Seventy-five percent. That is the number every Marshall officer heading toward a security officer commission should have in their head before they start the Level 3 course: and it is not the number most people arrive expecting.

The Passing Grade Is 75%, and the Rule Says So Plainly

Under 37 TAC §35.144(c), the minimum passing grade on Level 3 and Level 4 school examinations is 75%. There is no rounding conversation, no instructor discretion, and no “close enough.” It is written into the same chapter of the administrative code that governs everything else about commissioned security work in Texas, and you can read it for yourself in 37 TAC Chapter 35.

Why People Show Up Expecting a Lower Bar

Almost everyone who walks into a Level 3 class in East Texas has already been through the Texas License to Carry process, or knows three people who have. That course has its own written test with its own threshold, and because the two credentials both involve a handgun, students quietly assume the standards line up. They do not. The Level 3 school exam sits higher than the LTC written test threshold, and that gap is the single most common surprise in the whole course.

The confusion runs the other direction too. On the range side, the firearms proficiency exam is close to identical in format to the LTC proficiency exam. Under §35.145 the qualification may use the DPS Primary Issued Handgun Qualification Course or the DPS Approved LTC Course. So the shooting feels familiar, which reinforces the (wrong) assumption that the classroom half will feel familiar too. It is a different test against a different standard, written by a different agency for a different purpose: an LTC is a private citizen’s carry permit, and a commission is an occupational authorization to carry a firearm while working a post.

What That Means for How You Treat the Online Part

Level 3 comes in two halves. Part 1 is the classroom material: the law governing armed security work, use of force, the duties that attach to a commission, and the written exam. Part 2 is in person and covers defensive tactics, firearms handling and the firearms proficiency exam. ETXSTA delivers Part 1 100% online, and the flexibility of that format is exactly why some students underrate it.

Online does not mean casual. The written exam is the 75% exam. Treat the use-of-force block and the section on what a commission actually authorizes as material you will be tested on, because you will be. Officers who work through the online portion in sittings, take notes and go back over the legal sections tend to be the ones who never think about the passing grade again.

Who the Course Is For, and What It Is Not

Under §35.141(a)(2), the Level 3 course is required for anyone seeking a security officer commission, the credential that allows an officer to carry a firearm on duty, and for personal protection officers. That second group trips people up. Level 3 is not Level 4. Level 4 is the personal protection officer course, a separate class with a minimum of fifteen classroom hours under §35.141(a)(3). They are two different courses, not two rungs of one ladder, and the 75% standard applies to the exams in both.

Level 3 also is not, by itself, the commission. The commission is issued by DPS on application. Under §35.81(a) that application requires copies of both your Level 2 and your Level 3 certificates of completion, along with the other items the department lists, so the Level 2 course comes first and the certificate you earned there stays relevant. Licensing itself runs through the Texas DPS Private Security Bureau.

Taking It From Marshall

Marshall is a small city, and the honest version of the armed security picture here is that the posts exist but they are spread out. Hospital and clinic security, the industrial and rail operations that Harrison County has always run on, gated corporate property, and contract work that pulls officers out toward Longview and the I‑20 corridor. That is the mix. A commission is what moves an officer from the unarmed side of that market to the armed side, and it travels with the officer rather than the employer.

The practical advantage for a small East Texas town is that the classroom half no longer requires a drive. Level 3 may only be taught by a DPS-approved school using a DPS-approved instructor, and the course material is prepared by and obtained from DPS. Unlike Level 2, a licensed company cannot have its own designee deliver it in-house. Doing Part 1 online means you are not burning a day of PTO and a tank of gas to sit in a metro classroom for material you can work through at your kitchen table.

A Few Things Worth Knowing Before You Start

• The online course price covers the online training only. The in-person firearms qualification is scheduled separately and is not included.
• §35.146 sets out a shotgun course of fire for commissioned officers, so you have the option to qualify with a shotgun in addition to a handgun.
• Your certificate of completion is referred to as the PSP 30.
• Under §35.147, an approved school issues the original certificate to a qualifying student within seven days of qualifying and keeps training records for 24 months.
• Once you are commissioned, the armed security renewal course is what keeps the credential current.

If you are still working out which class you actually need, our FAQ page answers the questions that come up most, and the full class list lays out the whole progression in order.