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Hav­ing a home­land secu­ri­ty degree is one of the best ways to estab­lish a career with the DHS.
You should get a home­land secu­ri­ty degree if you’re pas­sion­ate about pro­tect­ing the US, have strong ana­lyt­i­cal skills, and want a job in a US gov­ern­ment agency. With your home­land secu­ri­ty degree, you’ll be qual­i­fied to enter into a wide range of posi­tions. Start­ing your fresh­man year as a home­land secu­ri­ty major can be the first step into a very impor­tant career.

Who else should pur­sue a bach­e­lor’s in home­land secu­ri­ty? Those who enjoy a lot of options can do well in home­land secu­ri­ty bach­e­lor degree pro­grams. When peo­ple imag­ine get­ting a bach­e­lor’s in home­land secu­ri­ty, many of them pic­ture get­ting a job with the fed­er­al gov­ern­ment. While it’s true that the fed­er­al gov­ern­ment does have plen­ty of DHS jobs, those with a bach­e­lor of sci­ence in home­land secu­ri­ty can also work with­in state and local gov­ern­ments. For that mat­ter, some home­land secu­ri­ty majors even move on to work in pri­vate busi­ness­es. In oth­er words, a home­land secu­ri­ty degree can lead to plen­ty of job security.

Methodology: How We Ranked the Best Homeland Security Degree Programs

To rank the best home­land secu­ri­ty degree pro­grams in the US, Bachelor’s Degree Cen­ter edi­tors sought out bachelor’s degrees focused on nation­al secu­ri­ty. From our ini­tial pool, we select­ed only accred­it­ed, trust­ed insti­tu­tions that we then ranked based on their Tuition Cost, Stu­dent Sat­is­fac­tion, and Salary Potential.

1. George Mason University

The Crim­i­nol­o­gy, Law and Soci­ety BS pro­gram at George Mason Uni­ver­si­ty is rec­og­nized around the coun­try as one of the best home­land secu­ri­ty degree pro­grams. Through­out this course of study, stu­dents get more than just a crim­i­nol­o­gy edu­ca­tion. They learn to delve into the deep soci­etal prob­lems that cause crime to hap­pen in the first place. Stu­dents grad­u­ate as esteemed crit­i­cal thinkers, ready to work with peo­ple who strug­gle with crime to make the world a bet­ter place.

All stu­dents at George Mason take part in the Mason Core pro­gram require­ments, a set of core gen­er­al edu­ca­tion cours­es designed to give stu­dents a well-round­ed edu­ca­tion. These class­es let employ­ers know that grad­u­ates of George Mason are ready to take on more than just tasks relat­ed to their major.

What We Like: George Mason’s Vir­ginia loca­tion makes it the per­fect place for stu­dents who are even­tu­al­ly inter­est­ed in work­ing in Wash­ing­ton, D.C.

Degree: Crim­i­nol­o­gy, Law and Soci­ety, BS

Crim­i­nol­o­gy, Law and Soci­ety BS pro­gram — George Mason University

2. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Embry Rid­dle Aero­nau­ti­cal Uni­ver­si­ty’s Home­land Secu­ri­ty BS pro­gram is one of the best secu­ri­ty degrees avail­able in the South, and is the per­fect fit for stu­dents who want to com­bine their love of aero­space with their love of home­land secu­ri­ty. Stu­dents have the oppor­tu­ni­ty to take two minors, to take one minor and one con­cen­tra­tion through­out their home­land secu­ri­ty edu­ca­tion. This gives them the chance to spe­cial­ize their degree to meet their career goal needs.

At Embry Rid­dle, the cur­ricu­lum for the home­land secu­ri­ty pro­gram changes con­stant­ly. Fac­ul­ty watch changes in world con­di­tions and update the pro­gram to reflect the con­di­tion and needs of world security.

What We Like: At Embry Rid­dle, guest lec­tur­ers are fre­quent­ly the star of the show. Home­land secu­ri­ty experts reg­u­lar­ly come to pro­vide guest lec­tures and even teach entire courses.

Degree: Home­land Secu­ri­ty, BS

Embry Rid­dle Aero­nau­ti­cal Uni­ver­si­ty Home­land Secu­ri­ty BS

3. University of North Texas

The Emer­gency Admin­is­tra­tion and Plan­ning BS degree at Uni­ver­si­ty of North Texas is one of the best home­land secu­ri­ty degree pro­grams avail­able today. Stu­dents in this pro­gram don’t just learn the basics of how to han­dle an emer­gency — they emerge pre­pared to be lead­ers in the field. The pro­gram pre­pares stu­dents to com­mu­ni­cate effec­tive­ly with oth­er lead­ers. Stu­dents are also required to take a minor to cre­ate a well-round­ed education.

After study­ing at Uni­ver­si­ty of North Texas, many stu­dents go on to work for the Red Cross as dis­as­ter spe­cial­ists. Stu­dents are well pre­pared for work in both the pub­lic and pri­vate sec­tors after suc­cess­ful com­ple­tion of the pro­gram. Many stu­dents go on to work for oth­er non­prof­it orga­ni­za­tions as well.

