When choosing insurance continuing education classes, agents must of course choose classes that meet their states’ requirements as to the total number of credits earned, the subject matter, and the credentials of the provider or teacher. After that, though, agents’ own career goals should take priority in determining which insurance continuing education classes to take. While most states limit continuing education credit to those areas where an agent is already licensed, there are many topics covered under each license type. A newly licensed agent with a license to sell life and health insurance, for example, may decide to focus on the senior market, and should thus take one of the many classes oriented toward that market. The next consideration should be whether to take a course online or in person, because some people learn better in person than online, and vice versa.
State insurance departments require that insurance agents, as part of the periodic license renewal process, satisfactorily complete a certain number of continuing education credits, each of which generally represents an hour of classroom instruction. In many cases, more experienced agents may be permitted a lighter credit load; in Georgia, for example, agents who’ve been licensed for less than 20 years must earn 15 continuing education credits per year, and those with 20 years or more must complete only 10 credits annually. Many states also require that some of the credits earned be in some specific subject. Georgia requires three ethics credits annually, regardless of length of service, while Oregon requires three hours of ethics and three hours of Oregon law in its biennial requirement of 24 hours.
Insurance continuing education classes are offered by traditional colleges and universities, by private education companies, and by private individuals. In all cases, they must be accredited by the state’s insurance department. Private individuals will often contract with an insurance agency to conduct the necessary instruction in-house. Most insurance companies themselves also offer insurance continuing education classes, subsidizing or absorbing the cost entirely, as part of their own internal training programs. In most cases, agents are permitted to select the insurance continuing education classes and the provider.
In most cases, agents have access to a wide variety of courses that meet their states’ criteria. In addition, seminars and symposia offered throughout the year by organizations within the industry also offer credits toward the continuing education requirement. Listings of accredited instructors and organizations are often provided by state insurance departments. Most classes, both face-to-face and online, charge a fee, but this is generally moderate, costing usually less than $100 US Dollars (USD) for a 15-credit class.
