Texas Real Estate Continuing Education: What Licensed Agents Need to Renew

Once you’ve been licensed for two years and cleared your SAE (Sales Apprentice Education) requirement, the education clock doesn’t stop—it just changes shape. From that point forward, you’re on a recurring Continuing Education (CE) cycle for every renewal. Here’s exactly what that cycle requires, what it’s made up of, and how to knock it out without overthinking it.

The 18-Hour CE Renewal Requirement

Every renewal, licensed agents (2+ years) need to complete 18 hours of CE, broken into four specific categories:

The Legal Update I and II courses are non-negotiable—they’re TREC-required for every license, updated every two years by TREC and the Texas A&M Real Estate Research Center to reflect current statutory changes, TREC rule changes, and other regulatory updates. The 3-hour contract requirement has been in effect since it took effect on February 1, 2021, and is most commonly satisfied through the “Mastering Texas Contracts, Repairs, and Representation Issues” course, which covers earnest money and option periods, property condition and repair negotiations, seller disclosures, and agency contracts.

The remaining 7 hours are elective—this is where you actually get to choose a focus, whether that’s investing, marketing, business development, or contract negotiation. More on that below.

If You’re a Broker: One More Requirement

All brokers renewing their license must also complete the 6-hour Broker Responsibility Course, effective January 1, 2026. This course is written by TREC and the Texas A&M Research Center specifically for anyone who sponsors or is responsible for the acts of salespersons. It covers the scope and authority of the broker, what a broker can and can’t authorize a salesperson to do, fiduciary duties, and operational topics like trust funds, property management, advertising, and recordkeeping.

How the Elective Hours Work: Themed CE Packages

Rather than making you piece together 7 elective hours from scratch, the school bundles the full 18-hour requirement into a handful of themed packages—each one already includes Legal Update I & II and the required contract course, then rounds out the elective hours around a specific focus:

Beyond these, there are additional themed packages covering buyer’s agent skills, listing agent strategy, and contracts & negotiations—all structured the same way, with the required core hours built in and the electives themed to a specific interest.

Prefer to Build Your Own? Individual Courses Are Available

If none of the packaged themes fit what you actually want to study, every required and elective course is also available individually. A few of the most commonly needed:

• Legal Update I (2026–2027), 4 hours — $39
• Legal Update II (2026–2027), 4 hours — $39
• Mastering Texas Contracts, Repairs, and Representation Issues, 3 hours — $49
• Broker Responsibility (2025–2026), 6 hours — $60
• Individual 1–2 hour electives (Why List?, 8-Step Goal Setting, The Two Sides of a Business, and others) — $15–$25 each

How the Courses Work

Every CE course here is 100% online and self-paced:

Study anytime, from any desktop, laptop, or tablet—no travel required.

Videos and animations built into each course

Course credit awarded upon completing the TREC final exams

Course books are available in PDF format, with physical textbooks available for purchase in the bookstore.

Renewing Soon? Here’s the simple version.

If you just need to check the box, pick one 18-hour package that fulfills the full requirement in one purchase, or build your own from individual courses if you’ve already completed part of it elsewhere. Either way, the core requirement never changes—8 hours of legal update, 3 hours of contracts, 7 hours elective—and brokers should add the 6-hour Broker Responsibility course on top.