What We Like: As a pub­lic research uni­ver­si­ty, U of NT has afford­able tuition rates for in-state students.

Degree: Emer­gency Admin­is­tra­tion and Plan­ning, BS

Emer­gency Admin­is­tra­tion and Plan­ning BS — Uni­ver­si­ty of North Texas

4. LeTourneau University

The Polit­i­cal Science/Homeland Secu­ri­ty BS pro­gram at LeTourneau Uni­ver­si­ty is one of the best secu­ri­ty degree options cur­rent­ly avail­able to stu­dents who are inter­est­ed in even­tu­al­ly work­ing for the Depart­ment of Home­land Secu­ri­ty. This pro­gram pre­pares stu­dents to work with gov­ern­ment, pub­lic, and pri­vate orga­ni­za­tions, and empha­sizes lead­er­ship and the inter­sec­tion of pol­i­tics and security.

Esteemed pro­fes­sor Dr. John Bar­rett has years of expe­ri­ence work­ing in home­land secu­ri­ty, both domes­ti­cal­ly and abroad. Stu­dents who get to study under Dr. Bar­rett ben­e­fit from both his years of expe­ri­ence and his excite­ment to share what he’s learned with others.

What We Like: LeTourneau Uni­ver­si­ty is a Chris­t­ian school, per­fect for stu­dents who want to grow in their faith while also learn­ing how to keep the nation safe.

Degree: Polit­i­cal Science/Homeland Secu­ri­ty, BS

Polit­i­cal Science/Homeland Secu­ri­ty BS — LeTourneau University

5. Tulane University

At Tulane Uni­ver­si­ty, the Home­land Secu­ri­ty Stud­ies BA pro­gram is wide­ly respect­ed as one of the best home­land secu­ri­ty degree pro­grams in the country.

Stu­dents have the option of earn­ing their degree either on cam­pus or in a hybrid on-cam­pus/on­line pro­gram. The sec­ond option is the per­fect fit for non­tra­di­tion­al stu­dents who want to con­tin­ue to advance in their careers while also fur­ther­ing their edu­ca­tion. Tulane wel­comes non­tra­di­tion­al stu­dents and works to make the accom­mo­da­tions nec­es­sary for peo­ple with busy sched­ules to earn their degrees.

What We Like: Locat­ed in the bustling metrop­o­lis of New Orleans, stu­dents have the oppor­tu­ni­ty to meet many local alums work­ing in the field. Tulane’s wide­spread alum­ni net­work sets stu­dents up for suc­cess post-graduation.

Degree: Home­land Secu­ri­ty Stud­ies, BA

Tulane Uni­ver­si­ty Home­land Secu­ri­ty Stud­ies BA

6. West Texas A&M University

The Emer­gency Man­age­ment Admin­is­tra­tion BAAS at West Texas A&M Uni­ver­si­ty is one of the best home­land secu­ri­ty degree pro­grams avail­able to stu­dents today. This pro­gram focus­es on turn­ing stu­dents into expert first respon­ders, train­ing them to make impor­tant deci­sions at a fast, life-sav­ing pace. Lead­er­ship and com­mu­ni­ty devel­op­ment are also focus­es of the pro­gram, mak­ing stu­dents into impor­tant parts of their com­mu­ni­ty who can con­tribute to growth.

This online pro­gram allows stu­dents to learn on their own time, at their own pace, and is per­fect for busy pro­fes­sion­als who want to con­tin­ue to advance their careers while also work­ing toward get­ting their degrees. The pro­gram is built for both full and part-time stu­dents. The pro­gram pri­mar­i­ly focus­es on non­tra­di­tion­al stu­dents who are cur­rent­ly work­ing in the emer­gency ser­vices field.

What We Like: West Texas A&M Uni­ver­si­ty was recent­ly ranked #2 by Col­lege Choice for the 25 best online emer­gency man­age­ment degrees.

Degree: Emer­gency Man­age­ment Admin­is­tra­tion, BAAS

Emer­gency Man­age­ment Admin­is­tra­tion BAAS — West Texas A&M University

7. Mississippi College

At Mis­sis­sip­pi Col­lege, the Admin­is­tra­tion of Jus­tice, Home­land Secu­ri­ty BS pro­gram is known as one of the best secu­ri­ty degrees avail­able in the South. While stu­dents get a well-round­ed edu­ca­tion in crime and jus­tice through­out the pro­gram, they’re also pushed to devel­op their crit­i­cal think­ing skills. Stu­dents ques­tion the way crime and jus­tice are han­dled in the Unit­ed States today and debate how to improve the future of the country.

Cre­at­ed in 1984, the Admin­is­tra­tion of Jus­tice pro­gram has cre­at­ed decades of lead­ers in secu­ri­ty, law enforce­ment, and gov­ern­ment lead­er­ship posi­tions. Fac­ul­ty mem­bers work close­ly with stu­dents to help them devel­op cours­es of study that will lead them toward their long-term career goals.

