Secondary Certification Prep Hubs

Despite the Texas State Board of Education 2014 mandating that all high schools offer a computer science course, recent data shows that less than half of the high schools in Texas are not offering this content to their students. The most significant barrier to providing this content to the next generation workforce is having sufficient numbers of qualified and certified computer science teachers in all state regions. In response to this need, the 89th Texas Legislature passed the Texas Computer Science Pipeline Initiative (Senate Bill 1, Article III, THECB, Rider 50) to address this critical shortage.

Join a Secondary Certification Prep Hub

Find a hub near you!

Contact

Amy Carrell

acarrell@tacc.utexas.edu

Join a Secondary Certification Prep Hub

WeTeach_CS Certification Prep Hubs help teachers build the knowledge they need to successfully pass the Grades 8-12 Computer Science or EC-12 Technology Applications Texas teacher certification exams.

Hubs consist of a cohort of approximately 20 teachers currently certified in subjects other than CS or Tech Apps, who complete a professional development sequence that covers the competencies of these TExES exams.
PD is delivered both virtually and in-person.
Certification hubs begin in spring 2026 and run through fall of 2026.
Hubs are led by Regional Project Directors and Instructional Team Members (ITMs) who mentor hub teachers and support their learning.
The TACC Certification Hub is appropriate for teachers who require a virtual option or for those who don’t live near a Regional Hub.
If your regional hub applications are not yet open, and you would like to be notified directly when applications open in your region, please complete the WeTeach_CS Secondary Certification Prep Hub Educator Interest Form. All applications will be open by December 15th.

CS Certification Hub Stipends

Stipends of $3,000 are provided to teachers who complete the full PD sequence and challenge the CS certification exam.
Additional stipends of $2,000 are provided to teachers who successfully pass the certification exam.

Tech Apps Certification Hub Stipends

Stipends of $1,800 are provided to teachers who complete the full PD sequence and challenge the EC-12 Tech Apps certification exam.
Additional stipends of $750 are provided to teachers who successfully pass the EC-12 Tech Apps certification exam.

2026 Hubs

Hub	Region	City	Application
The University of Texas at Austin	13	Austin, TX	Application Deadline: January 20, 2026 Project Director: Sheryl Roehl
Baylor University	12	Waco, TX	Application Link To Come Project Director: Greg Speegle
Prairie View A&M University	4	Prairie View, TX	Application Link To Come Project Director: Camille Burnett
Region 1 ESC	1	Edinburg, TX	Application Link To Come Project Director: Sylvia Escobar
Region 2 ESC	2	Corpus Christi, TX	Application Link To Come Project Director: Derek Villanueva
Region 4 ESC	4	Houston, TX	Application Link To Come Project Director: Jennifer Wellman
Region 5 ESC	5	Beaumont, TX	Application Deadline: February 1, 2026 Project Director: Janna Smith
Region 20 ESC	20	San Antonio, TX	Application Link To Come Project Director: Susan Reeves
Rice University	4	Houston, TX	Application Link To Come Project Director: Matthew Cushing
Southern Methodist University	10	Dallas, TX	Application Link To Come Project Director: Kenneth Berry
Stephen F. Austin State University	7	Nacogdoches, TX	Application Link To Come Project Director: Jane Long
Texas State University	13	San Marcos, TX	Application Link To Come Project Director: Jennifer King
The University of Texas at Arlington	11	Arlington, TX	Application Link To Come Project Director: Greg Hale
The University of Texas at El Paso	19	El Paso, TX	Application Link To Come Project Director: Salamah Salamah

Facilitate a Secondary Certification Prep Hub

As a part of this enterprise, the WeTeach_CS (WTCS) program, housed in the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) at The University of Texas at Austin, is seeking Texas Institutions of Higher Education and Texas Regional Education Service Centers to join the WTCS Secondary Certification Hubs project to recruit and train in-service Texas teachers in the pursuit of adding a teaching certificate by challenging and passing the Computer Science (CS) 8-12 or EC-12 Technology Applications TExES exams with the intent of teaching computer science course(s). At least half of the hub’s participants must be on the CS 8-12 Pathway.

Eligible Applicants

Texas Institutions of Higher Education
Texas Regional Education Service Centers

Awards

Between 20-25 awards will be made in this funding cycle

Timeline

Application Dates:

Open Date: September 24, 2025
Due Date: November 5, 2025
Recommendation for award notification: by November 14, 2025

Grant Period:

February 1, 2026 (with pre-award costs allowed back to December 1, 2025) - February 28, 2027

Webinars

New Applicant Webinar: September 30, 2025 from 11am-12:30pm CT
All Applicant Webinar: October 8, 2025 from 2-2:30pm CT
Zoom link: https://tacc.zoom.us/j/88180637883

Public Resources for Hub Facilitators

Access program guidelines, FAQ, and more.

Access Resources

Facilitate a Hub: CLOSED FOR '26-'27 HUBS

Application Deadline:
November 5, 2025 by 5pm CT
Applicants will be notified of their status no later than November 14, 2025.

Grant Period:
February 1, 2026 - February 28, 2027
Pre-award costs allowed back to December 1, 2025

Applications have closed