Significant Changes to Texas Statewide Community College Reporting Due to HB 8

Texas community colleges saw their requirements for state funding changed back in 2023 with the enactment of Texas House Bill 8 (HB 8), which is based on a performance-based model, specifically student graduation rates and other outcomes.

Since HB 8 was first implemented, there have been several updates and changes that affect community colleges and the state-funding process. The following is a list of the most significant changes to HB 8 that campus administrators and students should be aware of, moving forward.

Awards Differentiation

On the Occupational Skills Achievement Report (CBM00M), item 8 asks for Level of Award and gives the options of 8-Occupational Skills Achievement Award and 9-Institutional Credential Leading to Licensure or Certification. The awards in this report need to be differentiated between 8s and 9s now. In the past, reporting of these awards left them all classified as technical education awards.

SSN Student ID

The Student Identification Number used to refer to the unique identifier for a student at the college. Now, the student identification needs to be the student’s social security number. This is because the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) is tracking outcomes for individual students across schools.

Tracking The Number of Attempts

Students will no longer receive formula funding for courses they attempt more than three times. This means that when student courses are tracked on the CBM0CS with items 5 (course number) and 19 (course type), the count of times a student has taken a course will be tracked across schools, and if a student does not successfully complete a course after three tries, they will not be counted for funding by the THECB. Student counts for funding will be affected by this.

Non-Fundable Awards

On the CBM009, starting in Fall 2025, there is a classification of non-fundable awards. Item 22 on this report creates new definitions about what qualifies as a non-fundable award. Colleges will need to be aware of these rules and classify awards appropriately. If they do not classify these awards correctly, they may send fundable outcomes to the THECB under a Non-Fundable category and not receive the expected funding.

Weighted Funding Eligibility

The CBM00A represents the students in the continuing education courses report. On this report, there is now criteria asking if a student is academically disadvantaged (item 44A) or economically disadvantaged (item 44B). These are criteria that dictate whether a student is a disadvantaged learner and eligible for weighted funding outcomes.

Historically, many schools have not captured whether continuing education students are eligible for these classifications. If schools want to collect weighted student outcomes and increased funding for those students, they’ll need to capture these criteria for continuing education students or create a way to pull this information from ApplyTexas using a student’s SSN or other unique identifier.

Conclusion

If you need clarity on what these changes could mean for your community college and student body, Weaver is here to help. Contact us today for more information.

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