Every security career in Texas starts in the same place, and a lot of people do not know it until they apply for a job and get turned away.

Texas DPS requires that security trainees begin with the state-approved Level 2 class. Not Level 3. Not a weapons course. Level 2 first, then the more advanced levels build on top of it. If you want to work as a security officer in this state, this is step one and there is no way around it.

What it costs with us

$29.99. Online, self-paced, start the minute you enroll.

That is not a promotional price or an introductory rate that expires. It is what the class costs, printed on the page, where you can see it before you give us anything.

What you get out of it

Finishing Level 2 qualifies you to apply for a non-commissioned security officer license, which is unarmed security work. That covers a very large share of the jobs actually being advertised in Texas: retail and corporate sites, hospitals, schools, events, construction, gated communities, patrol.

It is also the gateway. You cannot take Level 3 and carry a firearm on duty without Level 2 behind you. So whether you want to stop here or go all the way to armed and supervisory work, you take this class either way.

What the class covers

Level 2 is the foundation course for Texas security work: the legal framework you operate inside, your authority and its limits, use-of-force principles, professional conduct, observation and reporting, and the practical realities of standing a post. It is the material a Texas officer is expected to know before being put in front of the public.

It is taught as video, so you watch it rather than read a manual, and you can go back over anything that did not land the first time. Most students finish in a single sitting or two, and your progress saves, so if you get a quarter of the way through and have to go to work, nothing is lost.

What happens after you finish

You download your certificate of completion and submit it with your license application to the Texas DPS Regulatory Services Division. Licensing fees charged by the DPS are separate from the course price and are paid to them, not to us.

From there, most people start applying for unarmed work immediately. Some go straight on to Level 3 and the armed commission. Either way, this certificate is the one that opens the door, and it is the cheapest step in the entire process.

Why take it from us

ETXSTA is DPS-approved and we issue our own certificates under our own school license number. Our instructor holds Level 2, Level 3 and Level 4 officer and instructor certifications, is a licensed private investigator, and is a certified instructor for six NRA disciplines. You are not being taught by somebody reading a slide deck for the first time.

If you already know you want more

If your plan is armed security or personal protection work, look at the Security Career Fastrack before you buy Level 2 on its own. It bundles Level 2, Level 3, OC and Level 4 together for less than buying them one at a time. If you just want to get working unarmed as soon as possible, this class is all you need.

Thirty dollars and an evening. That is the whole barrier.