You can work as a real estate agent while in college in most states as soon as you turn 18, finish a state-approved pre-licensing course, pass the licensing exam, and sign on with a broker who will supervise your deals. The schedule is unusually compatible with classes because showings cluster on evenings and weekends and you set your own hours. The catch is that you front the costs, you pay your own taxes, and your income during school is likely to be modest and uneven.
Who Can Get Licensed
Baseline requirements look similar across states: at least 18 years old (a few states require 19), a high school diploma or GED, and a background check. Most states also require proof of legal presence in the United States, though a handful have dropped that step. Check your state’s real estate commission before you spend money on coursework, because the specifics change state to state.
If you’re on an F-1 student visa, treat licensing and working as two separate questions. A state may issue you a license, but federal immigration rules sharply limit off-campus work. Real estate sales would only qualify under Curricular Practical Training or Optional Practical Training if your degree is directly related, such as real estate, business, or finance, and you need explicit USCIS authorization before earning anything.1U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Students and Employment Working without that authorization can cost you your student status. Talk to your international student office first.
What It Takes to Get Licensed
Every state requires a state-approved pre-licensing course before you can sit for the exam. Required hours run from as few as 40 to more than 135, covering property law, contracts, fair housing, agency relationships, and basic real estate finance. Nearly every state approves online providers, which is what makes this workable alongside a class schedule. College coursework in finance or real estate usually does not substitute for the pre-licensing requirement, so don’t assume your transcript shortens this step.
After the course, you’ll sit for a state exam that typically has a national portion and a state-specific portion. Exam fees run roughly $50 to $150. First-time failure is common, especially on the state portion, and most states allow unlimited retakes for a fee.
Passing the exam doesn’t make you a working agent. Every state requires new licensees to affiliate with a licensed broker, often called “hanging your license.” Your broker takes legal responsibility for supervising your transactions, and your license stays inactive until that paperwork clears. For a student, the single most important thing to ask a brokerage is whether they’ll accommodate a part-time schedule with disappearances for exams and breaks.
What It Costs Before Your First Commission
The upfront investment catches many students off guard. Plan for the following before you’ve earned a dollar:
- Pre-licensing courses: $100 to $500, depending on required hours and provider.
- Exam fee: $50 to $150, plus retake fees if needed.
- License application and background check: $50 to $300, varying by state.
- Errors and omissions insurance: individual policies run roughly $400 to $700 a year when required, though some brokerages include it in their fees.
- National Association of Realtors dues: $156 for the year plus a $45 special assessment for 2026, billed through your local association. NAR membership isn’t legally required to hold a license, but many brokerages and MLS systems require it as a condition of access.2NAR.realtor. REALTORS Membership Dues Information
- Local association and MLS fees: one-time initiation fees of roughly $30 to $650, plus monthly MLS access of $20 to $50.
All in, expect to spend $500 to $2,000 before your first closing. Some brokerages cover portions of these costs for new agents or let you repay from future commissions, so ask during interviews.
How You Actually Get Paid
Almost all agents work as independent contractors, not employees. Federal law specifically classifies licensed real estate agents as statutory non-employees for tax purposes when compensation is tied to sales rather than hours and a written contract confirms the arrangement.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 3508 – Treatment of Real Estate Agents and Direct Sellers No one withholds taxes from your checks, no one guarantees you income, and benefits are on you.
Commissions come from closings, not salary. When a deal closes, the listing broker and buyer’s broker each take a share, and your brokerage then takes a cut of your side. New agents typically keep 50 to 60 percent of their brokerage’s portion, and that split improves with experience. Some brokerages instead charge a flat per-transaction fee of roughly $500 to $1,500 and let you keep the rest, which gets cheaper once you’re closing regularly and more painful when deals are sparse.
Taxes You’ll Owe Yourself
Because every commission check arrives untaxed, you’re responsible for setting money aside and paying the government on time. The practical rule of thumb is to park 25 to 30 percent of each check for taxes.
Self-Employment Tax
On top of federal and state income tax, you owe self-employment tax of 15.3 percent on your net earnings: 12.4 percent for Social Security on earnings up to $184,500 in 2026, and 2.9 percent for Medicare with no cap.4Internal Revenue Service. Self-Employment Tax (Social Security and Medicare Taxes)5Social Security Administration. Contribution and Benefit Base An employee splits that with their employer; a contractor pays the whole thing.
Quarterly Estimated Payments
If you expect to owe $1,000 or more in federal tax for the year, the IRS requires quarterly estimated payments instead of a single April bill.6Internal Revenue Service. Estimated Taxes For the 2026 tax year, those payments fall on April 15, June 15, and September 15 of 2026, and January 15, 2027.7Internal Revenue Service. Publication 509 (2026), Tax Calendars Miss a deadline and you’ll owe penalties and interest. If you don’t earn anything until later in the year, you only need to cover the quarters in which you had income.
Deductions
Legitimate business expenses reduce what you owe. Common ones for agents include vehicle mileage (72.5 cents per business mile in 2026), marketing and advertising, licensing and MLS fees, continuing education, and a home office if part of your living space is used exclusively for your real estate work.8Internal Revenue Service. 2026 Standard Mileage Rates Start a mileage and receipts log on day one; it will save you real money at filing time and protect you in an audit.
What Commissions Do to Your Financial Aid
Need-based aid is sensitive to self-employment income. The FAFSA uses prior-prior year income, so the 2026–2027 school year pulls from your 2024 tax return and the 2027–2028 year pulls from 2025.9Federal Student Aid Partners. 2026-2027 Award Year: FAFSA Information to be Verified and Acceptable Documentation Your commissions flow into your adjusted gross income, which raises your Student Aid Index and can cut grant eligibility.
A student who closes one or two small transactions may see little change. A student who has a strong year can lose thousands in grant aid. Before your first closing, run the scenario by your school’s financial aid office. Retirement contributions through a SEP-IRA or Solo 401(k) can reduce AGI and soften the hit, but that’s a conversation for a tax professional once you know roughly what you’ll earn.
Fitting It Around Classes
Getting licensed is the easy part. Making money is harder, because real estate runs on relationships and responsiveness. Buyers want evening and weekend showings, which fits a college schedule, but they also want Tuesday afternoons when you’re in class.
Most part-time agents work under 20 hours a week on their real estate business, and at that level the majority earn under $25,000 a year. Your first year will likely be the slowest while you build a referral network. Students who do best tend to work a niche they already know, like student housing near campus or investment properties aimed at parents funding a child’s college living expenses.
A few things that genuinely help: block exam weeks off in your brokerage calendar as unavailable, partner with a more experienced agent who can cover showings when you’re stuck in class, and consider starting the license process over summer so you can put full-time hours into your opening months. Commission income is lumpy. You might earn nothing for three months and then close two deals in a week.
When a semester gets heavy, most states let you place your license on inactive status instead of letting it lapse. You can’t do business or earn commissions while inactive, but you keep your credentials and avoid redoing the whole licensing process. Reactivating usually just takes a fee and any missed continuing education. For a demanding final year or a graduate program, inactive status beats scrambling to meet renewal deadlines while writing a thesis.