Combined B.A. - M.A. in Human Factors

(B. A. in Psychology; M.A. in Experimental Psychology with a Specialization in Human Factors).  

The combined bachelor’s and master’s degree program in human factors psychology is designed to train human factors professionals for positions in industry and government where well-trained master’s level human factors psychologists are highly sought after. According to the definition adopted by the Human Factors & Ergonomics Society, human factors is a field concerned with the application of what we know about people, their abilities, characteristics, and limitations to the design of equipment they use, environments in which they function, and jobs they perform. Human factors professionals apply knowledge about the limits and capabilities of human behavior  to the design of machines, tools,  systems,  jobs, and environments for safe, comfortable, and effective human use. The combined program places a strong emphasis on research methodology and data analysis skills.

The Human Factors Psychology Program at Texas Tech University is fully accredited by the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. The program allows outstanding students to accelerate their undergraduate degree programs, begin graduate work in the fourth year, and finish both the bachelor’s and the master’s degree in a total of about five years. Admission is competitive. Applications will be considered from students who are in their third year of study, have an overall grade point average of at least 3.20, and have completed at least 80 semester hours toward the Bachelor of Arts degree, most of the general education requirements for the B.A. degree, and at least 9 hours of Psychology. Students must also submit acceptable scores on the Graduate Record Examination before the beginning of the fourth year. An undergraduate minor in Industrial Engineering is strongly recommended. MA 1350 (Calculus) and CS 1462 (Fundamentals of Computer Science) or equivalent courses are also recommended. These courses also can be incorporated as part of an interdisciplinary minor.  The program may be completed with a thesis option (30 graduate hours including thesis) or a non-thesis option (36 graduate hours without thesis). Students interested in this program should contact a faculty advisor as early as possible.

Benefits for the Student:

• It offers a degree that is marketable-- there is an explosive job market in human factors psychology. Students who complete a degree will have excellent job opportunities. 
• Because of a shortage of human factors psychologists, there is an increasing demand for MA degrees and recently even BA degrees. Combining the BA and MA degrees is an attractive option for students not interested in a doctoral degree. 
• A five-year program will reduce the time and cost of completing the BA and MA degrees.</
• We can offer excellent training in this field and job placement  for our MA and PHD graduates in HF  has been 100%.