Story and photos contributed by COL TERRY WILSON, US ARMY RETIRED, TX Rep, Dist 20
Over the course of a three-part series, I examined the role education plays in Texas’ future and the steps your Texas Legislature has taken to strengthen it at every level. In the first article, I discussed our historic investments in public education, efforts to empower parents, and reforms designed to improve accountability and student outcomes.
In the second, I examined how Texas is restoring trust in higher education through greater transparency; stronger governance; protections for free speech; efforts to prevent radical activists from disrupting classes, occupying campus property, and vandalizing university facilities; and enacting safeguards against foreign influence and research theft.
In the third, I explored how our universities serve as engines of research, innovation, workforce development, and economic growth.
Together, those efforts share a common goal: ensuring that educational institutions remain focused on serving students, taxpayers, and the long-term interests of our state.
That brings us to the final piece of the puzzle: workforce education.
Education is not merely an end unto itself; it must also prepare Texans for productive, meaningful lives and careers. Whether that means earning a degree, conducting cutting-edge research, serving in the military, starting a business, or mastering a skilled trade, our education system succeeds when it creates opportunities that lead to success.
While universities drive innovation and research, Texas’ continued prosperity also depends on the men and women who build our homes, maintain our infrastructure, manufacture advanced products, care for patients, and repair critical equipment, all to keep our economy moving. As Texas experiences unprecedented population and economic growth, the demand for skilled workers has never been greater.
From electricians and plumbers to welders and HVAC technicians, Texas faces workforce shortages in many of the careers that support economic growth. Every new home, school, hospital, and advanced manufacturing facility depends on highly trained professionals. We need industrial maintenance technicians, construction trade workers, automotive and diesel technicians, advanced manufacturing technicians, health care support professionals, and teachers, along with countless others.
Meeting these workforce needs will require more than simply encouraging every student to pursue the same path after high school. Texas succeeds when students have many pathways to success.
PATHWAYS TO SUCCESS
For generations, higher education has been viewed as the primary route to economic opportunity. While a college degree remains an excellent option for many students, learning a skilled trade is equally valuable and equally important. The men and women who build our homes, maintain our power systems, repair our vehicles, care for patients, and keep our industries operating are indispensable to Texas’ future.
I believe every student deserves the opportunity to discover their talents and pursue a path that matches their goals, abilities, and passions. That belief has driven me to make advancing vocational education in Texas a core focus as your State Representative, working to achieve historic investments in career and technical education and workforce training.
INVESTING IN TECHNICAL EDUCATION
One of the most significant investments has been the establishment of the Texas State Technical College (TSTC) endowment. Rather than spending these funds once and moving on, Texas invested approximately $850 million into a permanent endowment. The investment earnings support annual distributions of roughly $40 million per year for the construction and capital improvement of new and existing TSTC facilities.
This approach allows TSTC to continuously expand training capacity while preserving the principal investment, providing Texans with workforce training opportunities for generations to come.
At the K-12 level, Texas has also expanded support for Pathways in Technology Early College High Schools, better known as P-TECH programs. As Article III Chairman for Appropriations in 2021, I spearheaded an investment of $100 million per biennium to help school districts build and expand these programs by purchasing equipment, developing facilities, and allowing students to begin participating in these programs as early as seventh grade. Early exposure helps students discover their interests, explore careers, and begin earning valuable credentials long before graduation.
P-TECH programs offer far more than industry certifications. Students can earn associate degrees, Level 1 and Level 2 certificates, workforce experience, college coursework, and direct engagement with employers. They gain access to high-demand career fields including healthcare, cybersecurity, advanced manufacturing, information technology, and logistics.
Perhaps most importantly, students can access these opportunities at no cost to themselves.
Texas has also strengthened workforce training through the Jobs and Education for Texans, or JET, Grant Program. JET grants support community colleges and schools by funding expensive workforce training equipment such as welding labs, advanced manufacturing machinery, and healthcare simulation equipment. Students train using the same tools and technology they will encounter in the workforce, helping them transition seamlessly into careers.
