Overview of the Essential Occupations
Petition Process

Petition Process

A college or consortium of colleges within a region (per Rule 13.592, including reassignments under subsection (b)) may submit one petition for up to five occupations. Each occupation being petitioned must be found on the Target Occupations list of at least one Workforce Development Area (WDA) in the region of the college/consortium and must be supported by the information and documentation specified in the instructions. If an occupation is approved, the THECB will use the SOC-to-CIP Crosswalk to determine the academic fields connected to it. 

View FAQs from the 2025 petition cycle here. Please email CCFinance@highered.texas.gov with other questions about the Essential Occupations process or general CCF program questions.

Key Dates (Odd-Numbered Years)

• By May 1: THECB begins accepting petitions and certification statements
• May 31: Final day to submit a petition and certification statement(s)
• June 1-30: THECB evaluation and scoring of petitions 
• July 15: Occupations recommended to the Commissioner of Higher Education 

2025 Petition Resources

• Memo: Community College Finance High-Demand Fields Essential Occupations Petition (April 25, 2025)
• Sample petition– a PDF of the blank petition so petitioners can familiarize themselves with the required information before entering data in the online petition form.
• Essential Occupations Data Tool (version May 2, 2025)– a compilation of publicly available data that can be easily accessed to complete quantitative sections of the petition. Petitioners are encouraged to use the data tool but can substitute or supplement with other data sources.
• TWC Targeted Occupations List– A downloadable file from Texas Workforce Commission with the Targeted Occupations List published in April 2025
• Essential Occupations scoring methodology– an outline of the criteria on which petitioned occupations will be scored.
• Fiscal Year 2026-2027 High-Demand Occupations Workbook– includes a variety of helpful information, including:
  • Statewide and regional high-demand occupations lists, which petitioners should reference to ensure they are not petitioning for occupations already on the statewide list or their regional list.
  • SOC-CIP crosswalk, which shows the academic fields that would be added to the high-demand fields list if an occupation is approved
  • Statewide and regional high-demand fields lists, which petitioners can use to ensure that the fields that would be added through an essential occupation are not already on the statewide list or their regional list.
  • Fiscal Year 2026 region assignments, which list the colleges within each region (the colleges that are eligible to petition as a consortium and may otherwise be in competition).
  • Region-WDA crosswalk, which lists the WDAs that comprise each region (a college can only petition for occupations found on the Target Occupations list of at least one of its region’s WDAs).

Petition Certification Instructions

All petitions must be accompanied by a signed certification statement from the president/chancellor of your community college district. For regional consortium submissions, each participating college district’s president/chancellor must submit a separate certification statement.

Petitions will be reviewed once the certification statement(s) has been received.

Contact CCFinance@highered.texas.gov with questions.