What We Like: Mis­sis­sip­pi Col­lege is a Chris­t­ian uni­ver­si­ty where stu­dents can grow in their faith while also earn­ing their degree.

Degree: Admin­is­tra­tion of Jus­tice, Home­land Secu­ri­ty, BS

Mis­sis­sip­pi Col­lege Home­land Secu­ri­ty BS

8. Virginia Commonwealth University

The Home­land Secu­ri­ty and Emer­gency Pre­pared­ness BA at Vir­ginia Com­mon­wealth Uni­ver­si­ty cre­ates grad­u­ates who are well pre­pared to take on the com­plex real­i­ties of home­land secu­ri­ty today. Known as one of the best secu­ri­ty degree pro­grams, stu­dents learn to excel both in the class­room and as lead­ers. As a BA pro­gram, stu­dents also must com­plete a for­eign lan­guage com­po­nent, mak­ing them even more career-ready after they graduate.

Since Novem­ber 11th, Vir­ginia, New York, and Penn­syl­va­nia have become hot spots for peo­ple who want to study home­land secu­ri­ty. The area has attract­ed top-notch fac­ul­ty who are able to share their expe­ri­ences both from this ter­ror­ist attack and oth­er world events that have shaped the way we view the world.

What We Like: Vir­ginia Com­mon­wealth Uni­ver­si­ty is high­ly ded­i­cat­ed to serv­ing their com­mu­ni­ty — stu­dents com­plete over 1 mil­lion hours of com­mu­ni­ty ser­vice each year. The school’s close prox­im­i­ty to Wash­ing­ton, D.C., make it a per­fect loca­tion for stu­dents who are inter­est­ed in even­tu­al­ly work­ing for the gov­ern­ment in the Depart­ment of Home­land Security.

Degree: Home­land Secu­ri­ty and Emer­gency Pre­pared­ness, BA

Home­land Secu­ri­ty and Emer­gency Pre­pared­ness BA — Vir­ginia Com­mon­wealth University

9. Sul Ross State University

At Sul Ross State Uni­ver­si­ty, the Home­land Secu­ri­ty BS is known as one of the best secu­ri­ty degree pro­grams avail­able to stu­dents who are inter­est­ed in work­ing in either the pub­lic or the pri­vate sec­tor. The pro­gram focus­es on how ter­ror­ism has affect­ed the gov­ern­ment, and how gov­ern­men­tal restruc­tur­ing can help to pro­tect the nation against ter­ror­ist attacks. This spe­cial­ized pro­gram is per­fect for stu­dents who want to go on to work in the gov­ern­ment, or in the public/ pri­vate sectors.

This degree offers a hybrid course of study, allow­ing stu­dents to take some of their class­es online. This option is per­fect for non­tra­di­tion­al stu­dents who are work­ing to bal­ance their career and oth­er respon­si­bil­i­ties while also earn­ing their degree. Hybrid pro­grams are a per­fect com­bi­na­tion of in class­room and online stud­ies, allow­ing stu­dents to enjoy valu­able face time with their pro­fes­sors and class­mates while also bal­anc­ing the needs of their day-to-day lives.

What We Like: This pro­gram offers hands-on crim­i­nal inves­ti­ga­tion expe­ri­ences dur­ing face-to-face classes.

Degree: Home­land Secu­ri­ty, BS

Sul Ross State Uni­ver­si­ty Home­land Secu­ri­ty BS

10. Herzing University — Akron

At Herz­ing Uni­ver­si­ty — Akron, the Home­land Secu­ri­ty and Pub­lic Safe­ty BS degree is known as one of the best secu­ri­ty degrees in the Mid­west. This degree pro­gram works to help stu­dents learn how to dis­cuss the eth­i­cal and social issues that impact emer­gency sit­u­a­tions in the Unit­ed States, eval­u­ate pub­lic safe­ty issues, iden­ti­fy tech­niques that are used to detect and arrest ter­ror­ist attacks, and more.

Many stu­dents in this pro­gram are non­tra­di­tion­al stu­dents who are cur­rent­ly work­ing in the gov­ern­ment or in law enforce­ment. The pro­gram teach­es stu­dents how to ques­tion what they’ve been taught and look for solu­tions to prob­lems they’re fac­ing in their careers. Stu­dents have the oppor­tu­ni­ty to learn from one anoth­er as they enjoy tra­di­tion­al class­room set­tings, or as they pur­sue their edu­ca­tion online.

What We Like: Herz­ing has cam­pus­es across the Unit­ed States, and its online pro­grams allow stu­dents to learn from pro­fes­sors across the country.

