College Preparatory Courses for CCMR Accountability: Local Educational Agencies (LEAs)

Proposed changes to the Accountability Manual will include college preparatory courses (defined in Texas Education Code (TEC), §28.014) that meet standards consistent with other indicators of college readiness.

The proposed rule includes information about two planned changes to the use of College Preparatory courses for credit in the CCMR component of A–F state accountability. Specifically, the changes start in 2025-26 A-F ratings, and are:

1. Credit for approved College Preparatory courses only starting with 2026 graduates in 2027 Accountability: To ensure a consistent standard of course quality,

2. TEA will begin a process to review and approve College Preparatory courses for the purpose of demonstrating college readiness in the public school accountability system. Starting with 2026 graduates, students must complete an approved course to be eligible for CCMR credit.

3. Credit for 12th grade College Preparatory courses only starting with 2026 graduates in 2027 Accountability: Because College Preparatory courses are statutorily required to be designed for 12th grade students, in the future, only students completing the College Preparatory course as  12th graders will be eligible for CCMR credit.  

   1. To accommodate a transition for 11th-grade students currently enrolled in College Preparatory courses, 2025 graduates will be eligible for CCMR credit with courses completed in 12th grade or 11th grade. 2026 graduates and future cohorts will only be eligible for CCMR credit with College Preparatory courses completed in the 12th grade.

Criteria for successful completion of a College Preparatory Course

The criteria for successful completion of a College Preparatory course are aligned between a school system and the partnering Institute of Higher Education (IHE).

In accordance with TEC, §51.338(e), upon successful completion of a college prep course, students earn a Texas Success Initiative (TSI) exemption from the partnering institutions of higher education (IHEs) in that content area. Students should only be reported as successfully completing a course if they have met TSI exemption requirements.

College Preparatory Courses for CCMR Accountability Provider Applications

College preparatory course providers who wish to participate must submit an application that includes narrative responses and data files indicating their interest in being considered an approved provider of a college preparatory course that counts toward the college, career, and military readiness (CCMR) credit in the public-school accountability system. 

Through a comprehensive review process, TEA will work with faculty reviewers to assess submitted application materials for college preparatory courses for public school accountability. Each college preparatory course approved for public school accountability will be assigned a unique Service ID enabling data collection related to participation and outcomes.

College Preparatory Courses for CCMR Accountability are specific courses that must align with requirements for College, Career, and Military Readiness as defined by TEA's accountability system.  If an institution chooses not to submit materials for consideration, their college preparatory course will not be included on the official list of approved courses that count toward a school district's accountability measures for College, Career, and Military Readiness (CCMR).

College preparatory courses may still exist and operate independent of this TEA process, but only those approved by TEA through this process are eligible for TEA's CCMR accountability consideration.

For more information, service providers can review the College Preparatory Courses for CCMR Accountability: Providers webpage and review the College Preparatory Course Provider Guide.

Please be advised that the responsibility to apply for approval to offer college preparatory courses that count toward College, Career, and Military Readiness (CCMR) credit in the public school accountability system lies with the college preparatory course providers, such as Institutions of Higher Education (IHE) or Education Service Centers.

The course review process will result in the following:

• A 2025-2030 college preparatory course for public school accountability list of approved providers

• Assignment of a unique Service ID for each approved college preparatory English language arts courses and each college preparatory mathematics course approved for credit in the public-school accountability system

• Continuous improvement to support consistent high-quality courses for students

College Preparatory Courses for CCMR Accountability Timeline

The College Preparatory Courses for CCMR Accountability timeline is as follows:

• College Preparatory Course for CCMR Accountability Provider Interest Form open on November 20, 2024 and available through January 10, 2025
• College Preparatory Course for CCMR Accountability Provider Application available November 20, 2024 through January 31, 2025
• Application scoring and faculty review January through March 2025
• College Preparatory Course Provider status notification March 2025
• College Preparatory Course Providers begin serving students with unique service IDs in Fall 2025