Chances are if you’re reading this article you need to complete your real estate continuing education requirements. Quickly. Since you’re busy closing deals, you need a course that’s flexible, affordable, and ideally won’t bore you to tears. Luckily, we’re here to help.

In this article, we ranked the top three real estate continuing education courses–Kaplan, The CE Shop, and McKissock–that you can take online and at your own pace. Here’s how they stacked up.

Best Real Estate Continuing Education Provider: Kaplan

We chose Kaplan as the best real estate continuing education school because they are the only continuing education provider to offer on-demand video courses and classroom courses in addition to text-based online courses. They also have a great reputation and are very competitively priced compared to the other two providers we tested.

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	Kaplan	McKissock	The CE Shop
Pricing Learn More	CA: $145 TX: $119 NY: $133 FL: Unavailable IL: $69 PA: $97	CA: $64.95 (correspondence only) TX: $59 (electives only) NY: $129.95 FL: $19.97 IL: $75.95 PA: $89.95	CA: $79 TX: $139 NY: $139 FL: $19 IL: $69 PA: $79
States Covered Learn More	Available in 17 States Not Available in: IA, ID, HA, FL, DE, CT, AZ, AK, AL, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, MT, MS, OK, ND, NH, OK, RI, SC, SD, UT, VT, DC, WV, WI, WY	All 50 states (only partial in states with in person course requirements: NC, PA, ID, IA, NM, NV, LA, SC)	All 50 states (only partial in states with in person course requirements: NC, PA, ID, IA, NM, NV, LA, SC)
Course Formats Available Learn More	Online - text based and on demand video lessons In Classroom (MN, TX, CO, CA, NC, PA only)	Online - text based Correspondence education	Online - text based
Demo Available Learn More	On demand video & text-based course demo	Text-based course demo	Text-based course demo
Interactive Features Learn More	Not Offered	Email instructor, chat w/ other students, note taking system	Can print course in PDF to study offline
Recommended Device Learn More	Desktop/laptop recommended	Desktop/laptop recommended	Desktop/laptop or tablet recommended
Student Reviews Learn More	3.5 out of 5	4.95 out of 5	98% Student Satisfaction rating
	www.Kaplan.com	www.McKissock.com	www.TheCEShop.com

Best Real Estate Continuing Education School: Kaplan

We chose Kaplan as the best real estate continuing education (CE) school for three primary reasons:

They’re the only real estate continuing education school to offer on-demand video and classroom-based courses
They have an excellent reputation
Their pricing is competitive with the other two schools we looked at

On-Demand Video and Classroom Courses

A lot of agents (myself included) get so busy we end up putting off continuing education until the last possible minute. When given the choice between meeting a client or sitting in front of the computer for hours on end, we’re going to choose the client every time. At the end of the day, many of us are still going to be scrambling to complete our CE hours on tight deadlines. That’s why engaging courses are so important.

Instead of a boring text-based course, Kaplan offers on-demand video courses as well as in-person classroom training. Since most agents are highly verbal learners, listening to a lecture can make a 4 hour class much, much more bearable.

Because of travel time, classroom courses can be a bigger time sink than online courses or on-demand video courses. That said, they can also be fun. After fulfilling my first continuing education requirements online, I opted for a live classroom the second time around. The difference was night and day. The speakers were entertaining, and I had ample time to ask questions and have discussions with fellow agents. Not only did the time pass more quickly, but I felt I learned more as well. If you have the option (and time) to take your CE in a classroom setting, I highly recommend it.

Kaplan’s Sterling Reputation

Kaplan has been offering professional training and education for more than 70 years. They offer licensing courses and continuing education courses for a wide variety of professions, including real estate. They have become synonymous with continuing education. While there are plenty of great schools with sub-par courses, Kaplan isn’t one of them. Their courses are almost always rated very highly by former students.

Competitive Pricing

Since Kaplan offers training options that most CE courses don’t, and has a sterling reputation, you would think they would be far more expensive than their competitors. Lucky for you they aren’t. Kaplan’s courses consistently came in either very slightly more expensive or less expensive than the competition. That said, there are much cheaper options available if budget is your only concern. More on this later.

Drawbacks

The only real drawback we found with Kaplan was the fact that they simply weren’t available in enough states. Don’t sweat it though. If Kaplan is not available in your state, the other two options we reviewed are solid options as well.

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Best Real Estate Continuing Education Where Kaplan Isn’t Available: McKissock

If Kaplan isn’t available in your state, McKissock can be a great alternative. Founded in 1990, McKissock offers licensing and continuing education courses for real estate agents, brokers, and appraisers. They also have some great features for agents as well as a great rating with the Better Business Bureau.

One great feature that McKissock offer agents is the ability to email course instructors and chat with other students while taking online courses. In my opinion, live teachers are always preferable, but this can be a great option as well if you want to interact with your instructor.

Visit McKissock

Best Real Estate Continuing Education School for Tablet Users: The CE Shop

The CE Shop was the only real estate continuing education school that offered full support for tablet users. Since the other two are browser-based, they might work on your tablet, but The CE Shop was the only school to guarantee it.

