How to Become a Texas State Trooper

The Trooper Salary page is the document: Salary Schedule for FY 2026, current pay scale 09/01/2025 until 08/31/2027, paid monthly, 50-hour work week authorized. Recruit (during recruit school) is $4,271.25 a month, $51,255.00 a year, plus a one-time graduation bonus of $5,000.00. Probationary Trooper (upon being commissioned) is $4,620.08 a month, $55,441.00 a year. Trooper I (after the 12-month probation period) is $5,487.58 a month, $65,851.00 a year. The same table prints a yearly-with-overtime column. Trooper I on that column is $90,545.04. That is not base.

Become a Texas State Trooper is the recruiting index. On 2026-08-21 it printed two banners: "C-2027 Application......... Coming Soon." and "Now Accepting Applications for the B-2027 Recruit School." The $5,000 stipend is presented after graduation from Recruit School.

DPS is a state agency. There is no Chapter 143 civil-service exam for this job.

The license is TCOLE's. The job is DPS's. Those are two gates. The Texas sequence is in How to Become a Police Officer in Texas. The license rules are in TCOLE peace officer license requirements. This page is DPS Training Operations' own documents.

Department listing: Texas Department of Public Safety. Pay comparison: Texas police salary by department. City hiring guides in this series: Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, Irving, Frisco, McKinney, Mesquite, Grand Prairie, Denton, Houston, Lubbock. Brownsville hiring from the June 13, 2025 civil service notice, Employment & Benefits, and the stay-tuned exam page is How to Become a Police Officer in Brownsville. McAllen hiring from the August 21, 2026 civil service notice, Staff Services, and the October 13, 2026 exam packet is How to Become a Police Officer in McAllen. Waco hiring from the FY 2025-2026 Civil Service Police Salary Schedule, NEOGOV 5344313, Employment, Training, and Employment Fitness Test is How to Become a Police Officer in Waco.

What DPS actually is

Recruiting lives on Become a Texas State Trooper. Online Application 301s to the Recruit School Schedule. Apply Now on that schedule points at the state's CAPPS candidate portal. A GET of that portal on 2026-08-21 returned a PeopleSoft cookie wall, not a job bulletin. The live apply door is the schedule. This retrieval did not open a CAPPS job bulletin or posting number.

www.joindps.com is still named on the recruiting FAQ. On 2026-08-21 a reviewer with a normal browser user agent recorded HTTP 301 to Become a Texas State Trooper on dps.texas.gov. On 2026-08-22 this desk: curl without -k failed TLS (exit 60, unable to get local issuer certificate); curl -k returned HTTP 403. Either address is not the apply door. Use the Recruit School Schedule on dps.texas.gov.

DPS does not publish a sworn headcount on the recruiting pages opened for this guide.

The live school cards

Recruit School Schedule, retrieved 2026-08-21. Each card is dated separately.

B-2027. Advanced Peace Officer School. Open. Apply Now. Starts June 20, 2027. Graduates September 24, 2027. Application process starts August 1, 2026. Application process ends January 15, 2027. Physical readiness / written test deadline January 29, 2027. Requirements sit on Advanced Peace Officer Academy.

A-2027. Full school. Applications closed. Starts January 3, 2027. Graduates July 30, 2027. Application process started December 3, 2025. Application process ended July 31, 2026. Physical readiness / written test deadline August 21, 2026.

C-2026. Full school. Applications closed. Starts September 13, 2026. Graduates April 9, 2027. Application process ended February 20, 2026. Physical readiness / written test deadline March 6, 2026.

C-2027. Coming Soon. Become a Texas State Trooper and the schedule both print that banner. No start date, no application window.

A-2026. Starts February 1, 2026. Graduates August 28, 2026. The graduation page lists Class A-2026 at 10:00 a.m. on August 28, 2026. That is a ceremony, not apply-now.

If you do not already hold a peace officer license, B-2027 is not your door. Watch C-2027. A-2027 applications ended July 31, 2026.

