Insurance CE Requirements in All 50 States
Stay Licensed Without the Last-Minute Scramble
Knock out your full requirement at your own pace, and your credits will be reported to the state within 1 to 2 business days.
Quick answer:
- Most states require 24 hours of CE every two years, and in most of them, at least 3 of those hours must be ethics.
- Deadlines usually follow your birth month, and your hours generally need to be done before your license expires, sometimes well before.
- The details are where states differ: Florida drops to 20 hours after six years, Texas requires half your hours in classroom or classroom equivalent formats, and Illinois requires ethics in a classroom or live webinar.
How Do You Find Your State's CE Requirement?
Start with your resident state, since that is the state whose CE rules apply to you. Then check three things:
- Total hours and ethics hours. Most states land on 24 and 3, but not all of them.
- Your deadline. Find your license expiration or compliance date on your state's licensing portal or CE transcript.
- Format rules. Some states limit how many hours can be self study, or require ethics to be live.
Here is the full line baseline for resident producers in every state: total CE hours, ethics hours, and how often you renew. States that break from the standard framework are covered in more detail below the list.
- Alabama: 24 hours, including 3 ethics hours, renewing every two years
- Alaska: 24 hours, including 3 ethics hours, renewing every two years
- Arizona: 48 hours, including 6 ethics hours, renewing every four years
- Arkansas: 24 hours, including 3 ethics hours, renewing every two years
- California: 24 hours, including 3 ethics hours, renewing every two years
- Colorado: 24 hours, including 3 ethics hours, renewing every two years
- Connecticut: 24 hours, including 3 ethics hours, renewing every two years
- Delaware: 24 hours, including 3 ethics hours, renewing every two years
- District of Columbia: 24 hours, including 3 ethics hours, renewing every two years
- Florida: 24 hours, including 4 ethics hours, renewing every two years (drops to 20 hours once licensed six or more years)
- Georgia: 24 hours, including 3 ethics hours, renewing every two years
- Hawaii: 24 hours, including 3 ethics hours, renewing every two years
- Idaho: 24 hours, including 3 ethics hours, renewing every two years
- Illinois: 24 hours, including 3 ethics hours, renewing every two years
- Indiana: 24 hours, including 3 ethics hours, renewing every two years
- Iowa: 36 hours, including 3 ethics hours, renewing every three years
- Kansas: 24 hours, including 3 ethics hours, renewing every two years
- Kentucky: 24 hours, including 3 ethics hours, renewing every two years
- Louisiana: 24 hours, including 3 ethics hours, renewing every two years
- Maine: 24 hours, including 3 ethics hours, renewing every two years
- Maryland: 24 hours, including 3 ethics hours, renewing every two years
- Massachusetts: 24 hours, including 3 ethics hours, renewing every two years
- Michigan: 24 hours, including 3 ethics hours, renewing every two years
- Minnesota: 24 hours, including 3 ethics hours, renewing every two years
- Mississippi: 24 hours, including 3 ethics hours, renewing every two years
- Missouri: 16 hours, including 3 ethics hours, renewing every two years
- Montana: 24 hours, including 3 ethics hours, renewing every two years
- Nebraska: 24 hours, including 3 ethics hours, renewing every two years
- Nevada: 24 hours, including 3 ethics hours, renewing every three years
- New Hampshire: 24 hours, including 3 ethics hours, renewing every two years
- New Jersey: 24 hours, including 3 ethics hours, renewing every two years
- New Mexico: 24 hours, including 3 ethics hours, renewing every two years
- New York: 15 hours, including 3 ethics hours, renewing every two years
- North Carolina: 24 hours, including 3 ethics hours, renewing every two years
- North Dakota: 24 hours, including 3 ethics hours, renewing every two years
- Ohio: 24 hours, including 3 ethics hours, renewing every two years
- Oklahoma: 24 hours, including 3 ethics hours, renewing every two years
- Oregon: 24 hours, including 3 ethics hours, renewing every two years
- Pennsylvania: 24 hours, including 3 ethics hours, renewing every two years
- Rhode Island: 24 hours, including 3 ethics hours, renewing every two years
- South Carolina: 24 hours, including 3 ethics hours, renewing every two years
- South Dakota: 24 hours, including 3 ethics hours, renewing every two years
- Tennessee: 24 hours, including 3 ethics hours, renewing every two years
- Texas: 24 hours, including 3 ethics hours, renewing every two years
- Utah: 24 hours, including 3 ethics hours, renewing every two years
- Vermont: 24 hours, including 3 ethics hours, renewing every two years
- Virginia: 24 hours, including 3 ethics hours, renewing every two years
- Washington: 24 hours, including 3 ethics hours, renewing every two years
- West Virginia: 24 hours, including 3 ethics hours, renewing every two years
- Wisconsin: 24 hours, including 3 ethics hours, renewing every two years
- Wyoming: 24 hours, including 3 ethics hours, renewing every two years
Figures reflect the full line baseline for resident producers and are compiled from state Department of Insurance and accredited provider sources. Requirements change, so confirm your exact obligation with your state Department of Insurance before renewal.
