• Find a bachelor's degree




    Bachelors Degree Center is an advertising-supported site. Featured or trusted partner programs and all school search, finder, or match results are for schools that compensate us. This compensation does not influence our school rankings, resource guides, or other editorially-independent information published on this site.

Hav­ing a home­land secu­ri­ty degree can take you into all kinds of careers, but should you earn your home­land secu­ri­ty degree online? As long as it fits your needs and lifestyle, then yes, online learn­ing is a great option. An online home­land secu­ri­ty degree, assum­ing that it comes from an accred­it­ed school, will be just as ful­fill­ing and worth­while as an on-cam­pus degree. You’ll get the same cours­es, you’ll just learn them in a dif­fer­ent for­mat. Fur­ther­more, your diplo­ma should not indi­cate that your edu­ca­tion was any dif­fer­ent than that of on-cam­pus learners.

Many adults with fam­i­lies, jobs, and oth­er respon­si­bil­i­ties choose online learn­ing because it gives them more flex­i­bil­i­ty. They can tend to their oth­er respon­si­bil­i­ties and build a school sched­ule that fits into their lifestyles. Oth­ers choose online learn­ing because it gives them more options. If a per­son can’t trav­el to an out-of-state cam­pus, then that per­son is lim­it­ed to local uni­ver­si­ties, and those uni­ver­si­ties may or may not have the pro­grams that this per­son needs. How­ev­er, online degree pro­grams open up those options so that learn­ers have a bet­ter chance of find­ing the school that works for them.

Methodology: How We Ranked the Best Online Homeland Security Degree Programs

To rank the best online Home­land Secu­ri­ty degree pro­grams, Bachelor’s Degree Cen­ter edi­tors thor­ough­ly researched ful­ly online and hybrid bachelor’s and bachelor’s com­ple­tion pro­grams. Our pool was then ranked accord­ing to fac­tors focused on val­ue: Cost, Poten­tial Salary, and Stu­dent Reviews. Only accred­it­ed, rep­utable insti­tu­tions were considered.

1. Bellevue University

Belle­vue Uni­ver­si­ty’s BS in Secu­ri­ty Man­age­ment teach­es stu­dents a broad spec­trum of skills. From the­o­ry to prac­tice, these skills pre­pare stu­dents for the world of secu­ri­ty, whether they choose to work for the fed­er­al gov­ern­ment, a state gov­ern­ment, or even a pri­vate busi­ness. In any case, this degree imparts the knowl­edge that they’ll need to rec­og­nize poten­tial threats, stop threats before they hap­pen, mit­i­gate exist­ing dam­age, and strength­en vul­ner­a­ble areas. This wide-rang­ing skillset makes Belle­view one of the best online home­land secu­ri­ty degree sources available.

Belle­vue Uni­ver­si­ty appeals to stu­dents for a lot of rea­sons. As an afford­able, open-access uni­ver­si­ty, this school removes many of the bar­ri­ers that pre­vent some stu­dents from get­ting the edu­ca­tion that they deserve. Belle­view also uses what they call the Real Mas­tery approach to learn­ing. In oth­er words, stu­dents go beyond the basics. They dive deeply into their sub­jects, gain real-world expe­ri­ence, and learn what they need for full con­fi­dence in their career abilities.

What We Like: Belle­vue con­sis­tent­ly ranks among the nation’s top mil­i­tary-friend­ly schools.

Degree: Secu­ri­ty Man­age­ment, BS

Belle­vue Uni­ver­si­ty BS in Secu­ri­ty Management

2. George Washington University

George Wash­ing­ton Uni­ver­si­ty offers an Emer­gency Med­ical Ser­vices Man­age­ment BS. Home­land secu­ri­ty takes a lot of dif­fer­ent types of pro­fes­sion­als, from cyber­se­cu­ri­ty pro­fes­sion­als to eco­nom­ic safe­ty pro­fes­sion­als. This par­tic­u­lar degree focus­es on med­ical pro­fes­sion­als, prepar­ing stu­dents to act quick­ly in the face of any emer­gency. For those who want to go into EMS and home­land secu­ri­ty, this degree is per­haps the best home­land secu­ri­ty degree online. It’s dynam­ic and chal­leng­ing, and it helps stu­dents max­i­mize their lead­er­ship skills.

