School Policies
Arkansas Real Estate School Mission Statement
Arkansas Real Estate School, Inc., a real estate education institution committed to providing affordable high-quality courses, instructional materials, and student services that are easy for students to access and use. Our goal is to present students with information necessary to pass the state licensure exam and provide ongoing education which not only meets Arkansas Real Estate Commission requirements, but also provides them with practical skills training. To achieve this goal, ARES ensures all courses provide clear learning outcomes, current information, interactive experiences, and assessment to facilitate student success.
Online Education Policies
School Hours of Operation/Calendar
Courses are taught via distance education; therefore, students do not have the calendar constraints common to in-class courses such as program start/end dates and beginning/end dates for terms. The
administrative staff hours of operation are M-F 8am-6pm CST; Sat 10am – 2pm CST; Sun 1pm-4pm CST. Arkansas Real Estate School, Inc. staff office is closed in recognition of the following holidays: New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.
Enrollment Policies
Students may enroll in an Arkansas Real Estate School, Inc. course at any time by going
to https://arkrealestateschool.com/online-courses/ or by calling our enrollment office
at 501.690.0434. Arkansas Real Estate School, Inc. students may access their courses immediately upon enrollment. Courses are accessible at any time within the enrollment period. Students choose to register for a course based on individual schedules, therefore late enrollment requirement is not applicable. Arkansas Real Estate School, Inc. does not accept credit for previous training received in the classroom or from other schools or states.
Attendance Policy and Requirements to Graduate
To receive credit for any course, a student must complete 100% of the course (a 100% attendance rate.) Under no circumstances will a student receive any credit for courses in which 100% of the lessons were not completed and the final exam was not passed. Absences, tardiness, or early departures are not applicable. Arkansas Real Estate School, Inc. does not have a leave of absence policy or probationary period for online coursework.
Refunds
Course fees for online courses may be refunded within 3 days (72 hours) of registration. Refund requests must be made to the school office by email amanda.wellborn@arkres.net or by calling/texting 501-690-0434 before the 72-hour period is over. No refunds will be made after the 72-hour period.
Transfers
No credit can be given for time spent in the format a student is leaving and the full course must be completed in the new format. We do understand that transfers are sometimes necessary so please call for specific pricing and details.
When changing to the classroom from online, student will be required to purchase the classroom book and pay an administration fee.
When changing from the classroom to online, an administration fee applies, as well as any difference in the cost of the course.
Course Expiration & Extensions
Enrollment policy allows students 1-year to complete continuing education courses. Once the course expires, a new course must be purchased.
Our 60-hour Pre-license and 18-hour post-license courses expire in 6-months. Extensions are $50. You may purchase up to three 60-day extensions. After 1-year, the course must be repurchased at a discounted rate.
What are the technical requirements for your courses?
Our online courses require an internet connection of 56K modem or greater, at least 800×600 screen resolution, sufficient memory to run system software, and an internet browser.
Compatible browsers:
Windows: include Internet Explorer 10 or newer, Google Chrome version 35 or newer, or Mozilla
Firefox version 4.0 or newer
macOS: the current version of Safari, Firefox, or Chrome
iPad: use the current Safari browser
Android tablet: Google Chrome version 35 or newer (not necessarily the default browser)
Windows tablet, Google Chrome 35 or newer, or Mozilla Firefox 4.0 or newer.
We recommend using Google Chrome for the best experience. It is always a good idea to update to the most recent version of your browser for an optimal experience.
Overview of Programs
Arkansas Real Estate School, Inc. offers the following online courses:
Real Estate Sales Pre-license: This course provides relevant definitions and descriptions, background information, and state and federal laws and regulations necessary to successfully pass the Arkansas state real estate licensing exam. This 60-hour course is required and approved by the Arkansas Real Estate Commission and ARELLO for students seeking to become a licensed Arkansas Sales Agent.
Real Estate Sales Post-license: Broken into three six-hour modules—Practical Application of Agency and Disclosure, Real Estate Contracts, and From Contract to Closing—the post-licensing content is designed specifically for newly practicing salespersons who want to connect the dots between agency types and ethical agency dilemmas, contract law and actually filling out a contract form, and closing documents and the people you’ll actually meet on the road from contract to closing. This 18-hr course is REQUIRED of all new sales agents within 6-months of becoming licensed as an Arkansas Real Estate Agent.
Continuing Education: Continuing Education courses provide information about a variety of topics relevant to the practice of real estate and are fully approved by the Arkansas Real Estate Commission and ARELLO certified. Arkansas Agents must complete 7-hrs of continuing education each year which must include 1-hr of Safety. 2022 requirements also include an agency course titled “Whose Agent Am I Anyway?” The remaining 3 hours of required education are your choice.
Arkansas Real Estate School, Inc. Learning System
The Arkansas Real Estate School, Inc. Learning System provides an educational experience that is useful, focusing on real-life scenarios through meaningful scenarios and practical application. The courses are built on solid instructional design principles – delivered via objective-based learning and is supported by interactive knowledge checks and remediation opportunities. To better support this standard, we recognize the importance of presenting content in a way that our learners can relate to and actually apply rather than simply memorizing for the sake of passing an exam. We are constantly
reminded of the power of creating an engaging experience for our learners through evaluation comments related to the overall experience. We also recognize the various personal learning styles and have built our internal course design standards around accounting for all styles but also recognizing that the majority of our Learners prefer active learning to passive learning.
