Safety and Health (BAAS)
Competency-Based
Foster secure and thriving work environments by blending your passion for well-being with the crucial skills needed to safeguard lives and promote occupational health.
PROMOTE SAFETY, MANAGE WORKPLACE RISKS
Become an effective and innovative leader with a competency-based program that prepares you for a rewarding and impactful career in the field of safety and health. Designed for working professionals, this program offers fully online coursework so you can plan your studies around your busy life. Receive credit for what you know and can do, then accelerate your degree completion and job promotion opportunities.
Is this Program a Good Fit for You?
Safety and health students are typically interested in:
- Controlling and preventing environmental and occupational hazards.
- Gaining the knowledge and skills to become leaders in the field.
- Analyzing data and identifying potential risks to prevent accidents and injuries.
- Making a positive impact on the lives of others.
- Solving complex challenges related to workplace safety and health.
See Yourself Succeed With a Degree in Safety and Health
Innovation and Discovery
Take on our mission to build a better Texas as you prepare to compete in an interconnected world with creativity, ethical leadership and imagination. We don’t just discover the future; we make it.
Career Readiness
In the College of Innovation and Design, you will gain applied skills, not just theories. As a working adult, you can apply what you learn to your existing position and prepare to move up the career ladder or take on a new career!
Accomplished Faculty
Our faculty is ready to guide you through your coursework. We are on your team and dedicated to your success!
Student Support
Terms
All competency-based programs in the College of Innovation and Design are offered in two seven-week terms per traditional semester with a break between each term.
2024
| Semester | Term 1 | Break | Term 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spring | Jan. 16-March 1 | March 4-15 | March 18-May 3 |
| Summer | May 13-June 28 | July 1-5 | July 8-Aug. 23 |
| Fall | Sept. 3-Oct. 18 | Oct. 21-25 | Oct. 28-Dec. 13 |
Affordable, flexible program designed for the working professional
- Transfer up to 84 credit hours*
- Earn up to 19 hours of transfer credit with your Certified Safety and Health Official certification.
- Accelerate through coursework by leveraging your current knowledge in a competency-based education format
- Program is 100% online, featuring two seven-week terms per traditional semester.
*Maximum amount of transfer credit cannot exceed 90 hours from other higher education institutions, WECM credits, military credits and CSHO certification.
Program Costs
Earning a degree is more affordable than ever. Our competency-based programs offer quality education at an affordable price. These rates include online versions of required course materials.
| Residency Status | Tuition Per Semester |
|---|---|
In-State (TX resident) | $750 |
Bordering County. This includes: Oklahoma, Louisiana, New Mexico, Arkansas | $750 |
Neighboring state (aka interior county: Oklahoma, Louisiana, New Mexico and Arkansas) | in-state + $30/hour |
Out of state (e.g., Florida) | $1,500 |
Employee Scholarship | $300 |
- Tuition exemption limited to state residents
- Students can only receive ONE exemption (example: you cannot stack senior citizen and active-duty law enforcement exemptions.)
PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS
A degree in safety and health offers the opportunity to:
- Examine ethics and legal issues in safety and health and the role leaders play in influencing behaviors.
- Develop effective strategies for workplace analysis and hazard prevention and control processes.
- Analyze data to effectively manage projects and find optimal solutions to problems.
- Communicate effectively and professionally with peers, managers and other stakeholders.
Careers
A BAAS degree offers many opportunities in the job market. The possibilities are limitless from education to computer science or sociology to biology! These are just a few jobs for which a BAAS degree can eventually qualify you.
Career Possibilities and Current Median Salaries
US DOL Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2020
Glassdoor.com, 2021
What You Will Learn
Gain a broad overview of the safety and health field, including instruction in legal issues, ethics, communication, problem-solving, OSHA requirements and risk assessment. You will have the opportunity to develop practical workplace competencies to meet current and future challenges in a variety of settings.
Courses to Prepare for Your Career
Required courses include Technical Writing and Communication in Safety and Health, Legal Aspects of Safety and Health, and Human Factors in Occupational Safety. General education courses and professional development electives are designed to complement the required courses and provide a well-rounded, in-depth preparation for work in the field.
Featured Courses
Course Delivery and Resources
Three components make up the 120-credit-hour degree.
- General Education/Core Curriculum (42 semester credit hours)
- You have the opportunity to demonstrate mastery of general education competencies without needlessly sitting through introductory courses.
- Professional Development Electives (48 semester credit hours)
- You are able to demonstrate competency in a variety of related fields.
- Upper Division Applied Coursework (30 semester credit hours)
- You will build on and apply work-related skills in four mastery areas.
You begin each term by registering for up to two courses.
- When you complete all of your current courses before the end of a term, you can take and complete another course by the end of the term.
- You can accelerate an unlimited number of times in each term.
- Using this method, you can shorten your time to degree completion.
- You are not allowed to add courses during the final week of the term.
Did you miss the registration window? Don't worry! You have two available registration opportunities each semester! For specific dates, email our advising office.
Program Admission
To demonstrate your knowledge, you will submit evidence of a level of competence in reading, writing and mathematics.
You are required to take or be exempt from the Texas Success Initiative assessment prior to enrolling in college; students without assessment scores because of exemptions that are not test or grade based must take a placement test to determine entry level in Math and English courses.
TSI Exemptions
- ACT scores: Composite 23; English 19 or Math 19; no older than five years
- SAT scores: Composite 1070; Verbal 500 or Math 500; no older than five years
- TAKS scores: 2200 Math or 2200 English/Language Arts with a three writing subscore
- Received an associate degree or baccalaureate degree from a Texas public institution.
- Out-of-State/private institution transfer who has satisfactorily completed college level work with a “C” or better in areas of reading, math and writing.
- Has met readiness standards at another Texas public higher education institution; “C” or better in developmental course work.
- Military Service
- Serving in the active military.
- Serving as a member of a reserve component of the armed forces for at least three years preceding enrollment.
- Honorably discharged, retired or released from active duty in the military on or after August 1, 1990. Please provide us with your official DD214 with discharge status in order to apply this exemption.
- Additionally, you may submit scores from the THEA (Texas Higher Education Assessment), COMPASS or ASSET to satisfy the assessment requirement.
For more information about the assessment requirements, please contact the Testing Center.
Submit or request submission of official transcripts from high school, GED score report including percentile scores and/or each institution you attended.
- A transcript is considered official only if received directly from the sending institution or, if hand delivered, the transcript must be in a sealed registrar's envelope.
- Send transcripts to:
- Office of Undergraduate Admissions
Texas A&M University-Commerce
P.O. Box 3011
Commerce, Texas 75429-3011 - For faster delivery, check to see if your previous/current academic institution(s) can submit an electronic version of your transcript to the Admissions Office. We accept SPEEDE and Escrip-Safe electronic transcripts.
- Office of Undergraduate Admissions
We can give you financial aid guidance to help you complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
- Designate TAMUC as the college to receive your FAFSA information.
- A&M-Commerce's school code is 003565.
For more information, please visit the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarship.
Faculty and Staff
What is Competency-Based Education?
What is Competency-Based Education
Competency-Based Education (CBE) posits that learning is best measured by students demonstrating what they know and can do rather than by the number of hours spent in a classroom. CBE is student-driven and self-paced, guided by individualized feedback from an instructor and advisor. CBE is also flexible, and offered fully online, so it works around the busy personal and professional lives of adult learners and working professionals.
Back to menuContact Us
- College of Innovation and Design
- 903.468.6074
- [email protected]
- P.O. Box 3011
- Commerce, TX 75429-3011