Degree: Home­land Secu­ri­ty and Pub­lic Safe­ty, BS

Herz­ing Uni­ver­si­ty Home­land Secu­ri­ty and Pub­lic Safe­ty BS

11. Regent University

At Regent Uni­ver­si­ty’s Crim­i­nal Justice/Homeland Secu­ri­ty BS pro­gram, stu­dents get to earn one of the best home­land secu­ri­ty degrees avail­able in the Unit­ed States today. The pro­gram does­n’t just cov­er tra­di­tion­al home­land secu­ri­ty top­ics — it also delves into juve­nile jus­tice, ethics, con­sti­tu­tion­al law, crim­i­nal law, ter­ror­ism, and more.

As a Chris­t­ian school, Regent Uni­ver­si­ty anchors its teach­ings in faith and Chris­t­ian prin­ci­ples. This pro­gram is per­fect for stu­dents who want to grow in their faith while also learn­ing how to make the coun­try (and world) a safer place.

What We Like: Regen­t’s Vir­ginia loca­tion is per­fect for stu­dents who want to even­tu­al­ly work for the Depart­ment of Home­land Secu­ri­ty in Wash­ing­ton, D.C. The school’s loca­tion lends itself to pro­vid­ing stu­dents with intern­ship oppor­tu­ni­ties they may not have in oth­er locations.

Degree: Crim­i­nal Justice/Homeland Secu­ri­ty, BS

Regent Uni­ver­si­ty Crim­i­nal Justice/Homeland Secu­ri­ty BS

12. Monmouth University

The Home­land Secu­ri­ty BS degree at Mon­mouth Uni­ver­si­ty is one of the best home­land secu­ri­ty degree pro­grams avail­able in the coun­try. Stu­dents on the Home­land Secu­ri­ty, BS track at Mon­mouth have the oppor­tu­ni­ty to take up to 31 elec­tive cred­its, allow­ing them to design a pro­gram that makes sense for their future career goals.

Unlike many BS pro­grams, the Home­land Secu­ri­ty, BS degree at Mon­mouth requires that stu­dents take class­es in cul­tur­al diversity/ glob­al under­stand­ing or for­eign lan­guage, help­ing them to become glob­al cit­i­zens with a deep­er under­stand­ing of the world at large. At most schools, these require­ments are only found in BA programs.

What We Like: Mon­mouth Uni­ver­si­ty’s coastal loca­tion in New Jer­sey makes New York City, Bal­ti­more, Wash­ing­ton, D.C., and Philadel­phia just a quick train ride away. These loca­tions pro­vide stu­dents with fan­tas­tic cul­tur­al and intern­ship opportunities.

Degree: Home­land Secu­ri­ty, BS

Home­land Secu­ri­ty BS — Mon­mouth University

13. Campbell University

Camp­bell Uni­ver­si­ty’s Home­land Secu­ri­ty BS is one of the best home­land secu­ri­ty degree pro­grams avail­able in the Unit­ed States today. The broad areas of study includ­ed in the pro­gram are intel­li­gence and writ­ing, domes­tic coun­tert­er­ror­ism, border/ trans­porta­tion secu­ri­ty, emer­gency pre­pared­ness and response, pro­tect­ing crit­i­cal infra­struc­ture and key areas, and defend­ing against cat­a­stroph­ic threats. Togeth­er, these focus areas cre­ate a well-round­ed edu­ca­tion that leaves grad­u­ates pre­pared for any career in home­land security.

Geared toward adult and non­tra­di­tion­al stu­dents, the Home­land Secu­ri­ty, BS pro­gram at Camp­bell Uni­ver­si­ty is per­fect for busy pro­fes­sion­als who want to earn their degree while also con­tin­u­ing to work toward their career goals. This pro­gram is avail­able online, mak­ing it sim­ple for stu­dents to work on their own time, at their own pace. Camp­bell is ded­i­cat­ed to help­ing adults get the edu­ca­tion they want, with­out inter­fer­ing with their career goals.

What We Like: Camp­bell Uni­ver­si­ty’s low tuition rates make the school per­fect for peo­ple who want to go back to school on a budget.

Degree: Home­land Secu­ri­ty, BS

Camp­bell Uni­ver­si­ty Home­land Secu­ri­ty BS

14. Mercy College

At Mer­cy Col­lege, stu­dents in the Cor­po­rate and Home­land Secu­ri­ty BS pro­gram get to earn one of the best home­land secu­ri­ty degrees. The pro­gram focus­es on lead­er­ship, includ­ing how to build a team in stress­ful sit­u­a­tions. Busi­ness and secu­ri­ty con­cepts class­es can also be an impor­tant part of this degree if the stu­dent choos­es to branch out and spe­cial­ize in these areas.

Fac­ul­ty at Mer­cy work close­ly with stu­dents to help them move toward their career goals. Whether that means help­ing them choose elec­tives or con­nect­ing them with pro­fes­sion­als in the field for intern­ship oppor­tu­ni­ties, the world-class fac­ul­ty at Mer­cy can help stu­dents take the steps they need to suc­ceed after graduation.

What We Like: Mer­cy Col­lege’s New York City loca­tion allows stu­dents to expe­ri­ence cul­tur­al and learn­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties that they would­n’t have otherwise.

