The PRB recently adopted new MET rules that include changes to MET requirements for system administrators and trustees. The PRB recently hosted a virtual training on the new rules on November 13, 2024. Click here to view the presentation. The slide deck can be found here.
The 83rd Texas Legislature required the Pension Review Board (PRB) to establish a Minimum Educational Training (MET) program for Texas public retirement system trustees and administrators, including providing online training.
The PRB provides seven core courses as well as several continuing education courses online at https://education.prb.texas.gov.
The program statute, rules, forms, and flowcharts can be found below.
The MET requirements include topic areas sorted by core and continuing education. The core topics are designed to cover the fundamental competencies of public pensions necessary for trustees and system administrators to successfully discharge their duties. Core courses are required to be completed in a trustee or administrator’s first year of service and can be retaken to be used toward their continuing education (CE) cycle.
The continuing education courses include topics that go beyond the basics and are designed to allow trustees and administrators to gain further expertise in additional areas related to their duties. Continuing education courses can only be used toward a trustee or administrator’s CE cycle.
The training requirements are summarized in the table below and explained in detail in the following sections.
Required Hours and Frequency | |
NEW trustees and administrators (Core cycle) |
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CONTINUING trustees and administrators (CE cycle) |
|
Required Content Areas | |
Core Content (For both core and CE cycles) | Fiduciary Matters, Governance, Ethics, Investments, Actuarial Matters, Benefits Administration, Risk Management |
Continuing Education Content (Only for CE cycles) | Compliance, Legal and Regulatory Matters, Pension Accounting, Custodial Issues, Plan Administration, Texas Open Meetings Act, Texas Public Information Act |
Minimum Training Requirements for New Trustees and Administrators
Core: All trustees and administrators must complete at least seven credit hours of training in the core content areas within their first year of service. The seven hours must include training in all seven content areas. No less than half a credit hour and no more than two credit hours earned in any one core content area can be applied toward meeting the seven-hour minimum requirement.
Core content areas: Fiduciary Matters, Governance, Ethics, Investments, Actuarial Matters, Benefits Administration, and Risk Management.
First Year of Service Definition: | |
On or before December 31, 2024 | 12-month period beginning on the first day a trustee is on the board, or a system administrator is hired. |
On or after January 1, 2025 | If the first day on the board or date of hire falls:
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In exceptional circumstances, if new trustees or system administrators cannot complete the first year of service training within the appropriate calendar year, the MET rules allow for trustees and administrators to complete a First Year of Service Training Extension Request Form. If granted, this extension provides a trustee or administrator an additional three months to complete the first year of service training. To learn more about the extension’s requirements, view the First Year of Service Training Extension Request Form or the MET rules.
Continuing education: Trustees and administrators shall complete at least two credit hours of continuing education in either the core or continuing education content areas each calendar year after the first year of service.
Continuing education content areas: Compliance, Legal and Regulatory Matters, Pension Accounting, Custodial Issues, Plan Administration, Texas Open Meetings Act, and Texas Public Information Act.
The PRB adopted new rules for the MET requirements in September 2024. The rules specify that each trustee and administrator’s transition to the new training cycle is based on their training status as of December 31, 2024.
First Year of Service Status on December 31, 2024 | |
Completed | Begin first continuing education cycle in calendar year 2025. |
Not Completed | Complete first year of service training in calendar year 2025. |
Continuing Education Cycle | |
Began in 2024 | May carry over credit hours completed in 2024 to first one-year continuing education cycle in 2025. |
Began in 2023 | Begin a new continuing education cycle in 2025 and cannot carry over credit hours completed in 2023 or 2024. |
Approved Training: Trustees and administrators may obtain training credit hours through either an accredited training provider or with individual course approval. Accredited training providers do not have to apply for approval of each course, unless they are an accredited core training provider, and systems do not need to fill out an application prior to attending a training conducted by an accredited training provider unless the training is in a subject area for which the training provider is not accredited.
In addition to accredited training providers, systems and training providers may submit an Individual Course Approval Application (ICAA) for any courses the trustees or administrator would like to take from a training provider not accredited with the PRB’s MET program. The ICAA should be submitted to the PRB 30 days before the course is to be held; although, the PRB, at its discretion, may approve applications filed less than 30 days in advance of the activity or may approve applications filed after the activity.
Public retirement systems may apply to become accredited training providers using the Training Provider Accreditation Application, to be able to get credit for in-house training, often provided by staff or outside consultants at system board meetings. Systems may also apply to offer individual courses using the ICAA.
Please contact the PRB through our Contact Page or by calling (512) 463-1736 with any questions about particular training providers or courses.
Educational providers who would like to apply to become accredited training providers or for individual course approval should visit the training provider webpage for more information.
