Your Texas Adult Drivers Ed Certificate of Completion

The Quick Answer

What the ADE-1317 Certificate Is

The ADE-1317 is the official Texas Adult Driver Education Certificate of Completion. It is the document that proves you finished an approved six-hour adult driver education course — the same proof Texas DPS asks first-time applicants ages 18–24 to present when they apply for a license.

• Form: ADE-1317, the TDLR-approved adult Certificate of Completion.
• Issued by: Happy Drivers Ed, a TDLR-licensed provider (Provider #C3476).
• What it shows: your name, date of birth, course completion date, the provider information, and a unique certificate serial number — the details DPS uses to confirm your course completion.

You may see the form written as ADE-1317 or ADEE-1317 — it is the same Texas adult Certificate of Completion. The ADEE prefix is also how your individual certificate serial number is printed.

Who Needs the Certificate

In Texas, first-time applicants between the ages of 18 and 24 are required to complete an approved adult driver education course, and the ADE-1317 is the official proof of that completion. Drivers 25 and older are not required to take the course, though many choose to — if you take it voluntarily, you still receive the same certificate.

Completing the course (and earning the certificate) gives you a solid working knowledge of Texas traffic laws, road signs, and safe-driving practices before you sit the DPS tests. For a full breakdown of who must take it, see our eligibility guide.

How You Earn Your Certificate

Your Certificate of Completion is generated automatically — but only once you have satisfied both completion requirements. There is no separate "order your certificate" step and nothing is mailed to you.

1. Meet the required course time (seat time). Texas regulations set a minimum amount of instructional time you must spend in the six-hour course before you can finish. Our course tracks this for you with a built-in timer as you move through the eight lessons; you cannot rush past the minimum.
2. Pass the final In-Course Written Exam. You must score at least 70% on the comprehensive final exam covering Texas traffic laws and highway signs. You have up to three attempts; if all three are unsuccessful, the course restarts so you can review the material and try again.

How the Certificate Serial Number Works

Every ADE-1317 carries a unique serial number. As a TDLR-licensed provider, we don't make these numbers up — we draw from a block of state-issued certificate numbers purchased from TDLR. When you complete the course, the system assigns you the next available number from that inventory and permanently links it to your record.

• One number, one student. Each serial is assigned exactly once, so your certificate number is yours and never reused.
• Drawn from a purchased TDLR inventory. Numbers come from the provider's state-purchased block, not from an algorithm — this is what makes the certificate verifiable by DPS.
• Printed on the certificate. Your serial appears on the PDF along with your name, date of birth, completion date, and the provider's details.

What Is the "ADE/DE Control Number"?

If you searched for an "ADE/DE control number," here is the short answer: that phrase comes from the state's driver-education certificate-numbering system, where each certificate carries a unique TDLR-issued serial number. On the adult course, your number is the certificate number (serial number) printed on your ADE-1317 — not a separate "control number." The word control number belongs to the teen DE-964 certificate, which the adult course does not use. For the full plain-English breakdown of the term, see What Is the "ADE/DE Control Number"?

So when someone refers to a "control number" on your adult certificate, what they mean in practice is the certificate number we print on your ADE-1317: a unique TDLR certificate number (serial number), shown with the ADEE prefix, zero-padded to 8 digits, in red. That single number is how TDLR and DPS tie the certificate to your completed course.

How to Download Your Certificate

The certificate is a single PDF. Once you've earned it, you can download and print it as many times as you need — there is no fee for re-downloading.

1. From your course dashboard. Log in to your Happy Drivers Ed account, open the course dashboard, and use the Certificate of Completion section to download the PDF.
2. From your secure certificate link. Your certificate is also available from a unique, secure download link tied to your account, so you can save or re-print it without re-entering anything.

DPS requires the printed certificate — print it on a standard letter-size sheet (no special paper required) and bring the paper copy to your DPS visit.

Lost or Need a Replacement?

There is nothing to "replace" and no replacement to order. Your Certificate of Completion is a single PDF you can re-download as many times as you need from your account dashboard — at no charge. If you misplaced the printout, lost the file, or just need a fresh copy for your DPS visit, log back in and download it again.

• Re-download free, anytime. Open the Certificate of Completion section of your course dashboard and download the PDF again — unlike courses that charge reissue fees, there is never a fee to re-download yours.
• Same certificate, same number. Re-downloading gives you the identical certificate with the same serial number; nothing changes and nothing is regenerated.
• Locked out of your account? If you can't log in to reach your certificate, contact support and we'll help you get back in to download it.

Make Sure Your Name and Info Are Correct

The name and date of birth on your certificate must exactly match your government ID, because DPS checks them against your application. Review your student information before you finish the course — while you're still working through the lessons you can update your details directly from your account.

If anything looks wrong — a misspelled name, a wrong birth date, or a missing provider detail — don't present the certificate to DPS. Submit a change request first so we can correct it. You can also reach us through our contact page.

Using Your Certificate at DPS

You present your Certificate of Completion at the Texas DPS when you apply for your license, alongside your other required documents (proof of identity, Social Security number, and Texas residency). Keep in mind what the course does and does not cover:

• It satisfies the driver education requirement for first-time applicants ages 18–24.
• It shows written-exam completion. Because the course includes the in-course written exam, your certificate shows DPS that you completed that step. Plan to use it within about two years so you don't retake that written test at DPS. (The roughly two-year window is a DPS rule, not an expiration date on the certificate; see does it expire? below.)
• You still take the DPS vision test and the road (driving) test. The certificate does not cover those — every applicant still passes the vision test and the road test at DPS. See our road test guide.
• Complete ITAD before the driving-skills test. The free Impact Texas Adult Drivers video is required before the DPS road test for 18–24 applicants who take driver education and for applicants 25 and older.

For the full sequence from finishing the course to walking out with a license, see how to get your license.

Does the Certificate Expire?

Texas statute and TDLR rules do not set an expiration date on the ADE-1317 itself. What does exist is a two-year window in DPS's licensing rules: for applicants under 25, a certificate dated two or more years before your application no longer waives the written test (37 TAC §15.55(e)(2)) — though it still proves you completed driver education. So plan to use your certificate at DPS within two years of its date.

Separately, note that your access to the online course runs for 180 days from your purchase date. Your certificate, once earned and downloaded, is yours to keep even after course access ends.