Slides consist of the following:
• Text based content • Images and diagrams
• Case studies/examples/scenarios • Knowledge check questions
• True/false activities • Matching exercises
• Ordered lists
• Links to external resources that are applicable/relevant to the content (virtual field trips)
How the Course Monitors and Evaluates Progress and Provides Feedback
Arkansas Real Estate School, Inc. courses utilize the personal computer to perform the functions traditionally performed by a teacher. Using our courseware, the computer becomes essentially a one-on- one tutor, presenting material, providing adequate explanation to ensure students understand what is being presented, and requiring students demonstrate understanding through active participation in the learning process.
More importantly, the system constantly monitors what the learner knows and doesn’t know and utilizes that information to dynamically adjust the presentation to meet the unique needs of the learner. This process provides a fully self-contained instructional program which adjusts to the specific needs of the learner.
Minimum Grade Requirement and additional study resources
Each course contains multiple modules. Students must make a 75% or above to progress to the next module. Once all coursework is complete, the student must take a final exam and score a minimum of 70% to receive credit for the course. Once started, the final exam must be completed in the same setting. You will not be able to stop and resume later. So… Be sure that you have enough time to take the entire exam before accessing it.
Also, make sure that you are not logged into your course in any other browser window or another tab in your current browser. If you open this course in another window at the same time you are taking the exam, the exam results will not register.
Please utilize the practice exams and Arkansas law study materials in this link:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1nrpGDT2WaNdwmr3rr1KN5N2NFxPyUWrt?usp=sharing
The Welcome packet emailed to each pre-license student upon enrollment can be found here:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1dukEN1BQlNqjCVsLBbEgIFTIweujioG6
Signed Student Affidavit
Arkansas Real Estate School, Inc. requires the learner to certify personal completion of each module of a distance learning course and any written exercise or assessment required for completion of the course. The online program will not process course completion without this signed affidavit.
Course Completion Records
Course completion certificates are available to print once all the following requirements have been met:
- Complete all instructional lessons in the course
- Submit signed and dated Student Affidavit
- Pass the required course final examination
- Complete the course evaluation
Digital Signature Completion Requirements
Once all required coursework has been completed, students must certify that they were the
student/licensee who completed the coursework. This is accomplished at the end of each course, within our LMS. A course and instructor evaluation are also presented at this time to the student. Once certification has taken place, the student’s certificate of completion is sent to the student via an automated email and is also stored in the student’s online account for a minimum of five years unless otherwise stated. Any exceptions to these rules will be provided to the student in the requirement details on the web page, email instructions, and/or course orientation and completion slides.
Technical Support
Students may contact Tech Support via chat within their course or by calling 888-827-0777. Technical support hours of operation are:
M-F 8am-6pm CST.
Sat 10am – 2pm CST
Sun 1pm-4pm CST
Online Administrator: email: amanda.wellborn@arkres.net or call/text 501-690-0434.
The administrative staff hours of operation are:
M-F 8am-6pm CST.
Sat 10am – 2pm CST
Sun 1pm-4pm CST.
Instructor Availability
Instructors will be available to respond to all student communication as quickly as possible, and in no case will response time be longer than 24 hours. To contact the instructor, please email danny.been@arkres.net and CC amanda.wellborn@arkres.net, carolyn.patterson@arkres.net. You may also call or text 501-690-7448.
Student and Instructor Netiquette
Unregulated, an online discussion can quickly disintegrate into a tangled web of extraneous verbiage, rude language, and inconsiderate behavior guaranteed to derail the conversation. To enhance the learning experience of our students, the following online discussion rules apply both to instructors and students. Notice that most of them are just as applicable in face-to-face discussions.
Ground Rules for Online Discussions
Social media is electronic- it can break. If for any reason you experience difficulty participating,
please call, email, or otherwise inform your instructor of the issue. Chances are others are having the same problem.
Be patient with others. You may have more experience with online discussion forums than the
person next to you. Give them a hand. Show them it’s not so hard. They’re really going to appreciate it!
Read everything in the discussion thread before replying. This will help you avoid repeating
something someone else has already contributed. Acknowledge the points made with which you agree and suggest alternatives for those with which you don’t.
Be brief. Be clear and articulate your point without being preachy or pompous. Be direct. Stay on
point. Don’t lose yourself, or your readers, in overly wordy sentences or paragraphs.
Cite your sources. If your contribution to the conversation includes the intellectual property
(authored material) of others, e.g., books, newspaper, magazine, or journal articles—online or in
print—they must be given proper attribution.
Respect diversity. It is an ethnically rich and diverse, multi-cultural world in which we live. Use
no language that is—or that could be construed to be—offensive toward others. Racists, sexist, and hetero-sexist comments and jokes are unacceptable, as are derogatory and/or sarcastic comments and jokes directed at religious beliefs, disabilities, and age.
No YELLING! Step carefully. Beware the electronic footprint you leave behind. Using bold
upper-case letters is bad form.
Criticism must be constructive, well-meaning, and well-articulated. Please, no tantrums. Rants
directed at any other contributor are simply unacceptable and will not be tolerated. The same goes for profanity. The professional environment expects no less.
ARES suggests composing your comments or posts in a word processor such as Microsoft Word
will allow you to check your post for spelling and grammar errors before posting. Review written posts and responses to ensure that you’ve conveyed exactly what you intended. Once you are satisfied with your post then simply copy the post and paste into the blog or social media string.
It is suggested to read your post out loud before hitting the send button. This will tell you a lot
about whether your grammar and sentence structure are correct, your tone is appropriate, and your contribution clear or not.