Teen Drivers Ed in Maryland: A Family Guide to Rookie Driver

Before you start: the course is not optional, at any age

The MVA treats a certified driver education program as a requirement for every new Maryland driver, whatever their age. Most states drop the course at 18; Maryland does not, so a first-time driver of 30 sits in the same class as your 16 year old.

Courses come from private driving schools licensed and certified by the MVA. Public schools do not provide it, and there is no option for a parent to teach it. Finishing a Maryland course triggers an electronic report from the school straight to the MVA, which means no paper certificate travels to the road test.

Before you start: choosing a school

Schools are listed in the driver education provider search on myMVA, linked from the MVA's driver's education page. The MVA publishes that list as a public service and does not vouch for anyone on it. Compare price, class schedule, how soon behind-the-wheel slots open up and where instructors will pick your teen up.

Schools do sometimes close. If yours shuts down partway through, the MVA reviews the records and credits the training already done. Save all receipts and progress paperwork, claim against the school's surety bond for any money lost, and bring your paperwork to a new school, which decides what is left.

A rule of thumb on price: a school must sell the whole program. Selling only the classroom portion or only the driving portion is not allowed, so a quote that seems too cheap deserves a second look.

During the course: what 36 hours covers

The floor is 30 hours of classroom teaching and 6 hours of driving with a certified instructor. Maryland regulations, as the MVA reminded schools in a bulletin, give students 18 weeks to finish both halves, extendable only if the student requests it, so check the season's sports and exams before you pay.

Those 6 instructor hours are separate from the 60 practice hours you log as a family. They do not count toward each other.

• 30 hours of instructor-led classroom
• 6 hours driving with a licensed instructor
• Permit must arrive before the first lesson
• Completion goes to the MVA electronically

Online classes: what counts and what does not

Only live classes count. An MVA bulletin allows virtual classes taught in real time by an instructor, with every student on camera for the whole session and no more than 30 students. What the rules call online (as opposed to virtual) means self-paced, and that format is banned for driver education.

In practice, a Zoom class run by an MVA certified school is fine. A video course from a national website that your teen clicks through alone is not. Confirm two things before paying: that the school appears in the MVA's provider search, and that it has certified its virtual teaching with the MVA.

At 15 years and 9 months: getting the permit

Your teen needs one document proving identity (a U.S. passport or birth certificate works) and one proving the Social Security number (the card itself, or a W-2). When that identity document leaves your name off, add proof you are the parent, like a health insurance card or a tax return.

A teen under 16 also needs a school attendance form. Either the school or the county home school coordinator fills out DL-300 and hands it over sealed in an envelope, or you complete DL-300A and co-sign it as parent or guardian. The branch visit is an eye check plus the knowledge test; the permit itself is mailed. The fee listed in October 2026 for a first permit is $65, and you will not pay again when it later becomes a full license.

Example: a teen born on March 10, 2011 reaches 15 years and 9 months on December 10, 2026. Start the myMVA pre-application a few weeks before that so the appointment lands close to the date.

The knowledge test: prepare properly

Twenty five multiple choice questions, all drawn from the Maryland Driver's Manual, covering signs, traffic laws and safe habits. The MVA says roughly half of people taking it for the first time fail, so one evening with the manual is not enough.

The MVA offers a free Online Driver Test Tutorial built on the real test's format of 25 questions. Have your teen work the untimed version until the explanations stop being surprises, then switch to the timed version, which allows 20 minutes. Practice tests come in English and Spanish, and there is an MVA phone app for review.

Failing costs only time. Book another appointment and drill the topics that tripped your teen up. How long until a retest is the MVA's call and may change, so check with the branch.

The practice months: 60 hours and the 9 month hold

Anyone under 25 needs 60 or more hours of supervised driving, including 10 after dark, recorded in the Rookie Driver Practice Guide that comes with the permit. The adult supervising must be 21 or older with three or more years of licensed driving, and must be the only other person in the front.

No phone use of any kind while driving on a permit, hands-free included, except to call 911. A violation can mean suspension. A moving violation on the permit, ending in either a conviction or PBJ, resets the clock: 9 more months, counted from that date, before your teen can test.

Pacing: 60 hours over 9 months is under two hours a week. Fit the 10 night hours into the winter months when it gets dark early.

Road test day

Part one is a closed course, where your teen must back into a two-point turnabout and finish it inside three minutes. Part two is on real streets. Touch a cone, roll a stop sign, or make the examiner intervene, and the test is over on the spot.

After a failed attempt, the earliest retest is the next business day. After a pass, the card shows up in the mail roughly 7 to 10 business days later.

After the road test: provisional limits under 18

Solo driving becomes legal at 16 and a half, with strings attached. During the first 151 days, a qualified supervisor must be on board before your teen can carry any non-family passenger younger than 18. And from midnight until 5 a.m. your teen stays off the road unless supervised, with exceptions for trips to or from a job, a sports game or practice, a school-sponsored event, or organized volunteering.

Under 18, a provisional driver may not use any wireless device, hands-free or not. Everyone riding along wears a belt or sits in a child seat, and alcohol tolerance is zero. Penalties are heavy. Violating the night or passenger limit costs a year of driving, and using a phone can cost 90 days.

If something goes wrong: tickets on a provisional license

Fines and points are only the start. Ticket number one for a provisional driver means the Driver Improvement Program. If your teen is under 18, ticket number two means 30 days without a license, then 90 days of driving only to work and school. Number three means 180 days off the road and the Young Driver Improvement Program. Number four means the license is revoked and your teen tests again from scratch.

Reaching 5 points in a 12 month span costs a provisional driver 6 months the first time. So does a first high risk conviction, which covers speeding, racing, and negligent, aggressive or reckless driving. On top of that, each conviction or PBJ sends the 18 month countdown to a full license back to zero.

Your role as the co-signer

Applicants under 18 need an adult co-signer, usually you. Your signature carries ongoing power. The MVA lets a parent or guardian pull consent whenever they choose, and your teen then cannot drive until the matter is resolved.

You also hear about trouble. A moving violation ticket for a driver under 18 triggers a notice from the MVA to whoever co-signed. Many families back this up with a written household driving agreement on passengers, night trips and phones that goes further than the law.

Moving to Maryland partway through

Maryland honors drivers ed from only a short list of places: Virginia, North Carolina, Colorado, and particular Delaware schools. Courses from Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Maine have been refused. To have yours reviewed, email the completion documents to the MVA's driver education team.

A permit from another state cannot be traded for a Maryland permit, so expect another knowledge test. As for insurance, every car registered in Maryland must carry PIP, uninsured motorist and liability coverage. Any price break for drivers ed comes from the insurer, not the state, so ask while shopping for a policy.