Texas has seen a remarkable increase in the share of high schoolers considered “college ready” by the state over the past several years, with tens of thousands more graduates clearing the bar.
Yet today, state leaders aren’t trumpeting the rise. Instead, they’re taking action that likely will cut Texas’ college readiness rates back down.
That’s because most of the increase stems from Texas public schools shepherding students through English and math “college prep courses,” classes designed to ready students for the rigors of higher education. Mounting evidence shows the prep courses are not a strong predictor of success in higher education, potentially giving some students false hope that they’re ready for college.
State data shows the share of Texas graduates deemed college ready via college prep courses jumped from 3% in 2019 to 20% in 2024, while rates of readiness by several other well-established metrics barely budged. In response, the Texas Education Agency is taking steps that will raise college prep course standards — and likely bring down college readiness rates in the process.
In a statement, TEA officials said the rise in college readiness rates and prep courses reflect school districts’ efforts to gear up more students for higher education. Now, the agency wants to ensure the courses “more consistently meet rigorous standards and align with actual postsecondary performance.”
“While this support helped proliferate alternative readiness pathways, it has also highlighted the need for quality assurance,” the agency said.
The explosion of college prep courses and subsequent TEA action mark the latest saga in Texas’ ever-shifting attempt to measure which students are ready for life after high school and reward schools for successfully preparing them.
As Kinder Institute researchers detailed last month, state leaders have made several changes over the past decade to Texas’ “College, Career and Military Readiness,” or CCMR, framework.
Each tweak directly impacts Texas public school students, as school districts realign programs and resources to ensure students meet at least one of the state’s 11 benchmarks for readiness. Schools that successfully prepare students earn higher A-through-F academic accountability ratings and more state funding.
“Over the last decade, Texas expanded ways a student can demonstrate they are ready for the future,” said Gabriela Sánchez-Soto, a researcher for the Kinder Institute’s Houston Education Research Consortium and co-author of last month’s report. “As policymakers decide which benchmarks are still relevant going forward, we need strong evidence that each program we ask districts to implement effectively connects students to postsecondary success.”
Prep courses take off
The proliferation started about a decade ago, after state lawmakers mandated that all Texas public school districts offer college prep courses in English and math through partnerships with higher education institutions. Legislators required that the classes be designed for seniors who haven’t demonstrated readiness for entry-level college coursework, though they didn’t require state preapproval or review of the courses.
The TEA encouraged districts and high schools to usher students through college prep courses by building passage of the classes into the state’s accountability system. Graduates who completed both college prep courses were automatically classified as “college ready,” regardless of whether they met any other readiness benchmarks, such as strong SAT scores or completion of college-level classes while in high school.
For districts and schools, each graduate labeled as college ready increased their odds of earning a good accountability rating. Starting in 2019, districts also boosted their chances of accessing more than $200 million in “CCMR outcomes bonus” funding when students passed the courses.
Initially, few schools steered students into college prep courses. Less than 1% of graduates from the classes of 2017 and 2018 received CCMR credit tied to the courses.
But gradually, many districts and schools adopted the classes — and reaped the accountability rewards.
About 13% of the Class of 2023 passed the English and math courses, with roughly half failing to meet any other benchmark for postsecondary readiness. By 2024, about 20% of graduates completed both courses, totaling more than 75,000 students. State officials haven’t released data for the Class of 2025.
Reliance on college prep courses varied by school and district. Several Houston-area districts and schools reported that 30% to 60% of graduates were college ready based on prep course completion — enough to boost their accountability rating by a full letter grade, in some cases. Other local districts and schools documented 1% to 5% of graduates finishing the classes.
Are students truly ready?
Just as college prep courses took off, state leaders and education researchers questioned whether completing the classes was a strong measure of college readiness.
Earlier this year, the TEA posted data online showing only 22% of Class of 2021 graduates deemed college ready solely via prep courses made it through the fall 2023 semester in college. By comparison, students hitting another college readiness benchmark persisted at rates of roughly 40% to 60%.
TEA data also showed less than half of Class of 2022 graduates only classified as college ready from prep courses earned C or better grades in their first non-remedial English, math and writing college classes.
Jacob Kirksey, an associate professor of education policy at Texas Tech University, also published data earlier this year comparing postsecondary results of students classified as college ready only through prep courses to students only earning the label through dual credit classes. He found college prep graduates were significantly more likely to need remedial college classes and significantly less likely to earn a degree.
“The implication (for students) is cost of tuition dollars, cost of time, cost of motivation,” Kirksey said. “All of those things really point to some inefficiencies and dangers around saying there’s this indicator of college readiness when, in fact, it’s not preparing kids for college.”
The state takes action
Faced with the underwhelming data, the TEA is launching stricter policies around college prep courses and CCMR credit. Starting with the Class of 2027, students completing prep classes will only be classified as college ready if they take courses offered by state-approved providers.
To get state approval, providers must show at least 60% of graduates taking their English or math course earn a C grade or better in their first non-remedial college class. If they don’t, providers can still get approval if the rate is 50% and they earn high marks from a faculty review of course materials.
As of now, only five of 31 applicants seeking to offer an approved English college prep course received the state’s blessing. Not one of the 31 math applicants hit the approval thresholds. The TEA plans to review new and revised applications annually.
“The whole intention of this evaluation is to make sure that we’re in alignment with these other assessments that set the course and bar for Texas college readiness in the state,” Krystal Garza, TEA’s director of postsecondary preparation programs, said in a webinar earlier this year.
The dearth of state-sanctioned providers likely means many districts and schools will see their college readiness rate plummet in the coming years, potentially dragging down their accountability rating with it. Districts also could see less state funding tied to CCMR outcomes bonuses.
Sánchez-Soto said the courses can help more students gain access to college preparation opportunities, but state education leaders and higher education institutions need to create rigorous classes.
“If the state incentivizes districts to offer these courses through the accountability system, they most likely will,” Sánchez-Soto said. “But the accountability system needs to include tried and true metrics that support student success, and these need to be assessed regularly to ensure we have timely indicators of postsecondary readiness.”
