The 2024–25 UTHS CBE Report: 5 Trends Every Texas Family Should See (Including Why 8th-Grade Math Just Set a Record)

UT High School just published its official Credit by Exam (CBE) Certification report for 2024–25. It's a dense table-heavy document — not the kind of thing most parents will read end-to-end. We did. Here are the five trends that actually change what families should think about for the coming year.

Source for everything below: UTHS Credit by Exam Certification 2025–26 (referencing data collected from 2024–25 testers), signed by Michael Caudill, Ed.D., Superintendent, UT High School. Every figure is from the report's Appendix A data tables.

Trend 1 — 8th-grade math is the single biggest CBE in Texas, by a wide margin

2,539 students took the 8th-grade math CBE in a single year — nearly double the next-largest subject and more than the entire enrolment of many small Texas high schools. The pattern is unmistakable: Texas families are using CBE primarily to test out of pre-algebra/algebra readiness work in middle school so their child can start Algebra I or Geometry in 9th grade. That's exactly the acceleration path we wrote about in our Texas curriculum & CBE map.

The takeaway: if your child is 6th–8th grade and the family is even thinking about acceleration, you're not alone — thousands of Texas families have already decided this is the move. It also means the testing window for 8th-grade math gets crowded; register early.

Trend 2 — Pass rates swing from 35% to 94%. The subject you pick matters as much as how hard you study.

That's a 75-percentage-point gap between the easiest-looking and hardest-looking CBEs on the same official platform.

What's actually happening:

• The high-pass subjects (Health, English, fitness) are heavily self-selected. Families only sign up when they already know the material; the bar is more about formatting and pacing than content.
• The math CBEs are where families take their real shots at acceleration. Pass rates of 35–56% at the 80% threshold mean roughly half of math testers fall short. That's not a knock on the students — it's a signal that the math CBEs faithfully test the full course, not a watered-down version.

Family implication: if your district's threshold is 80% (e.g., Frisco ISD) and your child is sitting at 70% on a practice exam, you have an honest decision to make. Use our 5-question decision tree — this is exactly the "PREP FIRST" or "WAIT" scenario.

Trend 3 — Acceleration dominates. Almost no one uses CBE for credit recovery.

The report breaks every subject into two columns: average score for students with "No Prior Instruction" (acceleration under TEC §28.023) and average score for students with "Prior Instruction" (credit recovery under 19 TAC §74.24).

Across the report, the prior-instruction rows are almost entirely empty — just dashes. That tells you something important: credit recovery via CBE is rare. The acceleration use case is what's actually driving volume statewide.

This matters for two reasons:

1. If you're using CBE for acceleration (the most common case), you're navigating well-trod ground. Counsellors, districts, and UTHS all have established processes.
2. If you're using CBE for credit recovery (rare case), expect to do more explaining to your school. The default district response will assume you're an acceleration case — tell them upfront which path you're on.

Trend 4 — The equity gap is real, and the report names it

The UTHS report disaggregates every subject by demographic category — gender, race/ethnicity, EcoDis (economically disadvantaged), Title I, 504, ELL/bilingual, SpEd, G/T, At-Risk, CTE. Patterns we can see in the data:

• Asian students consistently score 5–10 points above the all-students average on math CBEs. (6th-grade math: 78 avg vs 74 all-students. 8th-grade math: 76 avg vs 69 all-students.)
• Economically disadvantaged (EcoDis) students score 4–6 points lower than the all-students average across most subjects.
• Hispanic/Latino students score on par with all-students on K–5 subjects but a few points below on 6–12 math CBEs.

This isn't unique to CBE — it mirrors the standardized testing gap visible across STAAR and NAEP. But it does mean low-income Texas families face the same access barrier on practice resources that they do everywhere else. If you're a Title I family, our $19.99 access price (less than a single tutoring hour) is intentional — we want CBE prep within reach.

Trend 5 — UTHS now certifies 50+ subjects. Most parents have heard of fewer than 10.

The 2025–26 certification list includes the obvious math/science/social studies subjects you'd expect — and a long tail families rarely hear about:

• World languages with full CBE certification: Spanish I/II/III, French I/II, German I/II, Japanese I/II, Korean I/II, Vietnamese I/II, Chinese I/II (Traditional & Simplified), Malayalam I/II
• K–8 subjects: Math, Science, Social Studies, Language Arts (every grade)
• High school core: English I–IV, Algebra I/II, Geometry, Pre-Calculus, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Integrated Physics & Chemistry, Environmental Systems, World Geography, World History, US History, US Government, Economics
• Electives & other: Art I, Health 1, Communication Applications, Business Information Management, Lifetime Fitness & Wellness Pursuits A/B

Why this matters for your child's planning:

• LOTE creates the most overlooked acceleration option. Heritage speakers of Korean, Vietnamese, Spanish, Chinese, etc. can often pass the Level I CBE cold (no prep) and free up two years of schedule space.
• Health 1 is the easiest "schedule liberator" — 98% pass rate at 70%, 88% at 80%, and it frees a semester slot most students fill with electives anyway.
• Communication Applications (commonly required in TX schools) has a 71% pass rate at 70% — another quiet schedule-clearer.

Three actions to take from this report

1. If your child is 6th–8th grade and even half-considering acceleration: sign up for a free practice exam now. The volume signal in this report says "you're behind if you wait until 8th-grade spring."
2. If your child is heritage-language-fluent: talk to the counselor about the corresponding LOTE CBE. It's the highest-EV opportunity hiding in the report.
3. If your district has the 80% threshold: recalibrate the practice-score bar. The state-wide 80%+ rate on 8th-grade math is 35% — if your child is at exactly 80% on a practice exam, that's where the bottom-third of state passers sit. Aim for 88%+ practice before committing.

How we can help

We offer free practice and full-length mocks for the seven most-requested Texas CBE subjects:

• 4 math: Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II, Pre-Calculus
• 2 science: Biology, Chemistry
• 1 history: US History

That overlap intentionally hits the subjects with the highest CBE volume in the report. 20 free sample questions per subject, no signup; full-length timed mocks are $19.99 per subject (6 months) — currently 33% off the $29.99 list.

Sources

• UTHS Credit by Exam Certification 2025–26. The University of Texas at Austin, UT High School (CDCN: 227506), signed by Michael Caudill, Ed.D., Superintendent. Data collected from 2024–25 testers. highschool.utexas.edu/credit_by_exam.
• Texas Education Code (TEC) §28.023 — Credit by Examination for Acceleration (80% standard).
• Texas Administrative Code 19 TAC §74.24 — Credit by Examination (70% standard for prior-instruction cases).

This article is for general information only and is not legal or educational advice. The UTHS Credit by Exam program, certified subjects, fees, and policies are set by The University of Texas at Austin and Texas Education Agency rules and can change — always verify current specifics with your school counselor, UTHS, or the TEA. Texas CBE™ is an independent practice platform; it is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by The University of Texas at Austin, UT High School, the Texas Education Agency, Texas Tech University ISD, the College Board, or any school district, and it does not administer any exam or grant academic credit.