Bill Text: TX HB20 | 2025-2026 | 89th Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Relating to establishing the Applied Sciences Pathway program.
Sponsorship: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 83-32)
Status: (Passed) 2025-06-20 - Effective immediately [HB20 Detail]
Download: Texas-2025-HB20-Enrolled.html
| H.B. No. 20 | ||
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| relating to establishing the Applied Sciences Pathway program. | ||
| BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
| SECTION 1. Subchapter Z, Chapter 29, Education Code, is | ||
| amended by adding Section 29.914 to read as follows: | ||
| Sec. 29.914. APPLIED SCIENCES PATHWAY PROGRAM. (a) In this | ||
| section: | ||
| (1) "Certificate program" and "institution of higher | ||
| education" have the meanings assigned by Section 61.003. | ||
| (2) "Program" means the Applied Sciences Pathway | ||
| program established under this section. | ||
| (b) The commissioner shall establish and administer the | ||
| Applied Sciences Pathway program to provide opportunities for | ||
| students to concurrently earn high school diplomas and certificates | ||
| from institutions of higher education. | ||
| (c) The commissioner shall approve for participation in the | ||
| program partnerships between school districts or open-enrollment | ||
| charter schools and institutions of higher education to provide | ||
| courses in a non-duplicative sequence of progressive achievement | ||
| that lead to: | ||
| (1) a high school diploma; and | ||
| (2) completion of a certificate program with a | ||
| successful job placement rate in high-wage, high-growth jobs in one | ||
| of the following industries: | ||
| (A) plumbing and pipe fitting; | ||
| (B) electrical; | ||
| (C) welding; | ||
| (D) sheet metal; | ||
| (E) carpentry; | ||
| (F) masonry; | ||
| (G) diesel and heavy equipment; | ||
| (H) aviation maintenance; | ||
| (I) heating, ventilation, and air conditioning; | ||
| (J) construction management and inspection; | ||
| (K) mechanical and aerospace engineering; | ||
| (L) industrial maintenance and processes; | ||
| (M) robotics and automation; | ||
| (N) information technology and cybersecurity; | ||
| (O) oil and gas exploration and production; | ||
| (P) refining and chemical processes; | ||
| (Q) transportation distribution and logistics; | ||
| (R) manufacturing and industrial technology; | ||
| (S) electronics technology; or | ||
| (T) automotive technology. | ||
| (c-1) Beginning with the 2027-2028 school year, the | ||
| commissioner may revise the industries approved for purposes of | ||
| Subsection (c)(2) once every five years to reflect current labor | ||
| market trends. | ||
| (d) A partnership participating in the program must: | ||
| (1) enable the school district or open-enrollment | ||
| charter school to provide at least one course of study described by | ||
| Subsection (c) through a partnership with an institution of higher | ||
| education under the program; | ||
| (2) provide for a course of study described by | ||
| Subsection (c) that enables a participating student in grade level | ||
| 11 or 12 to concurrently: | ||
| (A) enroll in a certificate program described by | ||
| Subsection (c)(2) at the partnering institution of higher education | ||
| under which the student may receive instruction from an instructor | ||
| employed by the institution and any appropriate work-based learning | ||
| opportunities from the institution and earn: | ||
| (i) a level one or level two certificate, as | ||
| defined by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board; or | ||
| (ii) a credential recognized as a | ||
| credential of value by Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board | ||
| rule and approved by the commissioner for purposes of the program; | ||
| and | ||
| (B) satisfy high school graduation requirements | ||
| and receive a high school diploma; | ||
| (3) require the partnering school district or | ||
| open-enrollment charter school to permit all district or school | ||
| students in grade level 11 or 12 to enroll in a course of study | ||
| provided under Subdivision (2); | ||
| (4) be governed by an institutional agreement between | ||
| the partnering school district or open-enrollment charter school | ||
| and institution of higher education that meets the requirements for | ||
| a dual credit partnership adopted by Texas Higher Education | ||
| Coordinating Board rule; and | ||
| (5) meet any other requirements established by | ||
| commissioner rule. | ||
| (e) Except as provided by Subsection (e-1), the | ||
| commissioner may approve the substitution of a credit in a subject | ||
| area required for high school graduation under Section 28.025 with | ||
| a credit in a career and technology education course provided by an | ||
| institution of higher education under the program that | ||
| substantially covers the essential knowledge and skills of the | ||
| course for which it is substituted. This subsection may not be | ||
| construed to limit the number of substituted credits a student may | ||
| earn while participating in the program. | ||
| (e-1) Before a student may earn substituted credit under | ||
| Subsection (e) for a secondary-level course in a subject described | ||
| by Section 28.025(b-1)(1), (2), (3), or (4), the student must | ||
| perform satisfactorily on each end-of-course assessment instrument | ||
| required for courses in the corresponding subject that precede the | ||
| course for which the student seeks substituted credit in the | ||
| district's prescribed course sequence. | ||
| (f) A career and technology education course authorized as a | ||
| substitute credit under Subsection (e) may not count: | ||
| (1) for more than one credit toward the student's high | ||
| school graduation requirements; or | ||
| (2) as a credit for more than one subject area. | ||
| (g) Time that a student spends participating in the program | ||
| is counted as part of the minimum number of instructional hours | ||
| required for a student to be considered a full-time student in | ||
| average daily attendance for purposes of Section 48.005. | ||
| (h) This section may not be construed to: | ||
| (1) prevent a student's participation in career and | ||
| technology education or dual credit courses before the student | ||
| begins participating in the program; or | ||
| (2) authorize the commissioner to require approval by | ||
| the commissioner for partnerships between school districts or | ||
| open-enrollment charter schools and institutions of higher | ||
| education for purposes other than the program, including | ||
| partnerships to provide dual credit courses. | ||
| (i) The commissioner shall adopt rules as necessary to | ||
| administer the program. | ||
| (j) This section expires September 1, 2031. | ||
| SECTION 2. This Act applies beginning with the 2025-2026 | ||
| school year. | ||
| SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives | ||
| a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as | ||
| provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this | ||
| Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this | ||
| Act takes effect September 1, 2025. | ||
| ______________________________ | ______________________________ | |
| President of the Senate | Speaker of the House | |
| I certify that H.B. No. 20 was passed by the House on April | ||
| 16, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 144, Nays 1, 1 present, not | ||
| voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B. | ||
| No. 20 on May 30, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 134, Nays 0, 2 | ||
| present, not voting. | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Chief Clerk of the House | ||
| I certify that H.B. No. 20 was passed by the Senate, with | ||
| amendments, on May 29, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays | ||
| 0. | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Secretary of the Senate | ||
| APPROVED: __________________ | ||
| Date | ||
| __________________ | ||
| Governor | ||
