How to Become a Teacher in Texas 2026
Texas teacher certification requires a bachelor's degree, a Texas Education Agency (TEA) approved educator preparation program, and passing scores on the certification exams required for your specific certificate. Most candidates finish the traditional route in four to five years, or twelve to sixteen months through an alternative certification program if they already hold a degree.
Texas certifies teachers through the Texas Education Agency, and the process follows the steps to certification every state uses in some form: a bachelor's degree, an approved preparation program, passing the certification exams required for your specific certificate, a state application, and fingerprinting for a background check. None of it is optional, but the order and the timeline shift depending on whether you already have a degree.
Choose What You Want to Teach
Start with the grade band and subject, because it determines which certificate and which required exams you'll eventually need. If you're drawn to one subject, high school or middle school certification lets you teach it directly. If you'd rather work across subjects with younger kids, elementary certification covers that. Special education certification is its own track, with its own required exams, for anyone who wants to work with students who have disabilities.
The Texas Education Agency publishes district, teacher, and enrollment data that's worth a look before you commit to a grade band, especially if you're weighing where the openings actually are.
Earn a Bachelor's Degree and Complete an Approved Preparation Program
A bachelor's degree from a college or university accredited by an agency the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board recognizes is the baseline requirement for most certification fields. It doesn't have to be an education degree. Trade and Industrial Education is the exception with a true no-bachelor's pathway. Initial Health Science Technology certification instead requires at least an associate degree, plus the applicable professional credentials and work experience in the field.
From there, every candidate completes an Approved Educator Preparation Program (EPP). Which kind you enroll in depends on where you're starting from.
University-Based Preparation Programs
If you don't have a degree yet, you'll complete your EPP alongside your bachelor's degree at a university. These programs blend coursework in pedagogy, classroom management, and instructional design with fieldwork: classroom observations building up to a full student-teaching placement, usually under a mentor teacher who's already certified. As of candidates who enrolled on or after September 1, 2024, the program must also include at least 50 hours of field-based experience before you're eligible to apply for certification, under 19 TAC Chapter 228.
Alternative Certification in Texas
If you already hold a bachelor's degree, you don't need to go back to school full time. Alternative Certification Programs (ACPs) and post-baccalaureate programs let you start teaching as a paid intern, usually under supervision, while you finish coursework and exams on the side. Most ACPs run twelve to sixteen months. You'll find them through universities, regional education service centers, school districts, and private providers, and your program identifies your certification content area based on your degree, though you can request a different content-area exam once you're enrolled.
Pass Your Certification Exams
Which exams you take depends entirely on the certificate you're pursuing. TEA maintains a Required Texas Certification Tests chart listing the specific exam or exams tied to each certification field, and it's worth checking directly rather than assuming one standard test sequence applies to everyone. Most classroom certificates pair a content exam in the subject and grade band you're certifying in with a pedagogy exam, most commonly the Texas Examinations of Educator Standards (TExES) Pedagogy and Professional Responsibilities (PPR) EC-12 exam, though some fields use a different pedagogy assessment. Trade and Industrial Education is one example: it's tested through a separate PPR assessment, not the standard PPR EC-12.
Five certification fields also require the Science of Teaching Reading (STR) exam: EC-3, Core Subjects EC-6 with STR, Core Subjects 4-8 with STR, ELAR 4-8 with STR, and ELAR/Social Studies 4-8 with STR. TExES exams are administered through Pearson, but TEA works with more than one certification-testing vendor depending on the field, so "the required exams for your certificate" is the safer way to think about this rather than treating TExES as the entire testing system. Your preparation program will tell you exactly which exams you're approved to register for.
Apply for Certification
Application Requirements
Once your program confirms you've met every requirement, you'll submit your state application. Don't file early. Verify eligibility with your program first, since applying before you're cleared just adds delay. You'll need:
- A completed application through the Educator Certification Online System (ECOS)
- Official transcripts showing your bachelor's degree
- Confirmation of program completion from your EPP
- The non-refundable application fee
- Copies of any certificates you already hold, if applicable
- Fingerprinting for a national criminal background check
Contact Information
Texas Education Agency
1701 N. Congress Avenue
Austin, TX 78701
Main phone: (512) 463-9734
Educator certification line: (512) 936-8400, option 2
Find a Teaching Job in Texas
Public School Teaching Jobs
TEA maintains job listings by subject and region, each linking out to the hiring district's own site. Texas is a large, growing state, and turnover creates steady demand in specific subjects, particularly bilingual education, special education, math, and career and technical education, though exact shortage areas shift from year to year, district by district.
