Taking Your Minnesota Teen From Permit to Provisional License

Before you enroll: is the course required?

Yes, if your teen begins before 18. DVS will not let a teen sit the permit test until the 30 classroom hours are finished, or running in a concurrent program, and driving lessons are booked. The road test waits until all 6 driving hours are complete.

The classroom is governed by Minnesota Rules part 7411.0515. Three hours a day is the cap, the instructor works from an approved curriculum guide, and the syllabus has to cover braking physics, carbon monoxide, railroad crossings, school bus law, impaired driving and, for half an hour or more, organ donation.

Before you enroll: a sample timeline

Picture a teen whose 15th birthday is in April. They take the online classroom course over the winter, book lessons with a driving school in March, and pass the knowledge test the week of the birthday. The permit is issued that week.

Over the next six months the family logs about two hours a week, with plenty of evening drives in the fall when it gets dark early. The 180 days are up in October, but the road test still waits for the 16th birthday the following April. That gives the family half a year of extra practice, including a Minnesota winter, before the test.

Choosing a program: online, school or driving school

Online is allowed for the classroom half, but only with a provider DVS has signed off on. Its name should appear on the Online Classroom Driver Training Programs list (on the DVS courses page) before you pay a cent.

The 6 driving hours are always in person. An instructor from a state licensed commercial school, or from an approved school program, sits beside your teen, and the school tells DVS when the hours are done.

That same DVS page also lists third-party knowledge test proctors, licensed commercial schools, approved online classrooms, and approved programs run by public and private schools and community education. Plenty of districts offer driver education through their community education office.

Compare the whole price, how driving lessons get scheduled, and whether one fee covers both halves. Two cards come from the driving school: a blue one when your teen enrolls (needed for the permit test) and a white one when lessons are complete (needed for the road test). Keep both safe.

Choosing a program: teaching it at home

Home school parents can teach the 30 classroom hours when the child is a full-time home school student as state law defines it and the family uses materials DVS has approved. That excludes students enrolled in charter schools, online school or e-learning, and students who are homebound.

Your child can begin at 14. When the 30 hours are finished, you mail DVS's Office of Driver Education the Home School Driver's Education Affidavit, and it sends back a completion letter, though never more than 30 days ahead of the 15th birthday. A driving school exchanges that letter for the blue enrollment card. The lessons in the car still have to be taught by a driving school.

On the permit: test, fees and rules

Expect multiple choice plus true or false items on road signs and Minnesota traffic law. Minnesota Rules part 7410.4760 puts the pass mark at 80%, and part 7410.4780 allows one attempt a day. DVS stations do not time the test. Outside proctors give 40 minutes, can charge $10, and will not allow an interpreter.

The Driver's Manual and a Class D practice test are free from DVS; the manual is translated into Somali, Hmong, Karen, Vietnamese, Spanish and more. On test day your teen needs a primary and a secondary ID, and the driving school must already have filed the enrollment certificate, or the test will not go ahead.

With the permit, your teen carries it every drive, sits beside a licensed driver aged 21 or more, and makes sure every seat belt is fastened. No phone use whatsoever, even hands-free. The permit is good for two years, and you can renew it without testing so long as it has not been expired for a year. October 2026 prices: $29.50 new, $24.50 to renew.

On the permit: the log and the parent class

The statute asks for a log showing 40 supervised hours or more, 15 after dark, signed by a licensed supervisor who is at least 21. Your teen then does one of two things: drives 10 extra hours (making 50), or has you finish the supplemental parental curriculum, a 90 minute parent awareness class in DPS's words.

According to DPS, hours count from the start of behind-the-wheel lessons and have to be complete before the provisional road test. Write down the date and time of each drive, sign the log as parent or guardian, and bring a printed copy to the test.

On test day: the road test

Eligibility: age 16 or more, classroom and driving lessons both complete, 180 days on the permit, and a clean six months before the test with no convictions for moving or alcohol violations. Bring the permit, a licensed driver, any glasses your teen needs, and a car whose doors, belts and lights work, with current registration and insurance that is valid on the day.

Need to cancel? Do it 72 hours or more ahead, or a no-show fee applies. Tries one and two are free, and each one after that costs $20. Winter tests can be pushed back until roads clear, and a car that gets stuck counts as a fail, with any towing at your expense.

After the test: provisional license limits

For six months your teen may not drive from midnight to 5 a.m., with exceptions for trips between home and work, between home and a school event when no school transportation is offered, driving as part of a job, or driving with a licensed adult of 25 or more. Passengers younger than 20 who are not immediate family are limited to one in the first six months and three in the next six, unless a parent or guardian is in the car.

Under 18, the phone stays untouched while driving, 911 calls excepted. Under 21, any amount of alcohol is illegal. Vanessa's Law adds that a teen revoked over a crash, or over alcohol or a controlled substance, cannot get the privilege back before turning 18.

After the test: getting a full license

The full Class D arrives at 18, or earlier once your teen has spent 12 straight months on the provisional card with at most one moving violation and no conviction tied to alcohol or a crash. One of those alcohol or crash convictions, or a second moving violation, delays the full license by 12 months from the conviction date, or until 18 if that is sooner.

One requirement surprises families. Before a teen under 18 can trade up, the signing parent or guardian must certify 10 or more additional hours driven with a licensed adult of 21 or older while on the provisional license. Minnesota Statutes 171.04, subdivision 1 contains it, so keep logging after the test.

October 2026 pricing for the upgrade is $37.50 with a clean record; that figure already reflects the $3.50 discount DVS gives drivers with no violations. The card that arrives is vertical, carries a red banner, and expires when your teen turns 21.

Special cases: new residents, farm work, mopeds and insurance

Moving in with a teen? Bring the old state's permit and pass the Class D knowledge test. For earlier permit time to count toward the road test, bring two things: a certified driving record proving six months of valid privileges, and evidence of training matching 30 classroom and 6 driving hours.

Minnesota Statutes 171.041 allows a farm work license for a qualifying 15 year old, skipping the six month permit wait. It is restricted to farm work, to daylight, and to a 40 mile radius of the farmhouse where the teen works; guides that say 20 miles are outdated. The application needs the notarized Farm Work License Affidavit (PS30188), a property tax statement showing farmland, any rental agreement, and a statement from the farm owner if the teen's employer is not a parent.

Mopeds have their own route. At 15, finishing an approved moped safety course and passing the written test earns a motorized bicycle instruction permit; DPS posts the training programs on its courses page. For insurance, ask about a student driver discount; we found no Minnesota rule requiring one for teens.