Locat­ed in Wash­ing­ton DC, GWU has always been a top choice for stu­dents who want to serve, pro­tect, or help the US. In its online pro­grams, GWU is just as inter­est­ing and chal­leng­ing as it is with­in its cam­pus class­rooms. All of GWU’s pro­grams empha­size lead­er­ship, which helps stu­dents gain con­fi­dence in their own skills as they learn.

What We Like: GWU offers more than 12,000 intern­ship opportunities.

Degree: Health Sci­ences in Emer­gency Med­ical Ser­vices Man­age­ment, BS

3. Saint Louis University

Saint Louis Uni­ver­si­ty’s Emer­gency Man­age­ment BS pro­gram enables stu­dents to jump into action wher­ev­er they’re need­ed the most. The pro­gram teach­es the skills that the DHS and FEMA val­ue the most, prepar­ing stu­dents to help their com­mu­ni­ties dur­ing dis­as­ters. Class­es are avail­able online with flex­i­ble start dates, but stu­dents are encour­aged to con­nect with local char­i­ties and intern­ships to get the most out of their stud­ies. For a lot of Jesuit stu­dents, SLU offers the best home­land secu­ri­ty degree online.

Saint Loius Uni­ver­si­ty is a Jesuit Catholic school that uses a deep approach to edu­ca­tion. As a mat­ter of fact, it empha­sizes edu­cat­ing the whole per­son: body, mind, and spir­it. Catholic stu­dents who want to make the most of their edu­ca­tion while strength­en­ing their Catholic faith are often drawn to SLU. Pro­grams here are both mean­ing­ful and chal­leng­ing, and as a research school, SLU has con­tributed to inno­va­tions around the world, espe­cial­ly in the realm of healthcare.

What We Like: Four­teen of SLU’s grad­u­ate and under­grad­u­ate pro­grams are ranked among the top 50 by US News and World Report. Fur­ther­more, SLU is the only Jesuit uni­ver­si­ty in the US that offers an Emer­gency Man­age­ment program.

Degree: Emer­gency Man­age­ment, B.S.

Saint Louis Uni­ver­si­ty Emer­gency Man­age­ment BS

4. Mercer University

Mer­cer Uni­ver­si­ty’s online home­land secu­ri­ty pro­gram is built for those who want to pro­tect their com­mu­ni­ties with man­age­r­i­al posi­tions. Con­sid­ered one of the best online home­land secu­ri­ty degree options, this pro­gram gets stu­dents ready for careers as cus­toms agents, air mar­shalls, dis­as­ter engage­ment spe­cial­ists, and more. When emer­gen­cies hap­pen, it’s impor­tant for calm and com­pe­tent lead­ers to step for­ward. Mer­cer Uni­ver­si­ty pre­pares stu­dents to take on those all-impor­tant lead­er­ship roles.

In 1833, Mer­cer start­ed as a Bap­tist col­lege with less than 40 stu­dents. Since that time, it has grown to become one of the most promi­nent research insti­tu­tions in Geor­gia. Now an inde­pen­dent Chris­t­ian insti­tu­tion, Mer­cer Uni­ver­si­ty empow­ers stu­dents to make the most of their unique tal­ents. It com­bines the­o­ret­i­cal and pro­fes­sion­al edu­ca­tion, encour­ages deep faith explo­ration, instills con­fi­dence, and helps stu­dents become leaders.

What We Like: US News and World Report has ranked Mer­cer 2nd among top Geor­gia pri­vate uni­ver­si­ties for about 25 years.

Degree: Home­land Secu­ri­ty and Emer­gency Man­age­ment, BS

Mer­cer Uni­ver­si­ty Home­land Secu­ri­ty and Emer­gency Man­age­ment, BS

5. