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Career schools and colleges must inform the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) about specific updates using TWC forms. These updates include changes that impact: 

  • The Certificate of Approval (license)
  • Programs
  • Staff
  • The catalog or enrollment agreement 
  • Closing your school

Reporting Changes

Your school must promptly notify TWC when making changes that affect the school's Certificate of Approval, programs, staff, and/or catalog or enrollment agreement.

Updating Contact Information

Every school must have an email address that school staff and owner will check. Notify your school's assigned TWC contact of changes affecting your contact information.

Changing the School Name 

Changing the school's name requires a new Certificate of Approval. To complete this process, there is a fee of $150 for the name change and $15 for each currently approved representative.

Note: You may not use a name like an existing tax-supported school in the same area. Additionally, certain types of schools are prohibited from using the word "college," "university," “seminary," "school of medicine," "medical school," "health science center," "school of law," "law school" or "law center" in the official name or title. If you wish to use any of those words in the school or corporate name, you must first obtain approval from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board

Directions for Changing the Name of a Career School or College

Updating the School Owner’s Name

Changing the school owner’s name requires a new Certificate of Approval. If the owner of the school is the same but has undergone a legal name change, whether a sole proprietor or legal entity, the school owner must notify TWC. The notification should include the new legal name of the owner. To complete this process, there is a fee of $150. 

Directions for Changing the Name of the Owner of a Career School or College

Changing the Current School Address (Location)

Changing the school location requires a new Certificate of Approval. Changes made to the current school location of the school requires documentation. To complete this process, there is a fee of $270 for the change of location and $15 for each currently approved representative.

Directions for Changing the Address of a Career School or College

Adding or Expanding Classrooms (Additional Classroom Facility)

You must contact TWC before adding new classrooms or expanding existing classrooms at your current school location. You must contact TWC if you are adding classroom space within a one-mile radius of the current school location. When a non-adjacent classroom is added, an on-site survey visit is required, and, in some instances, an address change form and fees will be required. To complete this process, there is a fee of $375.

Request for Approval of Additional Classroom Facility (Word)

Changing Ownership of a School

A school’s Certificate of Approval is issued to the school owner and is not transferrable to a new owner. A prospective new owner must have a TWC Certificate of Approval before the consummation of the sale and must submit the application for the certificate at least 30 days before the proposed date of sale. In some cases, it may not be a true change of ownership but rather a change in owner party. Contact your TWC specialist before submitting the change of ownership documentation and fees. To complete this process, there is a fee of $3,000 for a large school or $1,001 for a small school and $90 for each currently approved representative.

Directions for Change of Ownership

Changing from a Small School to an Other than Small (“Large”) School

A career school or college that no longer qualifies as a small career school or college must re-apply for a Certificate of Approval as a large career school or college within 30 days after the date the school notified TWC that it no longer qualifies as a small career school or college.

The school will submit to TWC the difference between the small school or college fee for the Certificate of Approval already submitted by the school and the large school or college fee required after its qualification as a small career school or college ends. 

Citations Relating to Small Proprietary Schools General Information Sheet

You must implement your school programs as approved by TWC. All planned revisions that require changes in the catalog must be reported to TWC before implementation since these changes need approval. Changes to tuition and fees and changes to degree programs are not approved by TWC but must be reported before implemented. TWC must acknowledge these types of changes. 

Some examples of program or course revisions that TWC must approve before implementation include a change in:

  • Admission requirements
  • Title of program or seminar
  • Main skills to be learned
  • Subjects for programs
  • Topics for seminars
  • Program structure (example: changing the combination of lab, lecture and externship hours)
  • Subject length in contact or credit hours
  • Contact or credit hours
  • Contact hour length of a program or course that is less than a 25% change

Adding Programs

Before implementing a new school program, you must notify TWC. Most of these new programs or seminars must also be approved by TWC before you can offer them. Some may be exempt from TWC regulation, and some may be regulated by other agencies in coordination with TWC.

You must have instructors who have been approved to teach a new seminar or the subjects of a new program or seminar. Instructors must submit new instructor applications for staff who will teach the new subjects or seminars. If your school is not required to submit instructor applications because it is accredited and meets all other criteria, you must have documentation on file showing you have qualified instructors to teach the new subjects or seminars. 

Definition of New Vocation or Seminar Program

New programs are those that:

  • Have not been previously offered at the school
  • Were previously offered but discontinued
  • Had a change of 25% or more in the hours, content or lessons of the program within a 12-month period
  • Represent changes to a currently approved program (does not apply to seminars) and students will be trained for a different or additional occupation (for example, a secretarial program that adds a medical secretary option)

Program Changes for Certain Accredited Programs

If your residence school is accredited and has been licensed by TWC under the current ownership for at least one year, you may be eligible to use an expedited procedure to submit information on new or revised programs within fived days of approval by the accreditor. This procedure will allow your school to forego direct TWC approval of the new or revised programs. To determine whether your school may be eligible for the expedited procedure, refer to the criteria in Notification of New or Revised Courses for Licensed, Accredited Schools.

