A Texas DE-964 looks like a single letter-size sheet (8.5 by 11 inches) with a bold header across the top reading “Texas Driver Education Certificate,” a unique control number printed in the upper portion, and clearly labeled fields for the student’s personal information, the driving school’s details, course hours, and signatures from both the instructor and the student. If you are trying to figure out what a DE-964 form looks like because you want to confirm the one in your hand is legitimate, the control number and the TDLR provider identifiers are the features to check first.
Physical Layout and Security Features
The certificate prints on standard letter-size paper. The top of the page identifies the document as a Texas Driver Education Certificate, and a unique control number sits in the upper portion of the form.1Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. TDLR Driver Education and Safety Certificates DPS uses that number to verify the certificate against its records when you apply for a license. The form also carries a notice stating that reproducing or altering the document is unlawful.
Current certificates are typically printed on white paper and carry security elements such as verification numbers, TDLR approval numbers, and barcodes that let DPS agents authenticate the document during processing. Older versions came on colored paper (blue, green, or white) to distinguish between school-issued and parent-taught certificates, so an older sheet in a different color is not automatically a problem. A sheet that looks like a plain photocopy with no control number and no verification features is a different story and worth investigating before a DPS appointment.
Fields Printed on the Form
The DE-964 is divided into clearly labeled sections. The student information block holds your full legal name (which has to match your birth certificate exactly), date of birth, course completion date, and total instructional hours completed.
The provider block lists the driving school’s name and TDLR approval number, the certificate’s control number, instructor certification details, and the course type: classroom, online, or parent-taught. Together, these fields tell DPS which approved program issued the certificate, how the student completed the training, and how many hours they finished.
One thing the DE-964 does not contain is vision test results. Vision screening happens at the DPS office during your license appointment, not during driver education.2Department of Public Safety. Texas Learners License as a Teen If a certificate you have been handed includes a vision field, something is off.
DE-964, DEE-964, and DE-964E
There is more than one version of the certificate, and they look very similar. Private driving schools, online providers, and parent-taught programs all use the DE-964. Public schools issue the DE-964E instead.1Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. TDLR Driver Education and Safety Certificates Both carry the same control number verification system and both are accepted at DPS. The DPS learner license page lists all three acceptable certificate types: “DE-964/DEE-964” for commercial and parent-taught programs and “DE-964E” for public school programs.2Department of Public Safety. Texas Learners License as a Teen
If you went through Parent-Taught Driver Education, your certificate is generated through the TDLR online portal after your parent or guardian registered the program and paid the administrative fee. The PTDE version carries identifiers tied to the parent-led curriculum, but visually and functionally it looks and works like the commercial-school version at DPS.
Signature Lines
Toward the bottom of the form is a signature section. Both the authorized instructor (or the parent who conducted the training) and the student must sign and date the certificate. Those signatures confirm that the required classroom and behind-the-wheel training hours were completed.
A certificate that is missing signatures, or has signatures without dates, is one of the most common reasons DPS rejects the document. Visually, a complete DE-964 should have ink in every signature and date slot before you take it anywhere. A corrected version means going back to the issuing school or provider.
Spotting a Bad or Altered Certificate
Put the pieces together and a legitimate DE-964 has: the correct header, a control number in the upper portion, a TDLR approval number for the issuing provider, clearly labeled student and provider fields with no blanks in the identifying information, both required signatures with dates, and (on current versions) barcode or verification elements that a DPS agent can scan. The paper lies flat, the fields are typed or printed rather than hand-filled where the form expects print, and nothing on the face of the document has been crossed out or written over.
If any of those elements is missing or has been edited, do not try to fix it yourself. The DE-964 is a government-issued certificate, and altering or faking one falls under Texas Penal Code Section 37.10, which covers tampering with a governmental record. Because it is issued by a government agency, the offense can be charged as a third-degree felony, or a second-degree felony if the intent was to defraud or harm someone.3State of Texas. Texas Penal Code 37.10 – Tampering With Governmental Record A second-degree felony carries two to 20 years in prison.
For a lost, damaged, or incorrect certificate, the fix runs through the original issuer. Commercial and online schools issue duplicate DE-964s on request, and parent-taught students go back to the provider that supplied their materials.1Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. TDLR Driver Education and Safety Certificates TDLR does not issue replacement certificates directly to students. If the issuing school has closed, call TDLR at (512) 463-6599 or (800) 803-9202 (in-state only) to find out whether your records moved to another provider. Errors like a misspelled name or wrong birth date must also be corrected through the original school before DPS will accept the document.