Additional workforce investments include the Texas Reskilling and Upskilling through Education (TRUE) Grant Program. Established in 2021, TRUE grants support public higher education institutions as they create, redesign, and expand short-term workforce training programs in high-demand occupations. These programs are developed in partnership with employers and other workforce stakeholders and focus on preparing students for careers in less than six months.
Likewise, the Texas Invests in Meaningful Employment, or TIME, Grant Program builds upon successful workforce initiatives by supporting short-duration training programs that lead directly to credentials of value. These programs prioritize occupations with strong workforce demand and earning potential, helping students move quickly into meaningful employment.
What ties these investments together is the idea that education works best when institutions work together.
Breaking Down Educational Silos
For too long, public education, community colleges, technical colleges, universities, workforce boards, and employers often operated in separate silos. Each plays an important role, but students were frequently left to navigate those systems on their own.
Texas has increasingly moved away from that approach. Today, state policy encourages institutions to think less about where one system ends and another begins, and more about how they can work together to help students succeed. That means introducing students to career opportunities earlier, expanding access to dual credit and workforce credentials, strengthening partnerships between school districts and colleges, and ensuring educational programs align with real needs.
Employers and community colleges have become especially important partners in this effort. Employers help identify workforce shortages and provide internships, apprenticeships, and work-based learning opportunities. Community colleges serve as regional workforce hubs with established facilities, experienced instructors, strong industry relationships, and grant-writing expertise. Through dual credit programs, workforce certificates, P-TECH partnerships, and industry training initiatives, students can begin earning college credit and workforce credentials while still in high school.
Despite this progress, challenges remain, especially for smaller school districts. Many workforce grants require competitive applications and significant administrative expertise. Unfortunately, the schools that often need assistance the most are frequently the least likely to have dedicated grant-writing staff. At the same time, workforce education programs are administered through multiple agencies and funding streams, creating complexity for schools attempting to navigate the system.
Preparing Texas for the Future
Recognizing these challenges, the Legislature passed Senate Bill 1786 in 2025, allowing community colleges and independent school districts to partner more effectively.
SB 1786 directed the Texas Education Agency, Texas Workforce Commission, and Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to coordinate workforce grant programs, align funding streams, reduce duplication, and support seamless pathways from secondary education into postsecondary education and careers. Rather than asking institutions to operate independently, the bill encourages collaboration among school districts, community colleges, technical colleges, workforce boards, and employers.
Just as importantly, the bill recognizes that students need guidance as they navigate those pathways. By supporting investments not only in facilities and equipment, but also in the faculty, staff, and advising capacity needed to deliver workforce education programs, Texas is creating new opportunities for career counseling and student support. Community colleges and technical colleges increasingly have the authority and incentive to work alongside local school districts, helping students understand available career pathways, earn credentials, and educational choices to workforce opportunities.
Building Connected Pathways
In practical terms, that means more opportunities for shared facilities, shared equipment, coordinated workforce programs, stronger regional partnerships, and more intentional career guidance for students. It also means students can move more easily between educational systems while earning credentials that employers value and that Texas’ economy needs.
Texas’ future depends on our ability to develop the workforce that a growing economy requires. That means recognizing that success comes in many forms and ensuring every student has access to opportunities that fit their goals.
But it also means recognizing that no single institution can accomplish that mission alone. Public schools, community colleges, technical colleges, universities, workforce boards, and employers each have a role to play.
THE BOTTOM LINE
The future of workforce education is not about building isolated programs. It is about building connected pathways.
Whether a student chooses a university classroom, a military uniform, a small business venture, or a skilled trade, Texas benefits when they are prepared to succeed. By strengthening partnerships, aligning systems, and expanding pathways, we are building a stronger Texas, one student, one credential, and one skilled worker at a time.