Certification levels

TWC requires all child care and early learning programs participating in Child Care Services (CCS) to take part in Texas Rising Star.

Entry Level designation requirements are: 

• licensed or registered with Child Care Regulation (CCR) or regulated by the United States Military;
• not on Corrective or Adverse Action with CCR; and
• not exceed the points threshold (based on a review of the most recent six months of CCR licensing history)

Once designated as Entry Level, programs have 24 months to get Texas Rising Star certification. Entry Level-designated programs may be assessed for star-level certification at any time within the 24-month timeframe. To be assessed, programs must meet certification eligibility and screening requirements.

A child care and early learning program must meet all of the required measures to obtain certification. Then the scores of the points-based measures are used to determine the star level for each category and ultimately for the program as a whole.

The star level of each category is the average of the score of all points-based measures in that category. Texas Rising Star assigns each of the four categories a weight. The total weight calculates the certification level of the child care program. Category 2: Teacher-Child Interactions has the highest weight at 40 percent. The remaining three categories each have a 20 percent weight.

The scoring criteria for each star level is:

• Four-Star—average score is 2.4 or greater (80 percent of total possible points)
• Three-Star—average score is 1.80 to 2.39 (60–79.9 percent of total possible points)
• Two-Star—average score is below 1.80 (less than 60 percent of total possible points)

A program does not have to earn100 percent of the points available to become certified at the highest star level, Four-Star. 

All Child Care Services (CCS) regulated providers are required to participate in Texas Rising Star.  New CCS providers must meet the minimum quality standards to receive Entry Level Designation as part of the certification process.

Texas Rising Star–certified programs receive higher payment rates for children enrolled in the CCS program than noncertified programs. 

Each Board establishes payment rates at or above a level established by TWC. TWC has published each of the Board’s maximum payment rates as of October 1, 2025. 

TWC uses the most recent Market Rate Survey to set their Texas Rising Star maximum payment rates. TWC requires Boards to set their rates at or above the following levels: 

• For Four-Star providers, at least 9 percent higher than the 75th percentile
• For Three-Star providers, at least 7 percent higher than the 75th percentile
• For Two-Star providers, at least 5 percent higher than the 75th percentile 

Texas Rising Star certification can be financially beneficial for programs. The Texas Rising Star Revenue Calculator shows programs how much estimated additional revenue they could receive. Just complete the 3 steps within the spreadsheet. 

Note: Entry Level-designated programs do not receive enhanced payment rates.