Minimum requirements

Age/Basic Requirements for Trooper is the recruiting floor. Education Requirements For Trooper reprints the college table. DPS's hiring floor and TCOLE's license floor are two documents.

Age. Age/Basic Requirements: Applicants must be at least 20 years of age to apply and must be 21 years of age upon graduating from the Department's Recruit School. TCOLE's own floor is 21, or 18 with an associate's degree, 60 semester hours, or an honorable discharge after two years of active service (37 TAC 217.1(b)(1)(A)). Those are not the same measuring point. Read TCOLE peace officer license requirements before you spend the application.

Citizenship. Age/Basic Requirements: All applicants must be citizens of the United States. That is DPS's hiring gate. The same page then prints the TCOLE line: effective September 1, 2023, for appointments on or after December 1, 2024, honorably discharged veterans with at least two years of service who are legal permanent residents are now eligible for a peace officer license from TCOLE (SB252). TCOLE's own rule, 37 TAC 217.1(b)(17), also licenses a legal permanent resident who is an honorably discharged veteran with at least two years of service who has applied for citizenship. DPS lists U.S. citizen as the applicant floor.

Education. 60 college earned hours is the DPS gate. Education Requirements: Applicants must have a minimum of 60 college earned hours from a regional accredited college or university. Age/Basic Requirements: applicants still completing a semester that will give them a total of 60 hours can submit a letter from the college certifying graduation or completion. Up to sixty (60) college earned hours may be waived with 24 months of Active duty military or equivalent full time peace officer experience.

Substitution ratios on the education page (semester hours plus law enforcement or military):

• 0-15 hours plus 24 months
• 16-30 hours plus 18 months
• 31-45 hours plus 12 months
• 46-59 hours plus 6 months

Reserve or National Guard has its own points / years table on the same page. Applicants substituting law enforcement or military experience for the college hours must, at a minimum, have obtained a GED or have graduated from high school. Out-of-state reserve commissions do not count. Federal service has to be 24 months with an agency listed in Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 2.122.

DPS's gate is 60 college hours. HS/GED is the floor only when you are substituting military or peace-officer time.

Driver's license. Apply Online/Forms lists a driver license among the supporting documents. That license is a DPS document requirement. TCOLE does not require a Texas license; 37 TAC 217.1(b)(8) is that you are not prohibited from operating a motor vehicle.

TCOLE bars. TCOLE makes a Class A conviction a lifetime bar and puts the ten-year lookback on Class B only (37 TAC 217.1(b)(4), (b)(6)). Family violence bars on community supervision as well as conviction (217.1(b)(7)). Those bars are TCOLE's. DPS's Disqualification Period Chart covers process failures (retest windows, polygraph, medical, file review), not that criminal floor.

Travel. Age/Basic Requirements: the application process will require the applicant to travel to Texas a minimum of 2 times to complete the required testing. The applicant's travel expenses are not reimbursed by the Department.

Reserve / National Guard path. Age/Basic Requirements: Reserve or National Guard personnel who have accumulated 730 retirement points or have 6 years' service in the Reserve or National Guard would be eligible to apply as the Texas State Trooper, verified by RPAM or RPAS. DD-214 and the RPAM are both required.

Step-by-step hiring process

Recruit Applicant Process prints eleven steps:

1. Apply Online/Forms
2. Physical Fitness Test/Written Test
3. Pre-Polygraph File Review
4. Polygraph Examination
5. Applicant File Review
6. Pre-Background Review
7. Background Investigation
8. Conditional Job Offer
9. Medical/Psychological Evaluations
10. Pre-Selection Final Review
11. Selection for Trooper Trainee School

Apply on the Recruit School Schedule Apply Now link, then download the forms on Apply Online/Forms and Required Forms: RC-99, RC-4A, RC-5, Fair Credit Report Act, Social Media Form. Forms must be single sided. Cardstock is not accepted. Submit forms and supporting documents to your recruiter at least 48 hours prior to the physical and written test.

