Insurance Pre-Licensing Requirements by State
Some states make you complete a set number of hours in a state-approved course before you are allowed to sit the exam. Others let you register whenever you are ready. Which camp your state falls into is the single biggest factor in what getting licensed costs you, and it decides what you should be shopping for.
All 51 jurisdictions, every US state plus the District of Columbia. 3 of them carry application and regulator detail but no per-line pre-licensing classification yet, and are marked "Not classified" rather than guessed at. Coverage and sources are noted at the bottom of this page.
Requirements by jurisdiction
“Mixed” means the state mandates hours for some lines of authority but not others, which is common where property and casualty is treated differently from life and health. Hours shown are the distinct figures the state sets across the lines we track.
| Jurisdiction | Requirement | Mandated hours | Producer application fee | State regulator | Courses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Exam only | None | $80 (amendment $80, reinstatement $80)Insurance Producer | Alabama Department of Insurance | View |
| Alaska | Exam only | None | $75 (reinstatement $175; $275 if 61 or more days past expiration)Insurance Producer | Alaska Division of Insurance | View |
| Arizona | Exam only | None | $120 (amendment $120)Insurance Producer | Arizona Department of Insurance and Financial Institutions | View |
| Arkansas | Not classified | Not stated | $0 to $70 licence fee plus a $15 to $25 application fee, varying by line of authorityInsurance Producer (per line of authority) | Arkansas Insurance Department | Not yet |
| California | Mixed | 12 hrs / 20 hrs | $188Insurance Producer (general) | California Department of Insurance | Not yet |
| Colorado | Mixed | 50 hrs | $44Resident Producer (all lines of authority except Surplus Lines) | Colorado Division of Insurance | View |
| Connecticut | Pre-licensing required | 20 hrs | $140 (amendment $130; reinstatement $130)Insurance Producer | Connecticut Insurance Department | Not yet |
| Delaware | Exam only | None | $125Insurance Producer | Delaware Department of Insurance | View |
| District of Columbia | Exam only | None | Varies by line | District of Columbia Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking | Not yet |
| Florida | Exam only | None | $50 plus $5 per line of authorityAgent (all lines except Title) | Florida Department of Financial Services | View |
| Georgia | Pre-licensing required | 8 hrs | Varies by line | Georgia Office of the Commissioner of Insurance and Safety Fire | Not yet |
| Hawaii | Exam only | None | $150Insurance Producer | Hawaii Insurance Division | View |
| Idaho | Exam only | None | $80Insurance Producer | Idaho Department of Insurance | View |
| Illinois | Mixed | 20 hrs | $215 (reinstatement $430)Insurance Producer | Illinois Department of Insurance | View |
| Indiana | Exam only | None | $40Resident Producer - Individual | Indiana Department of Insurance | View |
| Iowa | Exam only | None | $50Insurance Producer | Iowa Insurance Division | View |
| Kansas | Exam only | None | $10 (reinstatement $104; reapplication $170)Insurance Producer | Kansas Insurance Department | View |
| Kentucky | Not classified | Not stated | $40 plus $40 per line of authority plus a $50 exam fee per line of authorityAgent | Kentucky Department of Insurance | Not yet |
| Louisiana | Exam only | None | $75 (amendment $75)Insurance Producer (all lines of authority excluding Surplus Lines) | Louisiana Department of Insurance | View |
| Maine | Exam only | None | $25Individual Producer (Resident, all lines except Surplus) | Maine Bureau of Insurance | View |
| Maryland | Exam only | None | $54 (amendment $0, reinstatement $54)Insurance Producer | Maryland Insurance Administration | View |
| Massachusetts | Exam only | None | $225Insurance Producer | Massachusetts Division of Insurance | View |
| Michigan | Mixed | 20 hrs / 40 hrs | $10Resident Producer | Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services | View |
| Minnesota | Mixed | 20 hrs | $50Resident Insurance Producer | Minnesota Department of Commerce | View |
| Mississippi | Mixed | 20 hrs | $100Insurance Producer | Mississippi Insurance Department | Not yet |
| Missouri | Exam only | None | $100 (amendment $100)Insurance Producer | Missouri Department of Commerce and Insurance | View |
| Montana | Exam only | None | $0Insurance Producer | Montana Commissioner of Securities and Insurance | View |
| Nebraska | Exam only | None | $50Insurance Producer | Nebraska Department of Insurance | View |
| Nevada | Exam only | None | $138Resident Motor Club Agent | Nevada Division of Insurance | View |
| New Hampshire | Exam only | None | $210 (amendment $50; reinstatement $300)Insurance Producer | New Hampshire Insurance Department | View |
| New Jersey | Mixed | 20 hrs | $170Insurance Producer (standard line of authority) | New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance | View |
| New Mexico | Exam only | None | $30Insurance Producer | New Mexico Office of Superintendent of Insurance | View |
| New York | Not classified | Not stated | Varies by line | New York State Department of Financial Services | Not yet |
| North Carolina | Exam only | None | $82 (reinstatement $84)Insurance Producer | North Carolina Department of Insurance | View |
| North Dakota | Exam only | None | $100Insurance Producer | North Dakota Insurance Department | View |
| Ohio | Mixed | 20 hrs | $10 (amendment $10)Major Lines | Ohio Department of Insurance | View |
| Oklahoma | Exam only | None | $60 (reinstatement $120)Insurance Producer (all lines except Variable) | Oklahoma Insurance Department | View |
| Oregon | Mixed | 20 hrs | $100Insurance Producer | Oregon Division of Financial Regulation | View |
| Pennsylvania | Exam only | None | $55Insurance Producer | Pennsylvania Insurance Department | View |