Degree: Cor­po­rate and Home­land Secu­ri­ty, BS

Mer­cy Col­lege Cor­po­rate and Home­land Secu­ri­ty BS

15. SUNY College of Technology at Canton

At SUNY Col­lege of Tech­nol­o­gy at Can­ton, stu­dents in the Home­land Secu­ri­ty BS pro­gram get to earn one of the best home­land secu­ri­ty degrees in the North­east. The pro­gram works to teach stu­dents how to antic­i­pate and fight against domes­tic ter­ror­ism, how to under­stand and appro­pri­ate­ly apply the con­cepts of The Patri­ot Act, how to apply the con­sti­tu­tion and civ­il lib­er­ties to ter­ror­ism sce­nar­ios, and how to use intel­li­gence analy­sis to effec­tive­ly fight terrorism

At SUNY Col­lege of Tech­nol­o­gy at Can­ton, fac­ul­ty work close­ly with stu­dents to pro­vide hands-on expe­ri­ences that show them what it will be like to work with home­land secu­ri­ty con­cepts in the real world. Fac­ul­ty are read­i­ly avail­able to answer ques­tions and work close­ly with stu­dents to help them work toward their career goals.

What We Like: This pro­gram is built per­fect­ly for stu­dents who have earned their asso­ci­ate’s degree and are ready to take the next step in fur­ther­ing their education.

Degree: Home­land Secu­ri­ty, BS

SUNY Col­lege of Tech­nol­o­gy at Can­ton Home­land Secu­ri­ty BS

16. University at Albany (SUNY)

The Emer­gency Pre­pared­ness, Home­land Secu­ri­ty, and Cyber­se­cu­ri­ty BA/BS pro­gram at SUNY Uni­ver­si­ty at Albany is one of the best home­land secu­ri­ty degree pro­grams avail­able to stu­dents today. Encom­pass­ing a wide vari­ety of home­land secu­ri­ty con­cepts, this pro­gram allows stu­dents to grad­u­ate ful­ly ready to take on the changes and devel­op­ments in the home­land secu­ri­ty arena.

The pro­gram sets stu­dents up to be ready to step up as lead­ers in hard sit­u­a­tions. SUNY at Albany rec­og­nizes that there’s more that goes into a home­land secu­ri­ty degree than just under­stand­ing secu­ri­ty con­cepts. Stu­dents need the con­fi­dence and abil­i­ty to lead when things get hard, and the pro­gram pre­pares them to do exact­ly that.

What We Like: One of the hall­marks of SUNY at Albany is the liv­ing-learn­ing com­mu­ni­ties offered on cam­pus. Stu­dents can live and take class­es with groups of stu­dents who share sim­i­lar inter­ests, deep­en­ing their learning.

Degree: Emer­gency Pre­pared­ness, Home­land Secu­ri­ty, and Cyber­se­cu­ri­ty BA / BS

Emer­gency Pre­pared­ness, Home­land Secu­ri­ty, and Cyber­se­cu­ri­ty BA/BS — SUNY Uni­ver­si­ty at Albany

17. Franklin University

Franklin Uni­ver­si­ty’s Emer­gency Man­age­ment & Home­land Secu­ri­ty BS pro­gram is known as one of the best home­land secu­ri­ty degree pro­grams avail­able to incom­ing stu­dents today. This pro­gram pro­vides a broad edu­ca­tion in the areas of ethics, secu­ri­ty, ter­ror­ism, reg­u­la­tions, intel­li­gence, and more. Grad­u­ates emerge ready to take on super­vi­so­ry and oth­er lead­er­ship posi­tions in the home­land secu­ri­ty arena.

This pro­gram is trans­fer-friend­ly and wel­comes stu­dents who start­ed their edu­ca­tion at a com­mu­ni­ty col­lege or oth­er school that does not offer a home­land secu­ri­ty pro­gram. The pro­gram is com­plete­ly online, which makes it easy for stu­dents to learn no mat­ter what oth­er fac­tors are going on in life. Many stu­dents in this pro­gram are work­ing while learn­ing, and shared expe­ri­ences with oth­er law enforce­ment, secu­ri­ty, and first respon­der pro­fes­sion­als can add a rich­ness to the over­all learn­ing experience.

What We Like: Sit­u­at­ed in the heart of Ohio, Franklin Uni­ver­si­ty pro­vides stu­dents with con­ve­nient access to Pitts­burgh, Cleve­land, Cincin­nati, and more, giv­ing stu­dents unique cul­tur­al and intern­ship experiences.

Degree: Emer­gency Man­age­ment & Home­land Secu­ri­ty, BS

Franklin Uni­ver­si­ty Emer­gency Man­age­ment & Home­land Secu­ri­ty BS

18. DeSales University

The Home­land Secu­ri­ty BA pro­gram at DeSales Uni­ver­si­ty is one of the best home­land secu­ri­ty degree pro­grams avail­able to under­grad­u­ate stu­dents. The BA aspect of the pro­gram means that stu­dents get a well-round­ed arts edu­ca­tion, which can be hard to come by in home­land secu­ri­ty degree pro­grams. The pro­gram helps stu­dents devel­op crit­i­cal think­ing and ana­lyt­i­cal skills, encour­ag­ing them to ques­tion the way that things have always been done in search of a new and bet­ter method.

