Since his 2025 State of the State address, in which he made career training an emergency item, Governor Abbott has provided life-changing grants and opportunities for those who want to go from high school into a lucrative, fulfilling career.
Governor Abbott’s promise to provide Texas students pathways to high-paying jobs was fulfilled this session, with three major new laws to address Texas’ present and future workforce needs. These laws majorly expanded career and technical education (CTE) programs:
- The Governor signed HB 120 which strengthens college, career, and military readiness in Texas public schools by expanding access to high-quality CTE programs, improves college and career advising by ensuring counselors use up-to-date workforce data, and provides funding for military training programs
- HB 20, signed by the Governor in 2025, creates the Applied Sciences Pathway Program, allowing high school juniors and seniors to have additional opportunities to earn high school diplomas while concurrently completing workforce certificate programs
- In 2025, Governor Abbott signed SB 2448 which establishes the Rural Workforce Development Grant Program to provide grants to nonprofits for supporting rural educational institutions in aligning workforce training and education programs to meet local workforce demands.
One of the students who benefited from these generous career training grants is Raya Rabold, who took advantage of a CTE program to position herself for a brighter future. At 18, Raya started welding training at Jarrell High School and continued her studies at Texas State Technical College (TSTC). She graduated from TSTC and is now on the path to becoming a welding inspector, earning an average of $85,000 per year.
Raya did not need a four-year university to find her passion and succeed, and not all students in Texas do either. Governor Abbott acknowledges that different students have different abilities and career goals. That’s why he has opened up routes for students seeking to go into the military, those who want to specialize in skilled trades, and those who want to address critical shortages in care fields, such as nursing.
Businesses come to Texas because they know our schools are preparing students with the skills that corporate leaders need. Right now, Texas companies are searching for semiconductor techs, trained mechanics, HVAC experts, and other hands-on trades.
Thankfully, Governor Abbott addressed this need by announcing $14 million in Jobs and Education for Texans training grants last November to help schools across the state train the workforce of tomorrow. The funds will allow more than 6,500 students to earn certificates in automatic service, information security, truck driving, dental hygiene, nursing, HVAC, electrical repair & engineering, aircraft mechanics, welding, veterinary tech, phlebotomy, emergency medicine, construction management, and more.
Thanks to Governor Abbott’s bold reforms, Texas will remain the best place to live, work, and raise a family.
To learn more about Career and Technical Education Month, visit the Texas Workforce Commission website.