Private School Teaching Jobs
Texas has roughly 2,000 private schools, and more than half carry a religious affiliation. Smaller class sizes are the usual draw, and some campuses are single-sex.
Retirement
Texas teachers build a pension through the Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS), funded through district and state contributions over your career. It pays out for life once you're eligible, though the amount depends on your years of service and final salary.
Texas Teacher Salary and Job Outlook
Texas teacher pay tracks close to the national median across most K-12 roles, but the job outlook here is a real outlier: while national projections show most classroom-teaching occupations flat or declining through the next decade, Projections Central expects every core K-12 teaching role in Texas to grow more than 11% between 2024 and 2034, driven by the state's enrollment growth.
| Occupation | Median Annual Wage (May 2025) | Job Growth (2024-2034) |
|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten Teachers | $63,780 | +11.6% |
| Elementary School Teachers | $62,760 | +11.4% |
| Middle School Teachers | $63,390 | +11.5% |
| Secondary (High) School Teachers | $63,590 | +11.7% |
| Special Education Teachers, Elementary | $62,330 | +11.6% |
| Special Education Teachers, Secondary | $64,830 | +11.2% |
Elementary teaching alone accounts for an estimated 10,180 average annual openings in Texas through 2034, and secondary adds another 8,950 a year, according to Projections Central. That's a wider hiring window than most states are seeing right now.
Continue Your Education After Certification
A Standard Certificate isn't the end of the paperwork. Texas requires 150 hours of Continuing Professional Education (CPE) every five years to renew it, through activities like workshops, mentoring another teacher, or coursework at an accredited college or university. TEA keeps an approved list of CPE providers.
Graduate coursework in your certified subject area can count toward that total: one semester credit hour equals 15 CPE hours, so a three-credit graduate course clears 45 of your 150 hours. At least 80% of your total CPE hours must be directly related to the certificate you're renewing and to the relevant certification standards, not just loosely connected to teaching in general.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to take the THEA to become a teacher in Texas?
No. The THEA (Texas Higher Education Assessment) is a legacy college-readiness test and isn't part of current TEA certification requirements. Certification now runs on a bachelor's degree, an approved EPP, and the specific certification exams TEA's Required Texas Certification Tests chart lists for your certificate. If a program or site tells you otherwise, verify directly with TEA before paying for a THEA prep course you don't need.
What exams do I need to pass for Texas teacher certification?
It depends on the certificate. TEA's Required Texas Certification Tests chart lists the specific exam or exams for each field. Most classroom certificates require a content exam plus a pedagogy exam, commonly the TExES PPR EC-12, though some fields use a different pedagogy test. Five fields - EC-3, Core Subjects EC-6 with STR, Core Subjects 4-8 with STR, ELAR 4-8 with STR, and ELAR/Social Studies 4-8 with STR - also require the Science of Teaching Reading exam.
How long does alternative certification take in Texas?
Most Alternative Certification Programs run twelve to sixteen months, and many let you teach as a paid intern while you finish coursework and exams. The traditional university route, by comparison, typically takes four to five years since it's completed alongside a bachelor's degree.
Do I need an education degree to teach in Texas?
No. Your bachelor's degree can be in any field, as long as it's from an accredited institution. What matters is completing a TEA-approved educator preparation program afterward, whether that's through a university or an alternative certification route.
How do I renew my Texas teaching certificate?
Standard Certificates renew every five years, and TEA requires 150 hours of Continuing Professional Education in that window, with at least 80% of it directly related to the certificate you're renewing and its relevant certification standards.
- Five requirements, one agency - TEA sets all of it: a bachelor's degree, an approved EPP, the required exams for your specific certificate, a state application, and fingerprinting.
- THEA and ExCET are gone - exams are certificate-specific now, and TEA's Required Texas Certification Tests chart is the source of truth, not a single universal test sequence.
- Alternative certification is faster, not lesser - twelve to sixteen months versus four to five years, same license at the end.
- Texas bucks the national trend - Projections Central shows every core K-12 teaching role here growing over 11% through 2034, while national projections for the same roles are flat or declining.
- Renewal is ongoing - 150 CPE hours every five years, with at least 80% tied directly to your certificate and its standards.
2025 US Bureau of Labor Statistics salary figures for Kindergarten and Elementary School Teachers, Middle School Teachers, High School Teachers, and Special Education Teachers. Job growth projections (2024-2034) are from the US Department of Labor-sponsored resource, Projections Central. Figures reflect state and national data, not school-specific information. Conditions in your area may vary. Data accessed August 2026.
Certification is the same five steps no matter which program you pick, but the programs themselves differ a lot in format and cost. The sponsored options listed here include Texas-approved alternative certification and university routes, several with online coursework for candidates already working full time.