House Bill 5: Foundation High School Program

This site provides information regarding the new graduation requirements established by House Bill 5, 83rd Texas Legislature, Regular Session, 2013. 

Overview 

In 2013, the 83rd Texas Legislature established the new Foundation High School Program as the default graduation program for all students entering high school beginning in 2014-2015. The State Board of Education adopted rules related to the new Foundation High School Program in January 2014.

• Chapter 74. Curriculum Requirements, Subchapter B. Graduation Requirements (Approved, January 2014)

House Bill (HB) 5 required the commissioner of education to adopt a transition plan to implement HB 5 and replace the Minimum High School Program (MHSP), Recommended High School Program (RHSP), and Distinguished Achievement Program (DAP) with the Foundation High School Program beginning with the 2014-2015 school year. These rules allow students who entered high school before the 2014-2015 school year the option to graduate under the new Foundation High School Program.

• Chapter 74. Curriculum Requirements, Subchapter BB. Commissioner’s Rules Concerning High School Graduation (Adopted, December 2013)

The Texas Education Agency, in collaboration with the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and the Texas Workforce Commission, developed the Graduation Toolkit to provide essential information to students, parents, and counselors about the new Foundation High School Program. The Graduation Toolkit is available for download.

Resources

The following resources provide additional information about the Foundation High School Program.

• General Overview of Foundation High School Program — Coming Soon
• Financial Aid Application Graduation Requirement
• Graduation Programs Side by Side (PDF, 308KB)
• Foundation High School Program FAQs — Coming Soon
• Endorsement FAQs--March 2014 (PDF, 854KB)
• Performance Acknowledgment FAQs — Coming Soon
• Other HB5 FAQs
• Text of HB5 (outside source)

Required Forms

The following required forms are provided for district use.

• Endorsement Opt-Out Agreement (PDF, 59KB) Updated April 21 2020
• Endorsement Opt-Out Agreement_SPANISH (PDF, 59KB) Updated April 21 2020

If the parent and/or administrator electronic signature fields for the opt-out agreements provided above are not visible in your internet browser, download and reopen the form on your device. Firefox is the internet browser recommended for best results.

• Locally Developed Course/Activity District Form (§28.002(g-1)) (PDF, 651KB)
• Instructions for Locally Developed Course/Activity District Form (§28.002(g-1)) (PDF, 651KB)

The Institution of Higher Education-Endorsed Course Registration Form required to register courses offered pursuant to TEC, §28.025(b-5), is available by request submitted to curriculum@tea.texas.gov.