Reimagining College and Career Exploration with My Texas Future and Direct Admissions

Digital Learning Opportunities for Educators

On August 11, we hosted a session showcasing how My Texas Future and Direct Admissions are reimagining college and career exploration with students and families. Katy Sombito, Program Manager of My Texas Future and Direct Admissions at the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB), highlighted important platform features in My Texas Future and provided information on the new Direct Admissions graduation requirement for the 26–27 school year. We also had Joanna Hernandez, Teacher and College and Career Advisor at Tornillo High School, join our session to provide a brief overview of how My Texas Future has become the foundation of her school’s college and career curriculum.

My Texas Future offers college and career planning tools for middle and high school students and adult learners. The program’s main features include the following:

• Interests and Skills Quizzes help students and adult learners select their interests and apply them to recommended career skills.
• Career Explorer assists users in researching more than 1,000 career options by career name, career cluster, and salary range.
• Program Explorer guides users to discover undergraduate and graduate programs from more than 140 Texas colleges and universities.
• The Compare college costs tool can help users view details about each school, such as out-of-state and in-state tuition, basic living expenses like room and board or transportation, and total cost of attendance both in state and out of state.

Middle and high school students also have access to grade-level action plans that provide them with step-by-step checklists for each grade along with student dashboards to view progress toward college and career planning milestones.  

Direct Admissions

Direct Admissions is a program designed to take the stress out of applying to college for high school seniors. Before they fill out an application, students participating in Direct Admissions can immediately find out where they are eligible for admission at more than 30 universities in Texas. Here’s how it works:

• Students share their academic details, such as GPA and class rank, on My Texas Future.
• Once they submit their academic details, students receive their admission opportunities instantly from participating colleges.
• Students must submit an application through ApplyTexas to receive admission offers from the participating colleges; single sign-on and ApplyTexas integration help simplify the process.
  
  
  
  

Direct Admissions Graduation Requirement

Beginning with the graduating class of 2027, Texas high school students must complete the Direct Admissions requirement by making a one-time decision to opt in to or opt out of Direct Admissions through My Texas Future before graduating. A student may opt in to Direct Admissions through My Texas Future by creating or accessing their My Texas Future learner profile and making a Direct Admissions election during their senior year of high school. A student may opt out of the Direct Admission graduation requirement using the TEA form if they meet at least one of the following criteria:

• The student is 18 years of age or older
• The student’s parent or guardian signs the opt-out form
• The student’s counselor signs the opt-out form

Additional details will be provided in the coming months via landing page on the THECB website.  

Tornillo High School's My Texas Future Implementation

Hernandez joined our session to discuss how Tornillo High School has implemented My Texas Future on their campus. Their implementation strategies include the following:

• Self-discovery through the Interests and Skills Quizzes
• Postsecondary exploration through the Program Explorer and Compare college costs tool
• Reflection and goal setting through the college and career action plans and weekly classroom discussions
• Portfolio development with time dedicated to resume building

In the future, Tornillo High School plans to introduce the platform to their eighth-grade students, and they will revisit the platform throughout the school year. They’ll also connect every My Texas Future activity to a classroom assignment and build reflection into every lesson.

ApplyTexas Webinar Series

Get ready to make the most of the enhanced ApplyTexas Counselor Suite features. The THECB has introduced updates to the student details feature to help you easily manage student rosters and monitor application progress. In our webinar series starting on August 26, we'll provide an overview of the ApplyTexas system and share guidance for using the new tools to support students.

Review the accompanying one-page flyer for an overview of the series and registration details. 

Professional Learning Series

If you missed it, you can view a recording of the Reimagining College and Career Exploration with My Texas Future and Direct Admissions webinar. Our next session will be on navigating ApplyTexas tools for students and counselors, and it will take place on September 8. You’ll explore how students complete and track their applications and discover brand-new tools that let counselors manage records, monitor financial aid filing statuses, and check admission application progress. You’ll also collaborate with colleagues statewide on best practices for promoting Free College Application Week. We hope to see you there!