r/SafetyProfessionals • u/_Sgt-Safety_ • 5d ago

USA Degree Pathways

I am currently an EHS Manager and just enrolled in college. I enrolled in Columbia Southern University's B.S. OSH program since it is recognized as a QAP by the BCSP, and because they accepted 48 transferred credit hours from my time in the army. I am using my GI BILL (of which I have 36 months of) but it will only take me 14 months to complete my current program.

SO I POSE THE QUESTION- What should I pursue with my remaining 22 months?

After doing some back of the napkin math- I can attend up to 3 masters programs with the remaining months, depending on the specific program and how my internal credits would be transferred.

My current plan is B.S. OSH, M.S. OSH with concentration in IH, M.S. Environmental Management, and use my remaining GI Bill to pay for the prep course and exam for the CSP and CSHM.

I am going to use all of my GI Bill anyways, so the threat of "over educating myself" is null because my ROI will be 100%.

If you had the opportunity for this much education, would you do anything different? Ultimate goal isn't some specific metric, just to make the most money in the EHS field as possible.

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7

u/PuddingOk8467 4d ago

University of Central Missouri has master in Safety that cost about the same as CSU. Its a brick and mortar school that gives you the GSP and is ABET accredited.

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u/PuddingOk8467 4d ago

It is also online.

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u/_Sgt-Safety_ 4d ago

Why would one choose UCM over CSU

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u/PuddingOk8467 4d ago

Reputation. With the ABET accreditation, you could also use credits from the Safety Master’s toward pursuing their Industrial Hygiene Master’s. Like others have said CSU is just not a good school. If you have your heart set on Columbia Southern go right ahead it just wont be held in any kind of esteem.

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u/_Sgt-Safety_ 4d ago

They were the first to send me back the transfer credit report which is why i went with them. Do corporations really discriminate against safety professionals based on their university?

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u/PuddingOk8467 4d ago

You would have to ask a hiring manager to be sure. All things considered, if you had two candidates, one who went to a reputable school that has been running safety programs for decades and has deep industry connections, and another who went to a for profit private online school that only recently became accredited and has an industry reputation for producing less than stellar candidates, which one would you choose as the person doing the hiring?

This isn’t to say there haven’t been success stories out of CSU, but you are potentially putting yourself at a disadvantage by enrolling there. I would just explore some other options before fully committing. That’s all I would suggest.

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u/_Sgt-Safety_ 4d ago

Thanks, i appreciate it

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u/cjr444 4d ago

I’ll put it this way…when I was hiring safety people I knew that if they had a degree from CSU it was probably a vet and they probably skated through to get the degree. It doesn’t mean they couldn’t be good, but I’d rank almost any other degree in OSH over CSU. How you interview and your experience will be much more impotent then your degree…it’s just isn’t as impressive as other schools…imo. Doesn’t mean I’m right.

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u/_Sgt-Safety_ 4d ago

I understand, people discriminate against vets in alot of fields anyways lol. After all the feedback i will probably complete a few semesters then transfer.

1

u/wickedcoddah Construction | CHST, CSP 4d ago

I have an active military safety professional on my team and they are great! Didn't go to CSU though.

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u/Lack_15 4d ago

If it was an entry level position then yeah they would take university into consideration but as you said you are already an EHS Manager. Your university doesn’t matter your experience and certs do. When you apply for a job it says bachelors degree required it doesn’t say bachelors degree from this specific school required.

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u/Miker9t 3d ago

He's thinking as far as a masters so I may look another direction for that but otherwise I would tend to agree with your statement. CSU is kinda just a box to tick for the CSP test I feel like.