The Cen­ter for Home­land Secu­ri­ty is an orga­ni­za­tion unique to cen­tral Penn­syl­va­nia that pro­vides learn­ers at DeSales with unique learn­ing expe­ri­ences. Run by DeSales, this orga­ni­za­tion brings work­ing pro­fes­sion­als and stu­dents togeth­er to cre­ate a spe­cial expe­ri­ence that allows stu­dents to under­stand how home­land secu­ri­ty works in the real world.

What We Like: The Crime Scene house on DeSales’ cam­pus allows stu­dents to immerse them­selves in a pseu­do-crime expe­ri­ence. Stu­dents get to apply what they’ve learned in a real-life sit­u­a­tion, teach­ing them to think on their feet when it mat­ters most.

Degree: Home­land Secu­ri­ty, BA

Home­land Secu­ri­ty BA — DeSales University

19. Post University

The Emer­gency Man­age­ment & Home­land Secu­ri­ty BS at Post Uni­ver­si­ty is one of the best home­land secu­ri­ty degrees a stu­dent can achieve. This pro­gram is made for stu­dents who feel a deep sense of duty to their coun­try and want to do what it takes to keep the nation safe. Stu­dents are taught to assess risk and make appro­pri­ate deci­sions for the safe­ty of the nation. Stu­dents also ana­lyze ter­ror­ist issues, includ­ing cul­tur­al, eth­i­cal, and reli­gious considerations.

Post offers class­es that are com­plete­ly online, mak­ing it eas­i­er for busy pro­fes­sion­als to get their degree. Stu­dents at Post are often non­tra­di­tion­al and are work­ing while also get­ting their edu­ca­tion. This cre­ates an excit­ing learn­ing envi­ron­ment where stu­dents get to share expe­ri­ences with oth­ers who are also in the field.

What We Like: The school’s Con­necti­cut loca­tion makes it easy for stu­dents to hop on the train and get unique learn­ing and cul­tur­al expe­ri­ences in Boston, New York City, and Philadelphia.

Degree: Emer­gency Man­age­ment & Home­land Secu­ri­ty, BS

Emer­gency Man­age­ment & Home­land Secu­ri­ty BS — Post University

20. Anderson University

The Home­land Security/Emergency Ser­vices, BA at Ander­son Uni­ver­si­ty pre­pares stu­dents to take on sev­er­al chal­lenges with­in the home­land secu­ri­ty world. Known as one of the best home­land secu­ri­ty degree pro­grams in the South, this pro­gram stress­es lead­er­ship and sound deci­sion-mak­ing. Stu­dents are pushed to think crit­i­cal­ly as they learn about the chal­lenges they’ll face in the home­land secu­ri­ty arena.

Grad­u­ates of this pro­gram are ready to take on lead­er­ship posi­tions in the home­land secu­ri­ty and emer­gency ser­vices area at the local, state, fed­er­al, and trib­al lev­els. Whether stu­dents choose to work in the pri­vate, pub­lic, or gov­ern­ment sec­tors, they’ll be well pre­pared to take on lead­er­ship and super­vi­so­ry positions.

What We Like: Ander­son has recent­ly been rec­og­nized by Apple, Inc. as a dis­tin­guished school for inno­va­tion, excel­lence, and leadership.

Degree: Home­land Security/Emergency Ser­vices, BA

Home­land Security/Emergency Ser­vices, BA — Ander­son University

21. Tiffin University

The Home­land Secu­ri­ty and Ter­ror­ism BCJ at Tif­fin Uni­ver­si­ty is known for pro­vid­ing one of the best home­land secu­ri­ty degrees in the Unit­ed States. The pro­gram teach­es the basics of home­land secu­ri­ty and pre­pares stu­dents for entry-lev­el advo­ca­cy posi­tions in the pub­lic and pri­vate sectors.

If stu­dents are trans­fer­ring cred­its, this pro­gram can be com­plet­ed on a faster track than nor­mal. Stu­dents who are inter­est­ed in using trans­fer cred­its should call the school to see how many cred­its will be applic­a­ble. Tif­fin is com­mit­ted to help­ing stu­dents trans­fer as many cred­its as pos­si­ble to low­er the over­all cost of their education.

What We Like: Tif­fin offers mil­i­tary and FOP dis­counts, per­fect for stu­dents who have expe­ri­ence in the mil­i­tary or law enforce­ment and want to fur­ther their education.