Notification of New or Revised Courses for Licensed, Accredited Schools (Instructions)

Program Changes that Require Catalog Revisions Including Tuition and Fee Changes

Submit:

  • A revised Program/Seminar Application
  • One copy of existing catalog page(s) in the current catalog
  • One draft copy of proposed new page(s) with changes
  • Notarized Summary of Changes
  • A revised complete catalog that will be provided to students

Applying for Addition of a New Vocational Program

If your program does not have accreditor approval, submit the following for each proposed addition to your school's list of approved courses:

  • New Program Application coversheet with attachments and forms, including:
    • New Program/Seminar Application
    • Proposed catalog pages
    • A revised complete catalog that will provide to students
    • Subject syllabi
    • Externship information, if applicable, with documentation of adequate externship sites and supervision for all students enrolled in the program
    • Copy of certificate or diploma that will be awarded
    • Letter of approval from certification or licensing agency (if applicable)
    • Occupational expert support forms
    • Equipment list
    • Notarized Summary of Changes;
    • Fee Sheet
    • $225 application fee

Applying for Addition of a Seminar Program

Submit the following with each proposed addition to a school's list of approved seminars:

  • New Program/Seminar Application coversheet
  • Copy of proposed catalog pages referencing the seminar, including:
    • Seminar title
    • Contact hour length
    • Seminar objective
    • Admissions requirements
    • Textbook
    • Seminar cost
    • A revised complete catalog that will provide to students
    • If more than 10 contact hours in length, state the time to be spent on each topic
    • Notarized Summary of Changes
    • Fee Sheet
    • $35 application fee

Your school must promptly notify TWC when making changes in key roles or staff positions, as detailed in the sections below. Some changes, for example, acting director or temporary instructors, must be reported the same day or the following day.

Good Reputation

School owners, representatives, directors and instructors must be of "good reputation." 

Good reputation is “the possession of honesty and truthfulness, trustworthiness and reliability, and a professional commitment to the educational process and the training or preparing of a person for a field of endeavor in a business, trade, technical, or industrial occupation, as well as the condition of being regarded as possessing such qualities. In determining whether a person is of good reputation, the Agency is not limited to the following acts or omissions. The Agency may consider similar acts or omissions and rehabilitation efforts in response to prior convictions in making its determination. A person may be considered to lack good reputation if the person:

  • has been convicted of a felony or any other crime that would constitute risk of harm to the school or students as determined by the Agency;
  • has been successfully sued for fraud or deceptive trade practices, or breach of contract, within the last 10 years;
  • owns or administers a school currently in violation of legal requirements, has owned or administered a school with repeated violations, or has owned or administered a school that closed with violations including, but not limited to, unpaid refunds or administrative penalties; or
  • has falsified or withheld information from the Agency.”

When school owners, representatives, directors, and instructors complete applications for TWC, they must respond to questions that address good reputation. If they respond "Yes" to some questions, a written explanation is required. If they affirm that they have been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor other than a minor traffic violation, they must submit a completed Professional Conduct form with the application.

Professional Conduct Form

School Director

School directors are the “chief administrative officer of or an owner with supervisory authority over a career school or college.” This person “is responsible for the courses of instruction, organization of classes, designation of a liaison for Agency compliance visits, maintenance of the school facilities and proper administrative records, and all other matters related to the administration of the school, as determined by the Agency.” 

New School Director

To have a new school director approved by TWC, you must submit:

  • Director Application
  • Copies of transcripts or diplomas to document the applicant's educational level to substantiate requirements
  • Fee Sheet
  • $20 application fee

The new appointed designated liaison listed on the application to serve as the school liaison in the absence of the school director will sign as appointed designated liaison on page 3 of the application. Note: The CSC-002DL is not required with new director applications. 

When your director applicant has been approved, we will send a letter notifying the new director of the approval.

Acting School Director

You may appoint an acting school director for up to 90 days by notifying TWC in writing, by email or mail, within one day of the appointment. Notify TWC by the end of the first day following the appointment of an acting director.

Representatives

Representatives are the individuals “employed by a career school or college to act as an agent, solicitor, broker, or independent contractor to directly procure students for the school or college by solicitation within this state at any place.” Representatives must be registered with, and approved by, TWC before they may act as a representative. “This registration requirement does not apply to individuals owning and operating a school in the capacity as a sole proprietor, joint venturer, or general partner, due to their direct nature of ownership.”

Add a Representative

All representatives employed by your school must be approved and registered with TWC before they can solicit students.

You may apply to register a school representative at any time by submitting:

The effective date of the registration approval is the date TWC receives an acceptable application. TWC will send a letter listing all of your school's representatives, including the newly approved representative. Your representative's approval ends on the expiration date of your school's Certificate of Approval.

