Honorable Brad Buckley, Chair, House Committee on Public Education
FROM:
Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB2249 by Bernal (relating to the establishment of the Texas Teacher Recruitment
Scholarship Program.), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted
Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for HB2249, Committee Report 1st House, Substituted: a negative impact of ($43,671,808) through the biennium ending August 31, 2027.
The bill would make no appropriation but could provide the legal basis for an appropriation of funds to implement the provisions of the bill.
General Revenue-Related Funds, Five- Year Impact:
Fiscal Year
Probable Net Positive/(Negative) Impact to General Revenue Related Funds
2026
($1,646,775)
2027
($42,025,033)
2028
($73,349,482)
2029
($96,777,107)
2030
($114,351,576)
All Funds, Five-Year Impact:
Fiscal Year
Probable Savings/(Cost) from General Revenue Fund 1
Change in Number of State Employees from FY 2025
2026
($1,646,775)
4.0
2027
($42,025,033)
4.0
2028
($73,349,482)
5.0
2029
($96,777,107)
5.0
2030
($114,351,576)
5.0
Fiscal Analysis
The bill would establish the Texas Teacher Recruitment Scholarship Program administered by the Higher Education Coordinating Board (Board). The Texas Teacher Recruitment Scholarship Program would provide conditional scholarships to students, who have enrolled in a university program that culminates in a baccalaureate degree and prepares a student to obtain an educator certification and after graduation maintains employment as an educator with a school district or open-enrollment charter school for a specified period. The Board would be required to award scholarships under the program beginning with the 2026-27 academic year.
Methodology
The Higher Education Coordinating Board indicates that 4.0 FTEs would need to be hired in fiscal year 2026 with a total cost for salaries and wages, retirement benefits and other costs at $369,840. Beginning in fiscal year 2028, an additional FTE would be hired. The total costs for salaries and wages, retirement benefits and other costs for these 5.0 FTEs is $447,982 in fiscal year 2027 and subsequent years.
The estimates for eligible students for the Texas Teacher Recruitment Scholarship Program were provided by the Board. The Board reports that in Fall 2023, there were 13,886 students enrolled in public four-year institutions in degree programs with an Education classification code. This number was divided by four to determine the number of new recipients per-year at public four-year institutions (3,472). This amount captures both new freshmen (~2,300 per year) as well as upperclassmen who declare an education major and subsequently become eligible. The Board estimated new recipients at private institutions by dividing the public institution figure by five (694) to reflect student distributions between the two groups statewide. For both groups of institutions, the total award amount was set at $10,000 per year, as both groups have average tuition & fees per semester greater than $5,000. Based on these assumptions the total cost in fiscal year 2027 for the new program is estimated at $42.0 million.
Under the provisions of the bill, the student can receive a scholarship for up to four years. The Board applied a year-to-year retention rate of 75% to reflect regular changes in enrollment status and program participation. Based on these assumptions, the estimated cost would increase in future years to approximately $114.4 million by fiscal year 2030.
Technology
The Board estimates a one-time technology cost of $1.3 million in fiscal year 2026 to implement the program.
Local Government Impact
No significant fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.