Minnesota has a graduated driver's licensing (GDL) system. Under the GDL system, anyone 18 years of age or younger must hold an instruction permit for at least six months before taking a road test. When you have passed the road test, you may apply for your license.
If you are under 18 years of age, one of your parents or a court-appointed guardian must approve your application for a driver's license or instruction permit.
Step 1: Purchase our course for your driver education requirements
Step 2: Obtain a letter from the superintendent of schools
Step 4: Obtain your certificate of completion and begin your behind-the-wheel instruction
Step 5: Continue to study for the Knowledge Test
Step 6: Bring the necessary documents to the DMV and get your Instruction Permit
Step 7: Continue with our course and complete your behind-the-wheel trainingStep 8: Make your appointment with the DMV for your Road Test to get your Provisional License
Step 9: Get your Class D Driver License
Step 1: Purchase our course for your driver education requirements
The Minnesota legislature approved home school parents for teaching the classroom portion of driver education. Our driver education course is an approved source for your driver education materials.
In order for you to participate in home-school driver education, you must be at least 15 years old
Step 2: Obtain a letter from the superintendent of schools
Your parents/guardian must obtain a letter from the superintendent of schools in the district in which you live stating that you are a full-time home school student.
Step 3: Complete the 30 hours of instruction in our driver’s education course and send letter to Office of Driver Education
When you have completed the required 30 hours of classroom instruction, send a letter to the Office of Driver Education stating that the instruction has been completed, which text was used, your full legal name (first, middle, and last), and date of birth. Also, enclose the letter from the superintendent of schools.
Step 4: Obtain your certificate of completion and begin your behind-the-wheel instruction
Upon receipt of your letter, the Office of Driver Education will send a proof of classroom completion document to you. This is the document that you must present to the behind-the-wheel instruction provider in order to be issued a Certificate of Enrollment (also called the "blue card").
Step 5: Continue to study for the Knowledge Test
You will need to study for the DMV written exam by reading through the DMV Minnesota Driver Handbook. It is important that you know all the rules and regulations of driving before taking the written test, so read carefully!
Step 6: Bring the necessary documents to the DMV and get your Instruction Permit
Bring your blue card to a state examining station, along with a primary and secondary form of identification. These documents need to be presented at the examining station in order to take the written test. When the test is passed, application may be made for an instruction permit.
You must be at least 15 years of age and must have completed 30 hours of classroom instruction and be enrolled in behind-the-wheel instruction.
To get your Instruction permit you must pass the vision test (to determine whether you see well enough to drive safely or if vision correction or other restrictions are needed) and the knowledge test (contains multiple choice and true or false questions that evaluate your knowledge and understanding of Minnesota traffic laws and road signs), complete the application, and pay the required fee of $9.50. The permit is valid for 1 year and is renewable.
Parent or legal guardian signature and certification are required.
As a permit holder, you may drive under the supervision of a certified driving instructor, parent or guardian, or other licensed driver age 21 or older. Every occupant in your vehicle under the age of 18 must have a seat belt or child passenger restraint system properly fastened.
Step 7: Continue with our course and complete your behind-the-wheel training
Keep studying our driver’s ed course, and keep practicing behind the wheel.
Once the instruction permit has been obtained, you must receive six hours of behind-the-wheel instruction from a licensed driver education instructor and 30 hours of supervised driving (ten of which must be at night) with an authorized licensed driver who is at least 21 years of age. After this practice driving, and after the permit has been possessed for at least six months with no moving violations, and you are at least 16 years of age, you are eligible to take a road test and, when the test is passed, obtain your provisional driver’s license.
Step 8: Make your appointment with the DMV for your Road Test to get your Provisional License
When you think you have the necessary driving skills and meet all the requirements, you can make an appointment to take the Road Test.
To get your Provisional License, you must be at least 16 years old and have completed your driver education, including the 30 hours of behind-the-wheel instruction (10 hours of which were at night). You also must have held an Instructional Permit for at least 6 months with no convictions for moving violations or convictions for alcohol/controlled substance violations. And you must pass the road test!
You will fill out the application for the Provisional License. You must provide your Social Security number on driver's license and identification card applications. A parent or court-appointed guardian must sign and approve your license application and certify that you have driven under the supervision of a licensed driver who is at least 21 years of age for not less than 30 hours, at least 10 of which must have taken place at night.
The Road Test consists of a demonstration of your vehicle's safety equipment, your vehicle control skills, and a driving performance test. You will be tested on the rules of the road and your ability to drive a motor vehicle safely under normal traffic conditions. The examiner will evaluate your awareness of risks and your reaction to them. You will be evaluated on your ability to use good observation at intersections, when changing lanes, and in other situations.
Remember to bring with you your valid instruction permit and current proof of insurance. You must provide your own vehicle to take the test. The vehicle doors must open from both the inside and the outside. Seat belts must work properly. The headlights, taillights, turn signals, and brake lights must be in working order.
During the provisional license period, you must ensure that every occupant under 18 years of age wears a seat belt or uses a properly fastened child passenger restraint system.
The cost of the Provisional License is $9.50 and it is valid for 2 years.
Step 9: Get your Class D Driver License
To qualify for your Class D Driver License, you must be at least 18 years of age, or have held a provisional license for at least 12 consecutive months with no convictions for alcohol violations, controlled-substance violations, or crash-related moving violations, and have had not more than one conviction for a moving violation that is not crash related.
If you are under 18 years of age, you must certify that you have driven for not less than ten hours under the supervision of a licensed driver who is at least 21 years of age.
You must complete an application for a driver's license and pay the license fee. The license fee is $18.50. If you are upgrading from a provisional license, you will receive a $3.50 credit toward the fee, if you have no violations on record.