Two DPS pages disagree on originals. Recruit Applicant Process: "Original documents submitted to the Department will not be returned." The FAQ, question 3: "Original and certified documents are required. All documents, with the exception of certified college transcripts, will be given back to you." Ask your recruiter which originals to bring as copies.

Supporting documents on Apply Online/Forms include Social Security card, full-size birth certificate or passport, driver license, certified high school transcript or GED, official college transcripts from a Regional Accrediting Organization, DD-214 or NGB-22 if military, Law Enforcement Agency Verification Letter for peace officers (two years of full-time patrol), TCOLE records for Texas officers, two years of performance evaluations if applicable, naturalization papers if applicable, auto liability insurance, a complete credit report (summaries with a score are not accepted), and certified court dispositions.

The process page: top candidates are selected and moved through a secondary screening process for final recruit selection. This will occur six months before the Recruit School starts.

The FAQ: from submitting your application to getting your final acceptance letter to our academy can take anywhere from 3 months to 6 months. That 3-to-6-month hiring clock is not academy length.

The Department will select the most competitive candidates. Age/Basic Requirements: be sure to review the Department's list of disqualifiers prior to submitting your application. Disqualification Period Chart: a first-attempt reading or math failure must retest within 30 days or wait 90 days. Withdraw after failing any portion of the physical readiness or written test and you wait for the next school. Polygraph "not recommended" is twelve months, no retest, no appeal. Medical/psychological "not recommended" is twelve months. File review, application pre-screen, and recruiter interview "not recommended" or "not selected" are six months.

Find a recruiter on DPS Recruiters. The FAQ: if you cannot reach a recruiter, contact the Recruiting office at 512-424-7500.

Physical agility

DPS does not use the 2,000-meter row that most Texas municipal departments score on. The applicant test is a timed 1.5-mile run and a 4-minute row, averaged into one score that must reach 55 percent.

Fitness Requirements for Recruits: all recruit applicants are required to pass the Department's standard physical readiness test to continue in the application process. Two events: a timed 1.5-mile run and a designated row test. The scores from both tests will be averaged for a total physical readiness test score. To continue, applicants must pass with a combined score of 55 percent. These tests consist of a timed 1.5-mile run and the 4-minute row. Train above 55 percent. The score is used in the overall ranking of the applicants.

Charts linked from that page: 1.5 Mile Run - Females (PDF), 1.5 Mile Run - Males (PDF), and 500m and 4 Min Row Test with bodyweight thresholds. This guide does not reprint a time from those charts. Open the chart for your age, sex, and bodyweight.

Same 55 percent combined score is required on the first day of recruit school. Fail it and the conditional job offer is rescinded and you are sent home. You reapply from the start.

During the first week of Recruit School, each recruit will be tested on the 1 1/2 mile run, 500 meter row, 4 minute row, and 2000 meter row. That first-week battery is not the applicant two-event test. The 2,000-meter row is a week-one school test, not the applicant test.

Waist standards on the same page: females 38 inches, males 43 inches, or height/weight standards, or percent body fat standards.

Physical/Vision Requirements For Trooper: physical exam at a physician designated by the Department, at no cost to the applicant, during the Conditional Job Offer. Distant visual acuity must correct to at least one of: 20/40 and 20/70, 20/30 and 20/400, or 20/20 and 20/400. Near vision must correct to 20/40 in the better eye. Refractive error limits are printed on that page. The FAQ: applicants will be rejected for color deficiencies as determined by Department testing.

Academy and field training

Law Enforcement Education prints "a rigorous 6 month recruit school." The live A-2027 card is January 3, 2027 to July 30, 2027. C-2026 is September 13, 2026 to April 9, 2027. Those schedule dates are the documents for those classes. Occupations Code §1701.2551 sets the basic peace officer course at no less than 720 hours. That is the state floor, not DPS's clock.

B-2027 Advanced Peace Officer School is June 20, 2027 to September 24, 2027. That is a different school. A February 26, 2015 news release still on dps.texas.gov describes an eight-week advanced school versus "more than 20 weeks" for the standard course, with 2015 pay of $54,128 / $59,132 / $71,422. Those dollars and that eight-week clock are from the 2015 news release. They are not B-2027.