Degree: Home­land Secu­ri­ty and Ter­ror­ism, BCJ

Home­land Secu­ri­ty and Ter­ror­ism BCJ — Tif­fin University

22. Central Penn College

The Home­land Secu­ri­ty Man­age­ment BS pro­gram at Cen­tral Penn Col­lege is one of the best home­land secu­ri­ty degree pro­grams avail­able to stu­dents in the North­east­ern Unit­ed States. The pro­gram com­bines aspects of intel­li­gence analy­sis, lead­er­ship, emer­gency man­age­ment, infra­struc­ture secu­ri­ty, law enforce­ment, and orga­ni­za­tion­al behav­ior to pro­vide a well-round­ed edu­ca­tion that leaves grad­u­ates well pre­pared to be lead­ers in the home­land secu­ri­ty field.

At Cen­tral Penn Col­lege, stu­dents expe­ri­ence hands-on learn­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties, field trips, and excit­ing lec­tures from ded­i­cat­ed fac­ul­ty. CPU under­stands the impor­tance of see­ing home­land secu­ri­ty con­cepts in action, and works to pro­vide stu­dents with expe­ri­ences that let them think about how they would react in tough circumstances.

What We Like: Ner­vous about apply­ing to school? CPU offers an instant deci­sion day, allow­ing stu­dents to receive their admis­sions deci­sion in seconds.

Degree: Home­land Secu­ri­ty Man­age­ment, BS

Home­land Secu­ri­ty Man­age­ment BS — Cen­tral Penn College

23. Keiser University

Stu­dents earn­ing their Home­land Secu­ri­ty BA degree at Keis­er Uni­ver­si­ty are in the process of earn­ing one of the best home­land secu­ri­ty degrees avail­able in the U.S. The pro­gram focus­es on many dif­fer­ent aspects of home­land secu­ri­ty, includ­ing cross-cul­tur­al man­age­ment, emer­gency man­age­ment, and leadership.

The pro­gram does­n’t just focus on the pro­ce­dur­al aspects of what to do in an emer­gency or ter­ror­ist sit­u­a­tion. Stu­dents learn about how home­land secu­ri­ty affects soci­ety, and teach­es stu­dents to use soci­etal fac­tors in their deci­sion-mak­ing processes.

What We Like: This pro­gram is avail­able at many of Keis­er’s Flori­da cam­pus­es, mak­ing it easy for stu­dents to attend class no mat­ter where there are in Florida

Degree: Home­land Secu­ri­ty, BA

Home­land Secu­ri­ty BA — Keis­er University

24. University of New Haven

Uni­ver­si­ty of New Haven’s Home­land Secu­ri­ty & Emer­gency Man­age­ment BS pro­gram is one of the best home­land secu­ri­ty degree pro­grams avail­able in the North­east. Stu­dents learn how to work through the process of the sci­en­tif­ic method in home­land secu­ri­ty sit­u­a­tions, allow­ing them to make sound deci­sions with what­ev­er infor­ma­tion they have avail­able. The pro­gram focus­es on trans­porta­tion secu­ri­ty, infra­struc­ture secu­ri­ty, emer­gency scene oper­a­tions, and more.

Stu­dents get to choose between the home­land secu­ri­ty track and the emer­gency man­age­ment track. Esteemed fac­ul­ty are hap­py to help stu­dents choose the track that makes the most sense for their per­son­al career goals. Hav­ing a spe­cial­ty track can go a long way to set stu­dents apart when they enter the career field.

What We Like: Uni­ver­si­ty of New Haven’s nation­al rec­og­nized Cen­ter for Career Devel­op­ment gives stu­dents the help they need in get­ting ready for and find­ing a career after grad­u­a­tion. Stu­dents are able to return to the career cen­ter after grad­u­a­tion for fur­ther assis­tance find­ing the career that makes sense for them

Degree: Home­land Secu­ri­ty & Emer­gency Man­age­ment, BS

Uni­ver­si­ty of New Haven Home­land Secu­ri­ty & Emer­gency Man­age­ment BS

25. Dean College

At Dean Col­lege, stu­dents earn­ing their Crim­i­nal Justice/Homeland Secu­ri­ty Bach­e­lors Degree are in the process of grad­u­at­ing from one of the best secu­ri­ty degree pro­grams in the U.S. In this pro­gram, stu­dents focus on emer­gency response and secu­ri­ty plans for major events, lead­er­ship skills need­ed for secu­ri­ty-relat­ed oper­a­tions, inter­na­tion­al crim­i­nal jus­tice, home­land secu­ri­ty man­age­ment, cyber­se­cu­ri­ty, and more.

Stu­dents grad­u­ate from the Crim­i­nal Justice/ Home­land Secu­ri­ty pro­gram at Dean Col­lege ready to be lead­ers in their field. Fac­ul­ty in the pro­gram are expe­ri­enced home­land secu­ri­ty experts who have worked through real-life sce­nar­ios that they read­i­ly describe to stu­dents. Stu­dents are encour­aged to take part in intern­ship oppor­tu­ni­ties that allow them to solve crimes and work to keep local com­pa­nies safe.

What We Like: Stu­dents reg­u­lar­ly get to inter­act with esteemed pro­fes­sion­als in the class­room, includ­ing secu­ri­ty experts from the New Eng­land Patri­ots and New Eng­land Revolution.

