What it takes to get a mortgage loan officer license in Kentucky
Kentucky Mortgage Loan Originator License Requirements
Total Course Hours
20 hrs
National & Elective
20 hrs
Kentucky-Specific
None
License Fee
$50
All 20 hours are the national SAFE Act topics and electives. Kentucky designates none of them to state law.
Kentucky designates none of the 20 hours to state law, so the federal SAFE course is the whole pre-licensing requirement here. That is not true in most states, and a course bought for Kentucky will not necessarily satisfy a neighboring one. Continuing education still carries a Kentucky-specific hour: 8 hours a year, 1 of which must cover Kentucky law even though pre-licensing does not.
Requirements verified 2026-08-11 against the official source.
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Provider profiles
How to become a mortgage loan officer in Kentucky
Originating mortgage loans in Kentucky takes 20 hours of pre-licensing education from a provider approved by the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System, usually written NMLS. Kentucky Department of Financial Institutions issues the license and calls it the Kentucky Mortgage Loan Originator License.
Continuing education is a separate annual obligation and it does not track the pre-licensing rules. Kentucky wants 8 hours every year, 1 of them on Kentucky law.
Kentucky Department of Financial Institutions charges $50 to apply for the Kentucky Mortgage Loan Originator License. NMLS charges its own processing fees on top of that and those are the same in every jurisdiction, so the license costs more than the state's own figure suggests. The cost breakdown adds up the whole stack.
4 providers in this comparison sell pre-licensing courses for Kentucky, priced from $249 to $599. The lowest price on a provider's site is sometimes an add-on rather than a full pre-licensing course, so the table marks which packages cover the national hours.
Kentucky mortgage license FAQ
How many hours of coursework do I need to become a loan officer in Kentucky? ▾
20 hours, none of which Kentucky designates to state law. The course has to come from an NMLS-approved provider.
What exam do I have to pass in Kentucky? ▾
The SAFE Act national test carrying uniform state content. Every state and territory has adopted it, so there is no separate Kentucky exam behind it. You need 75 percent to pass.
What does the license itself cost in Kentucky? ▾
$50 to Kentucky Department of Financial Institutions, plus the fees NMLS charges to process the application. Course tuition is separate and varies by provider. The cost breakdown page has the full stack.
Do I need a surety bond in Kentucky? ▾
We have not confirmed this against Kentucky's own rules yet, so check with Kentucky Department of Financial Institutions before you budget for one. Under the federal SAFE Act an originator has to be covered by a bond, but in most states an employee is covered by their employer's.
What does a Kentucky mortgage license cost in total?
Course tuition is only part of it. See the full stack of state and NMLS fees.