Occupational Health and Safety · California

Occupational Health and Safety colleges in California

CampusPin lists 320 U.S. colleges in California that offer Occupational Health and Safety programs. Compare tuition, acceptance rate, and enrollment in the table below, every figure links back to the institution's official IPEDS data.

Occupational health and safety trains you to spot, measure, and reduce workplace hazards, suiting students who want to keep workers safe and employers compliant.

Schools in California that offer Occupational Health and Safety

Occupational Health and Safety programs in California: by the numbers

A quick comparison of the 50 schools (of 320 total) listed above, drawn from each institution's published IPEDS data.

Schools listed

320

Public / private

15 / 35

Universities / 2-year

38 / 12

Cities represented

34

In-state tuition range

$1,104–$63,255

Median in-state tuition

$15,977

Lowest published in-state tuition

Barstow Community College

$1,104

Most selective

California Institute of Technology

3% acceptance

Largest by enrollment

Ashford University

31,389 students

Figures reflect the schools currently listed and each institution's most recent reported data. Verify current tuition and admissions details with the school before applying.

What you'll study in a Occupational Health and Safety program

  • Industrial toxicology and the health effects of workplace exposures
  • Anatomy, physiology, and occupational disease recognition
  • Industrial hygiene air, noise, and ventilation sampling
  • Hazard identification and quantitative risk assessment
  • Federal and state occupational safety standards and compliance
  • Ergonomics and the prevention of musculoskeletal injury
  • Incident investigation and root-cause analysis
  • Personal protective equipment selection and program design
  • Safety training delivery and field-based hazard auditing

Where a Occupational Health and Safety degree can lead

  • Occupational Health and Safety Specialist
  • Safety Officer
  • Industrial Hygienist
  • Environmental Health and Safety Manager
  • Compliance Specialist
  • Risk Control Consultant

Typical pay: Early-career wages vary by employer, region, and experience (BLS, 2024 occupational health and safety specialists median $83,910).

Occupational health and safety is the applied field of protecting people from harm on the job, and it sits at the meeting point of public health, environmental science, and workplace regulation. Students learn to recognize the things that injure or sicken workers over time, from loud machinery and toxic fumes to repetitive lifting and confined spaces, then to measure those exposures and bring them down to safe levels. Coursework moves from human anatomy and toxicology, which explain how the body responds to chemicals, noise, dust, and heat, into hands-on hazard assessment, where you use instruments to sample air, measure sound, and check ventilation. You also study the rules that govern American workplaces, learn to read and apply federal and state safety standards, investigate incidents to find root causes, and write the programs and training that prevent the next one. This is the practical, prevention-focused cousin of broader environmental health: rather than studying ecosystems or community pollution at large, the focus stays squarely on the work environment and the worker inside it.

Most roles tied to this major start with a bachelor's degree, and many programs build in laboratory work with monitoring equipment, a field-based internship or practicum at a job site, and a capstone safety project that pulls the coursework together. Some specialist tracks lead toward voluntary professional certification earned through exams and supervised experience after graduation, and certain employer or state roles may expect a specific credential, so prospective students should confirm whether programmatic accreditation or any state or certification requirement applies to the path they want. Graduates often work as safety specialists or industrial hygienists in manufacturing plants, construction firms, hospitals, mines, warehouses, energy and chemical operations, and government inspection agencies, where they audit conditions, run training, respond to incidents, and keep an organization in line with safety law.

In federal data for the closely related occupation of occupational health and safety specialists, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a 2024 median wage of $83,910 and projects employment to grow about 12.5% from 2024 to 2034; a bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education for that occupation. National figures are occupation-wide medians across all experience levels, not starting wages or graduate outcomes.

Occupational Health and Safety in other states

Other majors in California

Find more Occupational Health and Safety schools

Use CampusPin's filter-first search to narrow 320+ Occupational Health and Safety programs in California by tuition, school size, acceptance rate, and campus setting.

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