Degree: Crim­i­nal Justice/Homeland Secu­ri­ty Bach­e­lor’s Degree

Dean Col­lege Crim­i­nal Justice/Homeland Secu­ri­ty Bachelors

Why Should I Get a Homeland Security Degree?

The US Depart­ment of Home­land Secu­ri­ty is tasked with keep­ing the nation safe. Estab­lished just sev­er­al days after the infa­mous 9/11 attacks, the DHS is pri­mar­i­ly con­cerned with pre­vent­ing and respond­ing to ter­ror­ism. How­ev­er, they also respond to oth­er US safe­ty threats. For exam­ple, dur­ing the COVID-19 cri­sis, the DHS put togeth­er a response team to help min­i­mize risk and pro­tect the US from as much dam­age as possible.

This mis­sion includes a lot of fac­tors, includ­ing air safe­ty, cyber safe­ty, and more. The DHS is made up of sev­er­al orga­ni­za­tions, such as the TSA, FEMA, etc. With all of these orga­ni­za­tions under their umbrel­la, the DHS has a lot of roles to fill. It will always need smart, capa­ble peo­ple to fill those roles and help keep Amer­i­cans safe. That’s where hav­ing a home­land secu­ri­ty degree can help you. With a home­land secu­ri­ty major, you’ll learn every­thing it takes to pro­tect the nation on a day-to-day basis.

How Do I Choose a Homeland Security Program?

The US has some excel­lent home­land secu­ri­ty schools. When look­ing into those home­land secu­ri­ty schools, there are a few things that you can do to find the one that’s right for you. For exam­ple, a “home­land secu­ri­ty schools near me” search can help you get start­ed. Oth­er degree options include soci­ol­o­gy, law enforce­ment, and sim­i­lar majors.

The most impor­tant thing, though, is that you look for home­land secu­ri­ty approved uni­ver­si­ties. When you research schools, look for region­al accred­i­ta­tion. When a school is accred­it­ed, it means that it has met sev­er­al stan­dards for pro­vid­ing a rel­e­vant and chal­leng­ing edu­ca­tion. A non-accred­it­ed pro­gram won’t nec­es­sar­i­ly teach you all of the skills that you need, and employ­ers pre­fer can­di­tates with an accred­it­ed edu­ca­tion. Plus, if you ever want to trans­fer schools, you’ll only be able to trans­fer your accred­it­ed cours­es. If you’ve tak­en non-accred­it­ed cours­es up until that point, you’ll have to start from scratch. It’s best to look for accred­it­ed schools from the start so that you can get the edu­ca­tion that you need with­out wast­ing any of your time.

What else can you do to get start­ed? You might decide to take some home­land secu­ri­ty cours­es online. Free cours­es do exist, and they’re a great way to get start­ed, learn some of the basics, and fig­ure out whether or not this degree is right for you. While you can’t earn a full degree with these home­land secu­ri­ty cours­es online, free class­es are avail­able to first respon­ders through DHS.

What Will I Learn in a Homeland Security Degree Program?

In your home­land secu­ri­ty degree pro­gram, you’ll get a broad overview of every­thing that goes into a home­land secu­ri­ty job. Your cours­es will com­bine the­o­ry and prac­tice. Because the DHS is pri­mar­i­ly con­cerned with ter­ror­ism, many of your class­es will also focus on ter­ror­ism. First, you’ll learn a lot of back­ground infor­ma­tion on why ter­ror­ism hap­pens. You’ll explore the social, polit­i­cal, and psy­cho­log­i­cal back­ground of ter­ror­ist attacks. By under­stand­ing why ter­ror­ism hap­pens, you’ll be in a bet­ter posi­tion to pre­vent it in the future.

Once you’ve learned some back­ground infor­ma­tion, your degree will lead you through prac­ti­cal cours­es that teach you how to respond to ter­ror­ism. Class­es will focus on both pre­ven­tion and mitigation.

Home­land secu­ri­ty degree require­ments include cours­es on soci­ol­o­gy, cyber­se­cu­ri­ty, and sim­i­lar sub­jects as well as some gen­er­al edu­ca­tion cours­es such as Eng­lish and sci­ence. The aver­age home­land secu­ri­ty course descrip­tion, for exam­ple, will include class­es like the following:

  • Soci­ol­o­gy
  • Psy­chol­o­gy of Terrorism
  • His­to­ry of Terrorism
  • Crim­i­nal Justice
  • Pub­lic Safety

These cours­es pre­pare stu­dents to under­stand why ter­ror­ism hap­pens, the best way to respond to ter­ror­ism, and how to pre­vent these threats from hap­pen­ing in the future. They all come togeth­er to form a big­ger pic­ture of keep­ing the nation safe.

Relat­ed Rankings: 

15 Best Online Bach­e­lor’s in Home­land Security

10 Fastest Online Bach­e­lor’s in Home­land Security

10 Most Afford­able Bach­e­lor’s in Home­land Security