McKinney has plenty of officers who already carry a License to Carry and assume the Level 3 written test will feel like a formality. The rule that governs that test says otherwise, and it is worth reading before you enrol rather than after.
What Score Do You Actually Need?
Seventy-five percent. 37 TAC §35.144(c) sets the minimum passing grade on Level 3 and Level 4 school examinations at 75%, and that is the whole answer. It is not a school standard that varies by provider, it is not negotiable at the margin, and it applies to every DPS-approved school in Texas. The text lives in 37 TAC Chapter 35 alongside the rest of the private security training rules.
Why the LTC Comparison Misleads People
The 75% figure is higher than the License to Carry written test threshold, and that catches people out because the two processes genuinely do resemble each other in one place. Under §35.145, the firearms proficiency qualification for a commission may use the DPS Primary Issued Handgun Qualification Course or the DPS Approved LTC Course, and in practice the proficiency exam is close to identical in format to the LTC proficiency exam. If you have shot an LTC qualification, Part 2 of Level 3 will feel recognizable.
The classroom half does not work the same way, because it is not testing the same thing:
- An LTC is a private citizen’s permit to carry.
- A security officer commission is an occupational authorization to carry a firearm while working a post. Issued by DPS, tied to the private security regulatory scheme, and carrying its own duties.
- The Level 3 classroom material therefore covers the law governing armed security work, use of force, and the duties that attach to a commission. Then it tests you on it.
How Seriously to Take the Online Portion
The course is structured in two parts. Part 1 is that classroom material plus 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, which is the right format for officers working rotating shifts across the metroplex.
But the flexibility of an online course is not a signal about its difficulty. The written exam attached to Part 1 is the 75% exam. The realistic advice is to give the use-of-force and scope-of-authority sections a second pass before you sit it, and to stop treating the online half as the easy box to tick on the way to the range. Most students who struggle did not find the material hard. They skimmed it.
What the Online Price Does and Does Not Cover
The online course price covers the online training only. The in-person firearms qualification is scheduled separately and is not included, and no part of the online portion involves firearms work. On the qualification side, §35.146 sets out a shotgun course of fire for commissioned security officers, so students have the option to qualify with a shotgun in addition to a handgun.
One More Thing §35.144(c) Gets Blamed For
Because the rule names Level 3 and Level 4 together, students sometimes read the two as a ladder. They are not. Under §35.141(a)(2), Level 3 is the course required for anyone seeking a security officer commission and for personal protection officers. Level 4 is the personal protection officer course, the bodyguard credential, a separate class with a minimum of fifteen classroom hours under §35.141(a)(3). Different courses, different purposes; the 75% standard just happens to apply to the exams in both.
Nor is passing Level 3 the same as being commissioned. DPS issues the commission on application, and §35.81(a) requires the application to include copies of both the Level 2 and the Level 3 certificates of completion, along with the department’s other listed items. Keep the certificate from your Level 2 class. You will be submitting it. Applications and licensing run through the Texas DPS Private Security Bureau.
Armed Work in Collin County
McKinney sits in one of the fastest-growing corners of North Texas, and the security work follows the development: corporate campuses and office parks along the growth corridors, hospital and medical office buildings, banking and credit union branches, data center and utility perimeters, and the distribution and retail footprint that a metro this size supports. A meaningful share of those postings specify a commissioned officer, which is the practical reason people go through Level 3 in the first place.
Note that you cannot get this course from your employer the way some companies handle Level 2. Level 3 may only be taught by a DPS-approved school using a DPS-approved instructor, with course material prepared by and obtained from DPS. A licensed company cannot have its own designee deliver it in-house. When you finish, §35.147 requires the school to issue the original certificate of completion, the PSP 30, within seven days of qualifying, and to keep training records for 24 months. After that, the armed security renewal course is what keeps the commission current, and our full class list shows how the pieces fit together.
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