While this might not be a huge selling point for some agents, for agents who rely almost entirely on their tablets, this is a god send. Instead of lugging your laptop and charging cable to a slow open house or the coffee shop, you can just fire up your tablet and finish your CE requirements on the go.

Perhaps more importantly, The CE Shop is available to agents in a lot more states. Since they’re also a bit cheaper than Kaplan in a few states, you might be able to save a few bucks. However, they don’t offer video or classroom course options which many agents want.

Visit The CE Shop

In-Depth Review: Kaplan vs. McKissock vs. The CE Shop

Pricing

Pricing and convenience are more than likely the two most important criteria agents judge CE courses on. Depending on what state you’re in you should expect to pay around $75-150 for a good CE course. This can vary widely by state, but generally speaking the more required hours in the course the more expensive it will be.

Since there is a lot of competition in this space, pricing was fairly similar across the board. Here’s how the three companies stacked up.

Kaplan came in just slightly above, or in some case cheaper than the other two schools. Considering they offer video courses this makes Kaplan a great value.

In California, Kaplan charges $144 for on-demand video, or $59 for a correspondence course
In Texas, Kaplan charges $119, which comes in at $21 cheaper than The CE Shop
In NY, Kaplan charges $133, pretty much on par with the other two CE providers
Kaplan doesn’t offer CE in Florida

In states that require a passing grade for a test after taking your CE, Kaplan also offers agents unlimited chances (without having to pay extra) to retake the course and test until they get a passing grade. Since you have to pass small quizzes to advance through each module of the Kaplan course, failing the test more than once is pretty unlikely for most agents. Still, it’s nice to know the option is there.

For a list of Kaplan’s pricing in every state click here.

Like the other two schools, McKissock’s pricing comes in at slightly above or slightly below. Depending on your state, McKissock might offer the best value.

In California, McKissock only offers a correspondence course for $64.95
In NY, The CE Shop charges $129.95, pretty much on par with the other two CE providers
In Texas, McKissock charges $59, but only offers electives
In Florida The McKissock only charges $19.97 basically the same as The CE Shop

For a list of McKissock’s pricing in every state click here.

Like Kaplan, The CE Shop also came in either slightly above or slightly below the other two schools. Depending on your state (or your bank account) a lower price might make The CE Shop the clear choice for many agents.

In California, The CE Shop charges $79 which is far cheaper than Kaplan
In NY, The CE Shop charges $139 is pretty much on par with the other two CE providers
In Texas, the CE Shop charges $139, which is a bit more than Kaplan
In Florida The CE Shop only charges $19, basically the same as McKissock

They also offer the ability to re-take tests in states that require passing grades on tests in order to receive credit for their continuing education.

For a list of the CE Shop’s pricing in every state click here.

States Covered

The best education in the world won’t do you much good if it’s not available in your state.

Kaplan’s real estate continuing education was available in the fewest states of all three schools. Surprisingly, Kaplan doesn’t offer CE in Florida, Massachusetts, or Connecticut. While this may be part of a strategy to offer very high quality education in a few states rather than mediocre education in all states, the fact remains you can’t use Kaplan if they are not available in your state.

Like The CE Shop, McKissock offers courses in a large number of states. Also like The CE Shop, they have somewhat limited offerings in states that require classroom training.

The caveat for The CE Shop applies to McKissock as well. The fact that they offer courses in more states than Kaplan does not mean their classes are lower quality. Like The CE Shop’s former students, those who completed their CE at McKissock gave them glowing reviews.

The CE Shop on the other hand seemed to have at least some offerings in all 50 states. That said, since some states require in person classroom training for a portion of the CE requirement, they don’t truly cover all 50 states. The following states require in-person classroom training. North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Idaho, Iowa, New Mexico, Nevada, Louisiana, and South Carolina

However, I do want to make clear that the fact that The CE Shop offers classes in more states does not necessarily mean they are of lower quality than Kaplan’s. The vast majority of former CE School students gave their courses overwhelmingly positive reviews.

Course Formats Available

While many agents simply don’t care about the format of their CE course as long as it’s convenient to take and of high quality, some are far more interested in video or in person training. Here’s how the three companies stacked up in terms of the course formats offered to students.

Kaplan offered the greatest variety of course formats. They offer their students the choice between taking classes in person (where available), via on-demand video, or via text-based online format. Since so many realtors are verbal learners, many prefer either classroom-based or on-demand video to text-based online options. For these agents, sitting in a classroom or watching a lecture on video is far preferable to reading text on a screen. For them, Kaplan is the clear choice when available in their state.

McKissock is also an online text-based course. Like The CE Shop, McKissock offers text-based courses with some video examples in the course. However, they also offer correspondence learning, which means they send you a textbook and you complete the course on your own time that way. While this could be a great option for agents who are technologically averse, it is also much more time consuming.

The CE Shop offers online text-based courses. Unlike Kaplan, The CE Shop doesn’t offer on-demand video though some of their courses may have video examples built into the text-based course. If you prefer to learn by reading rather than watching or listening, then The CE Shop of McKissock may be a good choice for you.

