Industry-Based Certification Reimbursements and Clarification of Career Readiness Assessment
| Date: | November 20, 2025 |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Industry-Based Certification Reimbursements and Clarification of Career Readiness Assessment |
| Category: | State Funding |
| Next Steps: | Share with school system administrators and business staff |
This correspondence provides additional information on reimbursements for industry-based certifications under House Bill (HB) 2, Article 6, and HB 120 (89th Texas Legislature, Regular Session, 2025) and clarifies prior communication regarding reimbursement provisions for college preparation and career readiness assessments.
2025-2026 Industry-Based Certification Reimbursements
House Bill 2, Article 6 requires TEA to allow school systems to request reimbursement for up to two industry-based certification (IBC) examinations reported as passed or earned per high school student, an increase from one reimbursement per student under the previous law. The process for reporting IBCs will remain the same as previous reporting. Beginning this school year (2025-2026), TEA will now review for reimbursement:
- The first two IBCs with a cost greater than zero dollars reported in PEIMS for each student in grades 9-12; and
- The cost of fingerprinting or background checks required to attain a certification, as noted on the 2025-2030 IBC List for Public School Accountability
Eligible fingerprinting and background checks may be entered as a separate reimbursement request for passed/earned IBCs. Additional costs, such as curriculum or materials, are not reimbursable.
School systems will continue to report passed and earned IBCs taken between September 1 and May 31 with the PEIMS summer submission. Beginning with the 2025-26 school year, school systems will report passed and earned IBCs taken between June 1 and August 31 with the PEIMS extended year submission.
As with all self-reported data submitted through PEIMS, school systems should keep records supporting the information submitted through the system for a minimum of five years.
2025-2026 College Preparation and Career Readiness Assessment Reimbursement Clarification
Under prior law, school systems were permitted to receive one reimbursement per student for one college preparation assessment (SAT, ACT, or TSIA). The To the Administrator Addressed (TAA) correspondence dated July 10, 2025 and titled “House Bill 2 (HB 2) Implementation: Foundation School Program (FSP) Funding Formula Changes and Preliminary School Year 2025–2026 Summary of Finances (SOF) Reports,” incorrectly stated that under new law, school systems will be able to receive a reimbursement one time if they pay for students to take either the SAT or the ACT, and separately, they will be reimbursed one time for the cost for students to take the TSIA.
Effective with the 2025–2026 school year, HB 2 and HB 120 expand reimbursement eligibility to allow school systems to receive one reimbursement per student for a single college preparation or career readiness assessment.
This means districts may claim reimbursement for the cost of either the SAT, ACT, TSIA, or a career readiness assessment once it has been adopted and approved by TEA. The career readiness assessment will be identified in spring 2026.
The 2025-2026 College Preparation and Career Readiness Assessment Reimbursement will be available to report in TEA Login (TEAL) in fall 2026.
Contact Information
If you have questions or need assistance, please visit TEA’s House Bill 3: College Preparation Assessment Reimbursements, Industry-Based Certifications webpage or email TSIA Reimbursements TSIAReimbursements@tea.texas.gov or ibc@tea.texas.gov.