2025 · Regular session · House bill
HB20
HB20 creates an Applied Sciences Pathway through which students in grades 11 and 12 can work toward a high-school diploma and an approved postsecondary credential together.
Official caption: Relating to establishing the Applied Sciences Pathway program.
Official report lists House author(s): Gates, Buckley, Bell, Keith, Longoria, Martinez Fischer. This does not identify sponsors or amendment drafters.
Bill explanation published · Version and amendment review scope is stated below · Individual amendment records may not be separately annotated.
Bill highlights
Selected points from the published explanation. Follow each point to its source-linked context; conditions and limits may matter.
- HB20 creates an Applied Sciences Pathway through which students in grades 11 and 12 can work toward a high-school diploma and an approved postsecondary credential together.
- A partnership must offer at least one sequenced course of study leading to a diploma and an eligible certificate program with successful placement in high-wage, high-growth jobs.
- Participating districts and charters must permit all their grade-11 and grade-12 students to enroll in a pathway course of study.
- The commissioner may approve a career-and-technology course as a substitute for a graduation credit when it substantially covers the required knowledge and skills.
- Students can still take career-and-technology or dual-credit courses before entering this program.
What does it do?
HB20 creates an Applied Sciences Pathway through which students in grades 11 and 12 can work toward a high-school diploma and an approved postsecondary credential together. The education commissioner must establish and administer the program and approve participating partnerships between school districts or open-enrollment charter schools and institutions of higher education. It took immediate effect when signed June 20, 2025, applies beginning with the 2025–26 school year, and the new program section expires September 1, 2031. History; enrolled law.
A partnership must offer at least one sequenced course of study leading to a diploma and an eligible certificate program with successful placement in high-wage, high-growth jobs. The law lists 20 industry categories: plumbing/pipe fitting; electrical; welding; sheet metal; carpentry; masonry; diesel/heavy equipment; aviation maintenance; heating/ventilation/air conditioning; construction management/inspection; mechanical/aerospace engineering; industrial maintenance/processes; robotics/automation; information technology/cybersecurity; oil/gas exploration/production; refining/chemical processes; transportation/distribution/logistics; manufacturing/industrial technology; electronics; and automotive technology. Starting in 2027–28, the commissioner may revise the list once every five years to reflect labor-market trends. It is not a promise that every school will offer all 20.
Participating districts and charters must permit all their grade-11 and grade-12 students to enroll in a pathway course of study. The credential must be a level-one or level-two certificate as defined by the Higher Education Coordinating Board, or a credential of value recognized by board rule and approved by the commissioner. The institutional agreement must meet the board’s dual-credit partnership rules. The incorporated definition of higher-education institution covers the public institutions and agencies specified in Education Code 61.003, not any private training business. Incorporated definitions; 29.914(a)–(d).
The commissioner may approve a career-and-technology course as a substitute for a graduation credit when it substantially covers the required knowledge and skills. There is no overall one-credit substitution cap, but one course cannot count as more than one graduation credit or in more than one subject. For substitutions in English, mathematics, science or social studies, students must first satisfactorily complete required end-of-course assessments for earlier courses in the corresponding subject in their district’s sequence; this does not create an assessment for every course. Program participation time counts toward full-time attendance hours. 29.914(e)–(g).
Students can still take career-and-technology or dual-credit courses before entering this program. The section does not give the commissioner a new approval power over unrelated school-college partnerships. Rules remain necessary to administer the program; this explanation does not certify any particular partnership or credential’s approval. 29.914(h)–(j).
What changed along the way?
The introduced bill listed ten industries and required the course of study to be provided at no cost to the student. The House substitute expanded the list to 20, added five-year industry-list updates starting in 2027–28, clarified that the number of substituted credits is not capped, protected earlier dual-credit participation and unrelated partnerships, and removed the no-cost-to-student requirement. The House-passed and Senate committee operative texts match that substitute.