Trooper Benefits: recruit pay while in academy, uniforms issued, room and board provided while in academy. FAQ: you may relocate your family to Austin, but housing will not be provided for your family. During the academy you will be required to stay in the dorms provided and will have limited access to leave. Recruits are the only tenants at the academy.

FAQ field training, under prior-experience pay: troopers advance to Trooper II or Trooper I after they have completed the six (6) month FTO program. Duty station FAQ: there is a 12 month commitment and up to 18 months, along with the completion of the field training program.

Full Recruit School: applicants invited to the academy are informed of their assigned region before the start of the school. Duty station assignments will be made within three weeks of starting the academy, dependent on availability. Duty station assignments will be guaranteed upon graduation.

You are paid the Recruit cell, $51,255, because that is the hiring title on the FY 2026 schedule. Daily academy life is in Texas Police Academy: What to Expect.

Pay and benefits

Base, from Trooper Salary, FY 2026, effective September 1, 2025 through August 31, 2027. 50-hour week authorized. Paid monthly.

• Recruit (during recruit school): $4,271.25 / $51,255.00 plus $5,000.00 one-time graduation bonus. Yearly with overtime $70,475.64.
• Probationary Trooper (upon commissioning): $4,620.08 / $55,441.00. Yearly with overtime $76,231.32.
• Trooper I (after 12-month probation): $5,487.58 / $65,851.00. Yearly with overtime $90,545.04.
• Trooper II (4 years): $6,689.50 / $80,274.00. Yearly with overtime $110,376.72.
• Trooper III (8 years): $7,165.75 / $85,989.00.
• Trooper IV (12 years): $7,482.41 / $89,789.00.
• Trooper V (16 years): $7,828.08 / $93,937.00.
• Trooper VI (20 years): $8,173.75 / $98,085.00.

Base is the Yearly column. The overtime column is labeled separately. Trooper I on a 50-hour state schedule is not a municipal Step 1.

Monthly stipends on the same page: Master's $300, Bachelor's $200, Associate $100; Master peace officer certificate $300, Advanced $200, Intermediate $100; second language $100.

Prior law enforcement on the salary page: after FTO, four (4) years of verified full-time prior peace officer experience in any state advances to Trooper II. Less than four years advances to Trooper I until combined experience reaches four years.

Advanced Peace Officer Academy reprints those two cells as "combined" Trooper II $110,376.75 ($9,198.06 monthly) and combined Trooper I $90,544.78 ($7,545.40 monthly). The salary table's overtime column is $110,376.72 and $90,545.04. Combined is the overtime column. The cents do not match.

Benefits, as Trooper Benefits prints them, not a second pay plan. Equipment provided. Recruit pay, uniforms, room and board in academy. Uniform cleaning allowance. Group life and health insurance. Primary on-duty weapon and off-duty weapon. Paid vacation, sick, and holiday leave. Take-home patrol unit with safety equipment. Worker's compensation. Tactical and duty equipment issued.

FAQ: the department will not pay for you to relocate. There are hardship duty stations throughout the state that have an increase of salary. DPS does not publish the hardship-station amount on the pages opened for this guide.

Experienced officers. DPS does not do lateral transfers.

FAQ, exact line: "The Texas Department of Public Safety does not do lateral transfers." The experienced-officer door is Advanced Peace Officer Academy / B-2027.

In-state officers for B-2027: honorably served (full-time employed, benefits-eligible) as a sworn full-time paid peace officer as designated by Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 2.122, within two continuous years (no break in-service) as of March 26, 2027. The Department will not waive the two years. The Department will not accept service time as a reserve officer, corrections/jailer, and communications operator.

Out-of-state, federal, and military police: TCOLE packet, Texas Supplemental Peace Officer Course #1018, other TCOLE-required courses, and the TCOLE licensing exam by March 26, 2027. They may proceed through DPS phases but cannot complete hiring until they pass the TCOLE exam. Expect two to four weeks for TCOLE eligibility. The candidate pays TCOLE fees.

