ADRE Focus on Education

Judy Lowe

Commissioner, Arizona Department of Real Estate

The Arizona Department of Real Estate (ADRE) approves and oversees real estate schools and educators, including monitoring pre-licensing and continuing education courses, while always striving to ensure the highest quality for the content of courses and the competence of the instructors, as well as the quality and timeliness of materials being taught.

The current ADRE Strategic Plan includes the strategic goal “to continue to improve the Arizona real estate education.” Two action items to be accomplished in 2018 include: 1) addressing the quality of the content of Arizona’s online continuing education (CE) courses; and 2) reviewing/revising the pre-licensing education requirements.

Action Item #1 – Improve the Quality of the Online (Distance Learning) Continuing Education Course Content: Recent research determined that 58% of the CE course credits uploaded by Arizona licensees renewing their real estate license every two years were online classes, and those licensees could only choose from 273 online approved courses of the 2,578 total courses currently approved by ADRE. “Improving the quality of online courses” is often mentioned by real estate professionals as I travel and speak throughout Arizona.

The ADRE Education Advisory Committee (EAC) requested that the commissioner appoint a workgroup, charged with the task of reviewing the ADRE Distance Learning CE course content approval requirements and processes, to recommend any improvement solutions for ADRE consideration. A group of Arizona real estate educators and licensees came together in the last few months and have prepared a recommendation to be considered by the commissioner.

Action Item #2 – Review and modify where necessary Arizona’s real estate pre- licensing education curriculum to make it more relevant to the present day practice of real estate, while still adhering to Arizona’s statutory requirements.

Approximately 1,300 students currently take the real estate licensing exam every month, and 600 new licensees activate their license monthly. Even though Arizona is recognized as having one of the best pre-licensing programs in the United States, it is time to more closely align what is being taught in the 90 hours of classroom instruction with what is required of the professional licensee when facilitating successful real estate investment transactions for Arizona’s constituents. This must be accomplished while adhering to the necessary preparation for passing the national and state-specific examinations.

ADRE has appointed a workgroup, from all real estate specialty areas, consisting of pre-licensing real estate educators, Arizona Designated Brokers, and others, to prepare curriculum modification recommendations for ADRE consideration. The recommendations are to be delivered to the department by mid-2018.