| Rhode Island | Exam only | None | $120 (reinstatement $170)Insurance Producer | Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation | Not yet |
| South Carolina | Exam only | None | $25 (amendment $25, reinstatement $25)Insurance Producer | South Carolina Department of Insurance | View |
| South Dakota | Exam only | None | $25 application, $25 reinstatementInsurance Producer | South Dakota Division of Insurance | View |
| Tennessee | Exam only | None | $50 (amendment $50)Insurance Producer | Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance | View |
| Texas | Exam only | None | Not on file | Not on file | View |
| Utah | Exam only | None | $75 (reinstatement $75)Resident Producer Individual | Utah Insurance Department | View |
| Vermont | Exam only | None | $60 (amendment $30)Insurance Producer | Vermont Department of Financial Regulation | View |
| Virginia | Exam only | None | Not on file | Not on file | View |
| Washington | Exam only | None | $55 (reinstatement $82.50 within 30 days, $110 within 60 days, $165 within a year)Insurance Producer | Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner | View |
| West Virginia | Pre-licensing required | 20 hrs / 40 hrs | $50Insurance Producer | West Virginia Offices of the Insurance Commissioner | Not yet |
| Wisconsin | Pre-licensing required | 20 hrs | $10Intermediary (Producer) Individual, exam-required lines | Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Insurance | Not yet |
| Wyoming | Exam only | None | $100Resident Producer (all line-of-authority combinations) | Wyoming Department of Insurance | View |
What this means for what you spend
In a state that mandates hours, the approved course is not optional and not something you can price-shop away. You need a provider that state has approved for that specific course, and they report your completion to the state. That cost lands on top of the exam fee, the application fee, and fingerprinting. Buying exam prep instead of an approved course in one of those states does not make you eligible to test.
In an exam-only state the arithmetic is completely different. Nothing obliges you to buy anything at all. You could work from the state candidate handbook and free questions. Most people do buy study material, because the exams are written to be failed by the underprepared, but that spend is entirely discretionary. It is worth knowing that the large national providers charge roughly $200 to $450 for exam prep in exam-only states where the state itself requires no course. Our exam prep is $49.99 with lifetime access, which is the whole argument for it.
The honest version of that argument has a limit. If your state mandates hours and we do not hold approval there, we are not the answer, and the table above says so in the Courses column.
Common questions
What is insurance pre-licensing education?
Some states require you to complete a set number of hours in a state-approved course before you are allowed to sit the licensing exam. The state sets the hours and approves the providers. Other states are exam-only: you register for the exam whenever you feel ready, and any study material is optional.
Does exam prep count as pre-licensing education?
No, and any provider telling you otherwise is misleading you. Pre-licensing education has to come from a provider that state has approved for that specific course, and the provider reports your completion to the state. Exam prep is optional study material. In a state that mandates hours, you need the approved course whether or not you also buy exam prep.
Which states do not require pre-licensing education?
The majority of the jurisdictions in the table below are exam-only for their main producer lines. Several changed recently: North Carolina moved to exam-only effective October 2025 and Pennsylvania in April 2025, so older guides you find elsewhere may still say otherwise.
How much does pre-licensing education add to the cost?
It is usually the largest single line item in getting licensed, and it is unavoidable in the states that mandate it. That is separate from the state exam fee, the application fee, and fingerprinting. In exam-only states there is no mandated course cost at all, which is why what you spend on study material is entirely your choice there.
Why does this matter when choosing a course?
It decides what you are actually shopping for. In a pre-licensing state, price-comparing exam-prep courses is the wrong question; you need an approved provider for your state first. In an exam-only state, nothing forces you into a $200 to $450 package, and a $49.99 exam-prep course is the whole of your prep budget.
Related reading
Coverage and sources
The table is generated at render time from two datasets we maintain, and nothing in it is typed in by hand. The pre-licensing classification and the mandated hours come from our per-line licensing catalog, last verified on 2026-05-31. The application fees, regulator names and regulator links are transcribed from each state's NIPR resident-licensing page, each entry carrying the date it was read.
Coverage is all 51 jurisdictions, every US state plus the District of Columbia, with a fee shown for 46 of them. 3 carry fee and regulator detail but no per-line pre-licensing classification yet; those say "Not classified" rather than being assumed exam-only. 3 price the producer licence per line of authority, and those cells say "Varies by line" instead of printing one line's fee as though it were the whole answer. A cell reading “Not on file” means we hold no fee source for that state, which is a gap in our data and not a statement about the state. Fee-by-fee detail, including exam and fingerprint costs, is in our license cost guide.
Requirements change, and several states have moved to exam-only recently. Confirm with your state department of insurance before you register for an exam or buy a course.
Elite Training Academy provides exam-preparation materials. Exam prep is not state-approved pre-licensing education unless a course is explicitly listed as such for your state.