How TPP Credits work

TPP is a program that lets a state association, chapter, or school district pre-purchase a pool of credit on the SkillsUSA Career Essentials store. Authorized teachers and staff at that school can then spend that credit at checkout, in place of a credit card.

Funds are organized into buckets by category (Assessments, Certifications, Curriculum, etc). Each product on the store falls into exactly one bucket, and credit can only be spent in the matching bucket. So $5,000 in your Assessments bucket can buy $5,000 worth of Career Essentials Knowledge Tests, but it can't be used for Curriculum.

You don't need to apply for TPP — your school's coordinator or your state association sets it up with SkillsUSA, and you're added as a member.

Sign in to your SkillsUSA account and look for a TPP Credits link in the left navigation of your account dashboard. If you see it, you're set up. Click through to see your school, the program year, and your available balance.

If you don't see it, one of three things is happening:

• Your school doesn't have a TPP contract this year. Reach out to your state association or check with your school coordinator.
• Your school has a TPP contract but you haven't been added as a member yet. Ask the primary contact for your school to invite you (instructions below).
• You were invited but haven't finished registering. Check your email for an invitation from noreply@ with the subject “You've been invited to…” — click the link inside to create your account.

Your TPP balance is split across these buckets. The store knows which bucket each product belongs to and routes the charge automatically.

Click any bucket on your TPP Credits page to see exactly which orders charged it — purchase date, who bought what, and totals. You can download the activity as CSV for your records.

1. Browse and add eligible items to your cart. TPP-eligible products show a small badge on the product page and listing card.
2. Review your cart. The cart panel shows a TPP summary — how much each bucket would be charged and your balance after.
3. Go to checkout. On the Payment step, choose TPP Credits. You'll see a per-bucket breakdown showing whether you have enough to cover the order.
4. Place your order. If every bucket has enough funds, the order goes through. Funds are placed on hold immediately, but they're not charged yet — see the next section for what happens after.

If your balance falls short

When a bucket on your order has more in it than you have available, the “Continue to review” button is disabled and the over-budget bucket is highlighted. You have two options:

• Adjust the cart — remove items in the over- budget bucket, then come back to checkout.
• Switch to credit card — choose Credit Card instead of TPP at the Payment step. Your TPP balance isn't touched.

TPP orders go through a verification step that credit-card orders don't. Here's what each status means and what happens next.

Pending verification

You've placed the order. Funds are held against your buckets — your available balance reflects that hold — but nothing has been charged yet. SkillsUSA finance reviews the order before approving it. This usually takes a business day or two.

During this time you can see the order on your account, but enrollment keys (for Pathful courses, etc) haven't been issued yet. You'll get an email when finance approves it.

Approved / Paid

Finance approved your order. The hold is converted to spent funds. Enrollment keys are emailed and visible under Account → Enrollment Keys. The order shows “Paid” on your account.

Rejected

Finance declined the order. The held funds are returned to your bucket availability — no money was actually charged. You'll get an email with the reason. If you think it was rejected in error, reach out to your school's primary contact or to customercare@skillsusa.org.

Cancelled

You or SkillsUSA cancelled the order. If it was still pending, the holds were released. If it was already approved, a refund was issued and the spent funds returned to your bucket.

If you're the primary contact for your school's TPP contract, you can invite other teachers and staff to use the same credit pool. You decide which buckets each person can spend from.

1. Go to Account → TPP Credits
2. In the Team Members section, click Invite Member
3. Enter their email address. Optionally restrict which buckets they can spend from — toggling a bucket off means they can't charge to it.
4. Click Send Invitation

The system sends them an email automatically:

• If they already have a SkillsUSA account, they're added right away and the email tells them where to find their TPP Credits page.
• If they don't have an account yet, the email contains a registration link. The moment they sign up with the same email, they're auto-linked to your TPP and can start using credits.

Removing a member

When someone leaves the school or transfers, click Remove from TPP next to their name. Their SkillsUSA account stays active — they just lose access to use your school's credits going forward. Past orders are unaffected.

Viewing access (no purchasing)

When inviting, you can toggle off every bucket to give someone “view-only” access. They'll see the balance and bucket breakdown but won't be able to check out with TPP. Useful for principals or coordinators who need visibility without spending authority.

Why is my balance lower than what was allocated?

Your available balance is allocated minus spent minus held. If you placed an order that's still pending, those funds are held and subtracted from the available number — even though they haven't been charged yet. Once the order is approved, the hold becomes spent (no change in available); if rejected, the hold returns to available.

Can I use both TPP and a credit card on one order?

Not currently. Each order uses one payment method. If your TPP buckets can't cover everything, either remove items or switch to credit card and place a separate TPP order for the eligible items.

Can I move funds between buckets?

No. Bucket allocations are set by your funder and can't be shifted between categories from the storefront. If you need more in a specific bucket, ask your state association coordinator about getting an additional allocation.

I see “TPP rejected” but no email — what now?

Check your spam folder first. If it's not there, the email may have been sent to your registered email address (which you can verify under Account → Profile). The order detail page also shows the rejection reason once it's recorded.

I switched schools — can I keep my TPP balance?

The balance belongs to the contract, not to you personally. If you transfer, the new school's primary contact (or SkillsUSA support) needs to remove you from the old contract and add you to the new one. Past purchases stay attached to you, but going forward you'll spend from the new school's pool.

How long are the credits good for?

Each contract has an expiration date set by the funder (typically the end of the program year, June 30). After expiration, the remaining balance is forfeited unless your association rolls it into a new program year. Your TPP Credits page shows the expiration date prominently.

Where can I see exactly what was charged to a bucket?

On your TPP Credits page, click any bucket card. A panel expands showing every order that touched that bucket — date, status, who bought it (helpful for primary contacts), product, quantity, and amount. There's also a Download CSV button if you need to share the report or import it elsewhere.

For anything else — wrong balance, missing invitation, rejected order you don't understand, or trouble with checkout — email customercare@skillsusa.org and include your school name and (if applicable) the order number you have a question about.