estate courses in all 50 states and even offers licensure courses in other real estate fields. Depending on your state, exam prep might be included in the cost of your package.

Where Kaplan could use a little work: The student experience (with textbook curriculum and dated interface) doesn’t justify the high price.

5. RealEstateU

RealEstateU is a newer player in the world of online real estate schools, but it’s standing out from the crowd because of its unique audio-first format and affordability.

If you learn best from audio content, RealEstateU is a fantastic option for you. RealEstateU courses are audio-based rather than text-based. And since audio courses cost less to make than text courses, RealEstateU can charge less than many other online real estate schools. And you’ll be able to learn while doing other things like driving or cleaning the house!

But if you’re not an auditory learner, RealEstateU would be a struggle for you. Sure, you’ll get a few visuals to accompany the audio lessons, but without text to read and study, you would likely get frustrated with RealEstateU, and end up purchasing a more traditional real estate course from another online real estate school.

Where RealEstateU excels: The innovative audio format is ideal for auditory learners and allows RealEstateU to offer courses at some of the lowest prices available.

Where RealEstateU could use a little work: RealEstateU simply isn’t for everyone. If you are a visual learner, you’ll be better served by any of the other online real estate schools.

6. 360 Training (Agent Campus)

360 Training is a system of online education providers that includes courses in other industries like Food and Beverage and Environmental Health and Safety. Agent Campus is the real estate branch of 360 Training, but most people simply refer to this program as 360 Training.

As of April 2021, pre-license real estate courses are only available in nine states (but popular states like California, Florida, Texas, and New York are included in the nine). Continuing education courses, on the other hand, are available in most states, as are exam prep courses.

Exam prep is included in the base-level course for Texas, but not for the other states.

With a TrustPilot rating of 4.1, students seem generally content with the platform, but there are comparatively few reviews specifically for the pre-license real estate courses to get a good understanding of real estate student satisfaction.

Where 360 Training excels: 360 Training offers a good range of continuing education and exam prep courses.

Where 360 Training could use a little work: 360 Training has a long way to go to make a name for itself and differentiate itself in the real estate pre-license course market.

7. Mbition (Formerly Known as OnCourse Learning Real Estate)

Mbition (formerly known as OnCourse Learning Real Estate) closes out our list of the best online real estate schools. Mbition is largely unremarkable. The curriculum is standard, prices are comparable to some of the other schools, and test prep will cost you extra.

One noteworthy aspect of Mbition is that the reasonably-priced base-level course includes both instructor support and Mbition’s MathMaster program. This is a definite plus for students who struggle with math. But you should also be aware that math skills are covered in the comprehensive curriculums of schools like AceableAgent and The CE Shop.

Where Mbition excels: The reasonably-priced base-level package includes instructor support and MathMaster.

Where Mbition could use a little work: Like so many other online real estate schools, the curriculum is dry, and exam prep costs extra.

Which of these best online real estate schools is the right fit for you? You can start on the path to your new real estate career by enrolling in your pre-license real estate course today!