The index lists one floor amendment: Schwertner’s Senate F1, adopted May 29. All seven instructions survived: board-defined certificate levels; a board-recognized and commissioner-approved credential-of-value option; an institutional rather than merely articulation agreement; compliance with board dual-credit partnership rules; the substitution proviso; the prior-course assessment condition; and the September 1, 2031 expiration. Versions; final law.
The Senate passed the amended bill 31–0; the House concurred 134–0 with two present but not voting. These are final passage/concurrence votes, not a separate amendment roll-call claim.
For the full amendment record, open the official amendment index.
Official bill versions
Compare the published text versions in the official text index. A change is not attributed to a specific amendment here without a verified record.
Who could benefit—and who could bear the costs?
Participating students may combine school completion with job-oriented training, and employers may gain access to more trained applicants. Schools and public higher-education partners must coordinate instruction, credentials, course credit and agreements. The bill promises neither a job nor a particular wage, and the final version does not itself require a free course of study for every student. Other aid or fee arrangements must be checked separately.
The May 29, 2025 final-stage fiscal note anticipates no significant state fiscal impact, assuming costs can be absorbed with existing resources. It also says districts and higher-education institutions without existing Applied Science programs would face startup and training costs. The introduced, House-committee, engrossed and second-house notes give the same general assessment; none quantifies those local startup costs or students’ expenses.
HB20 makes no new appropriation and does not require every district to establish every pathway. Its public value depends on approved partnerships, suitable instruction and credentials, and successful student participation—not on a guaranteed statewide employment outcome. Three-section act.
Recorded House vote
05/30/2025 · Record 4085
House concurrence in Senate amendments to HB 20. This is the stated House motion, not necessarily a separate vote on an amendment.
134 yea · 0 nay · 2 present, not voting
Individual recorded positions and absences
Yea (134)
Alders, Anchía, Ashby, Barry, Bell, C., Bell, K., Bernal, Bhojani, Bonnen, Bryant, Buckley, Bucy, Bumgarner, Button, Cain, Canales, Capriglione, Cole, Collier, Cook, Cortez, Craddick, Cunningham, Curry, Darby, Davis, A., Dean, DeAyala, Dorazio, Dutton, Dyson, Fairly, Flores, Frank, Gámez, Garcia, L., Garcia Hernandez, Gates, Gerdes, Geren, Gervin-Hawkins, González, J., González, M., Goodwin, Guerra, Guillen, Harless, Harris Davila, Harrison, Hayes, Hefner, Hernandez, Hickland, Hinojosa, Holt, Hopper, Howard, Hull, Hunter, Isaac, Johnson, Jones, J., Kerwin, King, Kitzman, LaHood, Landgraf, Leach, Leo Wilson, Little, Longoria, Lopez, J., Lopez, R., Lowe, Lozano, Lujan, Luther, Martinez, Martinez Fischer, McLaughlin, McQueeney, Metcalf, Meyer, Meza, Money, Moody, Morales, C., Morales, E., Morgan, Muñoz, Noble, Olcott, Oliverson, Ordaz, Orr, Patterson, Paul, Perez, M., Perez, V., Pierson, Plesa, Raymond, Richardson, Rodríguez Ramos, Romero, Rose, Rosenthal, Schatzline, Schofield, Schoolcraft, Shaheen, Shofner, Simmons, Slawson, Smithee, Spiller, Swanson, Talarico, Tepper, Thompson, Tinderholt, Toth, Troxclair, Turner, VanDeaver, Villalobos, Virdell, Vo, Walle, Ward Johnson, Wharton, Wilson, Wu, Zwiener
Present, not voting (2)
Mr. Speaker, Vasut(C)
Absent, excused (6)
Allen, Garcia, J., Harris, Jones, V., Lambert, Phelan
Absent (8)
Bowers, Campos, Davis, Y., Lalani, Louderback, Manuel, Morales Shaw, Reynolds
Names and categories appear as printed in the official journal. Read the exact House record ↗
Official sources
- Bill history and latest recorded action
- Bill versions, analyses and fiscal notes
- Action history and votes
- Amendment index
Catalog report retrieved 2026-10-25. Check the official record for corrections or later changes.