Remove a Representative

When an approved representative is no longer employed by your school in that position, notify your school's TWC contact by email, fax or mail.

Renewals

When you submit your school's Application for Renewal of Certificate of Approval, you will also send the Addendum to Representative Application, listing all representatives who will continue for the next certificate year. The fee for each renewed representative is $45, and there is an additional fee for each representative who has had a change in name.

Appointed Designated Liaison 

You may add a new Appointment of Designated Liaison for your school by submitting an Appointment of Designated Liaison.  This role serves only to aid in a TWC visit, in the absence of the school director, and there are no signatory rights granted.

Instructors

Any person involved in the direct teaching of students are classified as instructors. Notify TWC no later than the first day an instructor begins teaching.

The Instructor Application must be completed and filed at the school or mailed to TWC within five calendar days of the person’s employment as an instructor.

If your school is not exempt from the requirement to submit instructor applications as described below, you must submit:

Temporary Instructors

“(a) The Agency may allow a school to use a previously unapproved instructor to teach temporarily for a period not to exceed 90 days.

(b) In such circumstances, the school shall provide written notice to the Agency delivered no later than the first day the temporary instructor begins teaching. The notice shall include:

  1. the subject(s) to be taught;
  2. the name of the temporary instructor;
  3. the reason for the temporary instructor, and;
  4. any other information as required by the Agency.

(c) The temporary instructor shall have sufficient practical experience or education in the subject area to be taught and shall not have been previously disapproved to teach the class.

(d) There shall be no more than one temporary instructor per academic term in an individual subject, unless specifically approved in advance by the Agency.

(e) Failure to comply with this section may result in sanctions, a full refund to all students attending such classes, or both.”

Exclusion from Instructor Approval

  • If your school meets all three of the following requirements, you are exempt from the requirement to submit instructor applications to TWC:
    • The school has been licensed for at least one year.
    • The school is accredited by an agency recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education.
    • The school has no more than one substantiated complaint against an instructor in the previous year.
  • If the applicant has a felony conviction or if the school is requesting a waiver for the instructor, then you must submit an instructor application.
  • TWC may require a previously exempt school to submit instructor applications if there have been two or more substantiated complaints against instructors or if the school is not following state law and rules.
  • You must keep documentation showing the instructor meets requirements even if your school is not required to submit an instructor application to TWC.

You must submit documentation if you make changes to your enrollment agreement or catalog. 

Changes to the Enrollment Agreement or Catalog with Program Changes

When you change your enrollment agreement or your catalog due to a change to, or addition of, a program, submit:

Changes to the Enrollment Agreement or Catalog Without Program Changes

When you change your enrollment agreement or your catalog and there is no change to a program or seminar, submit:

  • Copies of current and proposed catalog pages
  • A copy of the revised enrollment agreement and/or revised catalog
  • A notarized Summary of Changes
  • A list of changes and revisions with explanations for them

These are usually a result of schedule changes, pricing changes, or staff changes.

Closing a Career School—Notify TWC

Contact TWC by phone, email or mail, so that we will be aware of the possibility and better prepared to help you and your students if the closure occurs.

When you notify us that your school will close, we will schedule a school survey visit to close out the school records. This will include a review of student records going back at least one year prior to the last day of classes. 

When we receive notification that your school is closing or has closed, we will send you a Closed School Survey Checklist.  This will list the documentation you must provide in our survey visit.

Closed School Survey Checklist (Word version)

Documentation Requirements

In addition to providing the required student records (listed in the Closed School Survey Checklist), you will need to:

  • Provide contact information for the person who will maintain student records.  All records must be maintained for a minimum of five years after closure and student transcripts indefinitely.
  • Return your school’s Certificate of Approval to TWC.
  • Submit a complete, signed and notarized Cessation of Operations Affidavit.  This is to confirm that:
    • all obligations to students have been fulfilled, 
    • any penalties have been paid, 
    • the school has ceased operations, and;
    • the school will not reopen until it has been issued a Certificate of Approval or letter of exemption from TWC.

Cessation of Operations Affidavit (Word Version)

Completion of Student Training: Teach-outs

The best situation is for students to finish their training before the school closes. But if that's not possible, TWC will try to help students with a "teach-out" plan.

A teach-out allows students to keep learning at another school without paying more money.

A teach-out agreement is a written plan that needs approval from TWC and the accrediting body (if applicable). It's made between the school that is closing and the new school.

The new school should offer a program similar to the one the closed school had. And it's better if the students can easily get there without having extra travel.

Application for Reimbursement of Teach-out Expenses

Reopening a Closed School

If you want to reopen your school, you must re-apply for a Certificate of Approval from TWC.  A school owner whose school was closed in violation cannot own another school, until any such violations are resolved.