- Each state has its own licensing requirements for health and life insurance sales agents. Typically, state's departments of insurance establish and oversee these programs and serve as the ideal source for determining what's needed to practice within a given geographic area. State licensing programs typically require insurance agents to receive training beyond a high school diploma or GED. The amount of training an agent must receive and when she must receive it are outlined in states' licensing programs.
- Prelicensing classes for life and health insurance are courses that insurance agents take prior to taking state licensing exams. In certain states, a specific number of training hours are necessary to qualify to take exams; in others, prospective agents may opt to take a class to ensure they learn the appropriate material that appears on the exam. Classes are available in a variety of formats, including traditional, classroom-based lectures; online courses and self-study; and paper-based books and workbooks. States that mandate prelicensing courses usually preapprove certain providers or institutions to offer classes. Private insurance training schools, insurance agencies, private and public vocational schools and community colleges are common providers of life and health insurance prelicensing courses.
- States typically issue a life and health insurance license for a limited period of time, such as two or three years. States often require licensed agents to complete life and health insurance classes called continuing-education courses to renew their licenses. Under such requirements, agents must complete a predetermined minimum number of training hours or credits before their licenses expire. State departments of insurance usually preapprove continuing-education providers; the same schools and institutions that offer prelicensing classes also often feature continuing-education courses. Like prelicensing classes, continuing-education classes are offered in classroom-based, online and written self-study formats.
- States don't usually require insurance agents to hold post-secondary degrees to sell health and life insurance; however, earning a degree can increase agents' employment opportunities or earning potential. Community and junior colleges sometimes offer two-year associate's degree programs in insurance for would-be agents. Approximately 46 percent of all insurance agents hold bachelor's degrees in any field, reports the Occupational Information Network. As of 2009, more than 40 colleges and universities in the United States offered four-year baccalaureate degrees specifically in insurance, according to the "2009 Barron's Profiles of American Colleges." Curricula for these programs usually include a class in health and life insurance, as well as courses in risk management, regulations and laws relating to insurance, and professional ethics. Degree programs require students to take classes in general education subjects outside of insurance, such as mathematics, humanities, and natural and social sciences.