States that break the mold
A few states are worth calling out because they sit well outside the standard framework.
New York
New York requires just 15 hours per renewal, the lowest full line requirement in the country. Do not let the low number lull you. New York is strict about approved coursework, so verify your provider is authorized before you enroll.
Arizona
Arizona looks heavy at 48 hours with 6 hours of ethics, but licenses there renew on a four-year term. Spread across the cycle, the annual pace is comparable to the national standard. The risk is procrastination: four years is a long runway to forget about.
Iowa
Iowa requires 36 hours on a three year cycle. Agents moving in from a two year state often miscount here, so recalibrate your pacing when you pick up an Iowa license.
Missouri
Missouri sets the lowest hourly floor among standard cycle states at 16 hours every two years, still including 3 hours of ethics.
Nevada
Nevada follows the common 24 and 3 structure but runs it on a three-year cycle rather than two.
Florida
Florida requires 24 hours per cycle with an elevated ethics component, and the requirement drops to 20 hours once you have held your license for six or more years. Newer agents carry the higher load.
California
California follows the standard 24 and 3 framework for most producers, but agents holding the Limited Lines Auto license have a reduced requirement of 20 hours.
Recent changes agents are missing
Three shifts have caught agents off guard.
- California dropped its education requirement for new licensees. Under AB 943, candidates no longer complete traditional licensing education before the exam. Only a Code and Ethics course totaling 12 hours is required to get licensed. This changes the on ramp for new agents, not the CE obligation for existing licensees.
- Georgia rewards tenure. Licensees with 20 or more years of service now receive an automatic reduction of 4 CE hours, bringing their requirement down to 20 hours per renewal.
- Pennsylvania tightened ethics. Renewal now requires 3 hours of state approved ethics CE. Older ethics courses may no longer count, so confirm your ethics hours come from an approved provider before you sit for them.
Choose a State and Course
The deadline behind the deadline
Here is the rule that lapses more licenses than any hour requirement: providers can take up to 30 days to report your completed hours to the state. If you finish your final course on your expiration date, the state may not see your credits in time, and your license can lapse even though you technically did the work.
Treat your real deadline as 30 to 60 days before the date on your license. Finishing early costs you nothing. Finishing on time can still cost you your license. For what it is worth, Aceable reports completed credits to the state within one to two business days, but even then, finishing at least ten days early is the safe play.
How to stay compliant without thinking about it
Three habits keep a license current in any state.
- Know your number. Most agents need 24 hours with 3 hours of ethics every two years, but the outliers above are easy to misjudge. Confirm the requirement for every state where you hold a resident or nonresident license.
- Spread it out. Treat CE as a quarterly habit instead of a renewal week scramble. Under an hour a month covers the standard requirement.
- Finish early. Build the reporting lag into your plan and wrap your hours 30 to 60 days before your deadline.
What If You Are Licensed in More Than One State?
In many states, nonresident producers meet CE by staying compliant in their home state. North Carolina, for example, does not require its CE from nonresident producers who are in good standing at home. Keep your resident state current first, then confirm each nonresident state's rule, since a few treat certain license types differently.
Can Extra CE Hours Carry Over?
Sometimes. Illinois lets you carry up to 12 extra hours into your next term, Georgia allows up to half of the biennial requirement, and Washington allows none. In states that allow carryover, extra ethics hours usually roll forward as general credit only, so you still need fresh ethics hours every term. Compare the rules in our carryover guide, and if you think you qualify for relief, review CE exemptions and extensions.
How Can You Finish Your CE Online?
Pick your state, choose your courses, and finish on your schedule. Aceable Insurance offers state approved CE in short lessons that fit between appointments, and new states are rolling out. Start with your state's CE courses.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many CE hours do most states require for insurance agents?
Most states require 24 hours every two years, usually including 3 hours of ethics. Florida, for example, drops to 20 hours once you have been licensed six years.
Do ethics hours count toward the total?
Yes. In the states covered here, your ethics hours are part of your total, not added on top of it.
Can you take insurance CE online?
In most states, yes, though some limit the format. Texas requires at least half your hours to be classroom or classroom equivalent, and Illinois requires ethics in a classroom or live webinar.
Stay Licensed Without the Last Minute Scramble
CE is a lot easier when it is a few lessons a week instead of a weekend of panic. Find your state, finish your hours early, and keep your focus on the clients who keep your book growing. Find your CE today.
Your state's requirement, handled.
Now that you know your number, Aceable's CE courses cover the full requirement, ethics included, without eating your selling time.