H.B. No. 1868 mandates the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to conduct a study on dual credit and dual enrollment courses, specifically focusing on the feasibility and implications of reducing the required semester credit hours for performance tier funding from 15 to 9. The study will evaluate potential benefits for students, such as alignment with public school accountability systems, reduced time and costs for obtaining undergraduate degrees, and a comparison of completion rates between the two credit hour sequences. Additionally, the study will assess the current and projected capacity of the state's workforce to teach these courses, including the number of eligible instructors, barriers to certification, and strategies to increase the instructor pool.

The Coordinating Board is required to submit a report to the legislature by December 1, 2026, detailing the study's findings and any recommendations for legislative or other actions to support an expanded workforce of dual credit or dual enrollment instructors. This section of the bill will expire on September 1, 2027. The bill will take effect immediately if it receives a two-thirds vote from both houses; otherwise, it will take effect on September 1, 2025.

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