B-2027: Peace Officers selected will be guaranteed assignment to a specific Highway Patrol region during the Conditional Job Offer.

Apply Online/Forms still asks all in/out of state peace officers for a Law Enforcement Agency Verification Letter to verify two years of full-time patrol service. That letter is a document requirement. It is not a municipal lateral step.

How to prepare this month

1. Open Become a Texas State Trooper and the Recruit School Schedule. If you already hold a peace officer license and can sit B-2027, the application window closes January 15, 2027, and the physical/written deadline is January 29, 2027. If you do not hold a license, A-2027 is closed and C-2027 is Coming Soon. The 2015 news release is not B-2027.
2. Train the 1.5-mile run and the 4-minute row to a combined 55 percent, then train higher. Open the DPS charts. You will still see a 2,000-meter row in week one of school.
3. Count your college hours against the 60-hour table, or the 24-month military / peace-officer waiver. HS/GED alone is not the DPS gate unless you are on a substitution path.
4. If you are 20, you can apply. You must be 21 at recruit-school graduation. Read TCOLE's age rule as a second measuring point.

What to do this week

Open Become a Texas State Trooper. Call the Recruiting office at 512-424-7500 or a recruiter on DPS Recruiters. Ask whether your door is B-2027 or C-2027. Then download RC-99, RC-4A, and RC-5.

Sources

• Trooper Salary, FY 2026 (current 09/01/2025-08/31/2027; Recruit $51,255 plus $5,000 bonus; Probationary $55,441; Trooper I $65,851; 50-hour week; overtime column separate; retrieved 2026-08-21)
• Become a Texas State Trooper (B-2027 now accepting; C-2027 Coming Soon; $5000 stipend after graduation; retrieved 2026-08-21)
• Recruit School Schedule (B-2027 / A-2027 / C-2026 cards; Online Application 301s here; retrieved 2026-08-21)
• Age/Basic Requirements for Trooper (20 to apply, 21 at graduation, no max; U.S. citizen; 60 hours; travel twice unpaid; retrieved 2026-08-21)
• Education Requirements For Trooper (60 hours; substitution table; HS/GED when substituting; retrieved 2026-08-21)
• Fitness Requirements for Recruits (combined 55 percent; 1.5-mile run and 4-minute row; day-1 retest; first-week 500m / 4-min / 2000m; retrieved 2026-08-21)
• Physical/Vision Requirements For Trooper (retrieved 2026-08-21)
• Recruit Applicant Process (11 steps; forms 48 hours before test; originals "will not be returned"; secondary screening six months before school; retrieved 2026-08-21)
• Apply Online/Forms and Required Forms (retrieved 2026-08-21)
• Advanced Peace Officer Academy (B-2027 two-year rule as of March 26, 2027; combined pay cells vs salary-table overtime column; retrieved 2026-08-21)
• Full Recruit School (region before start; duty station within three weeks; guaranteed at graduation; retrieved 2026-08-21)
• Trooper Benefits (retrieved 2026-08-21)
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Recruiting (no lateral transfers; process 3-6 months; FTO six months; recruiting office 512-424-7500; joindps.com named; FAQ Q3 originals returned except certified transcripts; retrieved 2026-08-21)
• Disqualification Period Chart (retrieved 2026-08-21)
• DPS Recruiters (retrieved 2026-08-21)
• Law Enforcement Education / Training Operations (prints 6 month recruit school; retrieved 2026-08-21)
• DPS Trooper Graduation (A-2026 ceremony August 28, 2026; retrieved 2026-08-21)
• Adopted 37 TAC §217.1, effective June 1, 2026 (TCOLE license floor; retrieved 2026-08-21)
• CAPPS candidate portal (Apply Now on the schedule; cookie wall on 2026-08-21 GET; no bulletin body opened)
• www.joindps.com (reviewer 301 on 2026-08-21; this desk TLS 60 / HTTP 403 on 2026-08-22)