Demo Available

While none of the schools offer a demo in the true sense of the word, they do have videos which walk through the main features of their course software. Click on the links below to watch a quick overview of how each school’s software works.

Check out Kaplan’s demo of both text-based and on-demand video courses here.

Check out McKissock’s demo video here.

The CE Shop’s demo can be found here.

Interactive Features

Being able to interact with your instructor or other students can really help you understand certain topics. Here’s what the three companies offered for interaction.

Kaplan were the only ones to offer on-demand video and in person classroom courses. While their on-demand videos don’t have an interactive element, their in person classes have lots of opportunities to interact with classmates and instructors.

McKissock offers agents some great interactive elements in their courses. When taking a McKissock CE course agents can email course instructors, chat with other students, or take notes all within their course software. Notes can be retrieved later by logging back into the McKissock site.

The CE Shop offers the ability for agents to print out course materials to study and take the course offline. Useful for agents who live in areas without steady WIFI or data.

Recommended Device

The tablet has become so ubiquitous in our industry that many agents carry them everywhere and have almost entirely given up on desktops and laptops, After all, they can run everything from open house apps like Open Home Pro to CRMs and transaction management software like Dotloop all on their tablets. Taking their CE courses on their tablets only seems natural.

Unfortunately for tablet-addicted agents, Kaplan does not officially endorse tablets for taking their courses. However, they do claim that since their courses are browser-based, they should work on most tablets provided they run Google Chrome. Just don’t buy one of their courses expecting 100% functionality on your tablet because they don’t officially recommend using one.

Like Kaplan, McKissock also offers courses that are guaranteed to work on desktops and laptops only. However, they also claim that their courses should work on most tablets as long as they run Google Chrome. If this is a dealbreaker for you, go with The CE Shop.

The CE Shop on the other hand, was the only school to be truly device agnostic. They claim their courses work perfectly not only on desktops and laptops but on tablets as well. If you are one of those agents with an Ipad surgically grafted to your hand, The CE Shop has you covered.

Student Reviews

While in most cases we recommend our readers take online reviews with a grain of salt, they are something that people almost always expect in our reviews. Here’s the problem with most online reviews.

Reviewers are going out of their way to log into a third party website and leave a review of an experience they had with a company. As you might expect, reviews tend to be evenly split between great and terrible.

To more accurately gauge how students felt about these courses, we looked to reviews that former students left after taking the courses. Since the companies were prompting students to leave these reviews, in theory there should be far more balanced reviews of the course. That said, please remember that these reviews are self reported by each company.

Kaplan has a 3.5 out of 5 on gradreport.com. However, since they are the largest provider of real estate continuing education by far, they also had many negative reviews online. You should also keep in mind that many of the online reviews are for licensing courses (not continuing education courses), and some are not even real estate related.

McKissock also has very positive reviews on their website. According to McKissock, a staggering 148,000 people have left reviews for their courses. 4.6 out of 5 were very positive.

The CE shop also has excellent reviews from former students on their site. Since they are a smaller school, they have very few reviews anywhere else.

All Options for Real Estate Continuing Education School

Name	Best For:
Kaplan	Students Looking for On-Demand Video or Classroom Training
The CE Shop	Students Looking for a Good Balance of Affordability and Quality
McKissock	Students Looking for a Good Balance of Affordability and Quality
Institute for Continuing Education (4ice.com)	Agents With Small Budgets. If you just want the cheapest possible CE without any frills, 4Ice is an unbeatable option. A CE course in New York is ~$140 at CE School, Kaplan, and McKissock, but only $79 at 4Ice! I personally took this course for my CE in 2014.
Real Estate Academy for Continuing Education	Manhattan Real Estate Agents While this course is only available for agents who can travel to New York City, if you have the chance to take it, take it! I chose this for my continuing education courses. Esther Muller and her guest speakers are all incredibly knowledgeable and offer insight from decades of experience. Even better, they know how to keep a room full of real estate agents entertained. Highly recommended.
Career WebSchool	Agents Who Use Tablets Career Web School is another great option for agents who use tablets. If you know someone looking for affordable licensing classes, they were also our pick for best budget real estate school. Fit Small Business is partnering with Career WebSchool to offer online real estate courses.
45 Hours Online	California Agents with VERY Small Budgets Incredibly, 45 Hours Online offers the 45 hour California real estate continuing education course for only $45! While we can’t attest to their quality, the price is hard to argue with! Any CA agents have experience with this school? Too good to be true? Let us know in the comments below.

In most states there will be a few local providers along with these companies. Sometimes, these schools offer a better value than the one’s we looked at, but might not offer on-demand video, or classroom education. The best way to find and compare local options is to check pricing on the three sites we reviewed, then run a google search to see if their are local options that might offer more value for money.

The Bottom Line

We chose Kaplan as the best real estate continuing education school because they offer on-demand video and live classroom training, have an excellent reputation, and are comparably priced with most real estate CE schools. The CE Shop and McKissock also offer a great product so should be your next choice if Kaplan education is unavailable in your state.

Did you complete your CE at another school you think should be on our list? Let us know in the comments.

About the Author

Emile L'Eplattenier

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