Keller Williams announced Tuesday that it has teamed up with education firm Kaplan to launch a new, all-digital real estate school.
The program will be known as the KW School of Real Estate, or KSCORE. According to a company statement, it will offer state-specific pre-licensing curriculum for would-be agents. Participants who complete that curriculum will ultimately earn their licenses and can then go on to work in the brokerage of their choosing. Enrollment is open now.
The school will also have ongoing training and coaching offerings, based on Keller Williams’ programs, for existing agents. The training is specific to each state, but in an email a Keller Williams spokesperson told Inman that in Texas, for example, courses will touch on broker responsibilities, sustainable building practices, the market, and other topics.
Participants will be able to access the school’s content online, via home study programs and online live courses.
Marc King
The statement ultimately describes KSCORE as “a national, first-of-its-kind, fully-digital real estate training program.”
“The synergy of KW and Kaplan, two world-class brands in training and education, will transform how our industry provides education for today’s aspiring real estate agents,” Keller Williams President Marc King added in the statement.
Molly de Mattos, a Keller Williams team leader as well as an instructor and coach at the company, will lead KSCORE as its dean. In the statement, de Mattos said that beginning in 2022, the company plans to “add more than 15,000 new agents annually to Keller Williams and our industry with this program.”
Molly de Mattos
“Through this critical endeavor,” de Mattos added, “we will make entry into real estate more accessible than ever before.”
Keller Williams has long made training and education a significant part of its pitch to agents. Among other things, the company runs a variety of training programs and in August made a series of executive appointments meant to further beef up its education offerings. One of Keller Williams training offerings, Keller Williams University, will see some of its content included in KSCORE’s digital courses, though it will also continue to operate as its own program as well.
In the case of KSCORE, Keller Williams hopes that in addition to increasing its agent ranks the program will also improve diversity. Tuesday’s statement notes that the real estate industry is overall less diverse than the general population of the U.S., and KSCORE could help correct that disparity.
“Through financial assistance opportunities offered via our market centers, we’re seeking to balance the racial makeup of our industry with that of the general population,” King explained. “We see this deliberate effort as crucial to closing the homeownership gap for historically marginalized communities in our country.”
Participants in KSCORE will access the school through local Keller Williams offices, which the company refers to as market centers. The process begins when a prospective students reach out online and is then guided through the enrollment process by administrators.
The program is launching with 250 participating market centers. More than 500 should be involved by early next year, when KSCORE will be available in 24 U.S. states. Eventually, the plan is to take the school nationwide.
Costs for the program vary by state and according to which programs participants use. However, pricing for brokerages to use the ongoing education and learning modules starts at $199 per month. For $599 per month, brokerages can enroll an unlimited number of people in a pre-licensing curriculum.
Keller Williams will also offer scholarships and financial assistance via its market centers.
Toby Schifsky
Toby Schifsky, executive director of Kaplan Real Estate Education, concluded in the statement that KSCORE “positions Keller Williams at the front door of the industry.”
“Kaplan’s enterprise licensing solution helps Keller Williams eliminate several significant friction points in their new agent onboarding process,” Schifsky added. “The commitment from Keller Williams to their new agents is significant, and we look forward to providing positive student outcomes for each of them.”
Update: This post was updated after publication with additional information from Keller Williams.
