Nebraska

The Nebraska Real Estate Commission in Lincoln licenses salespersons, associate brokers, and brokers. As of January 1, 2026 the salesperson requirement is 96 hours: 30-hour Real Estate Principles and Practices, 30-hour Nebraska Real Estate License Law, one additional 30-hour approved pre-license course, and 6-hour Professional Practice and Standards (Course #0003). Title 299 Ch. 7 § 004.09 is the rule. The retired 66-hour path is only for people already scheduled to sit before that date whose applications have not expired. You must be 19 to take the exam. Application fee $175 and exam fee $150 are paid to the Commission, not to Pearson VUE. Pearson's April 2025 handbook (#092800) describes the exam: 80 scored national items in 2.5 hours, 50 scored Nebraska items in 1.5 hours, 5–10 pretest, 4 hours total, 75% on each portion. Salespersons may bank a passed portion for three attempts or six months inside a 12-month application file; brokers retake the entire test. The license must be issued within 30 days of the pass notice, with original score report, E&O, and a designated broker (or a written inactive request). Original salesperson is $90 for the rest of the calendar year; original broker is $110; two-year renewals are $180 and $220.

Course 7000 (12 hours) is due within 180 days of issuance for all licensees (§ 81-885.13(9)); miss it and the license goes inactive until the course posts. Active CE is 18 hours every two years: 12 Commission-approved CE including 6 designated-subject-matter "R" hours, plus 6 hours that may be Commission-approved training. Broker upgrade is two years of full-time (or equivalent) salesperson work that NREC measures by averaging designated-broker surveys and renewal filings, plus two additional 30-hour courses that do not repeat the salesperson 96, plus Course #0003 if it is more than four years old. A hardship hearing exists for brokerages that cannot retain a two-year designated broker; it is not a shortcut around those two years. Iowa's live 12-hour courses, Kansas's 30+30, and Missouri's 48 plus MREP are neighboring states' requirements and do not substitute for this 96.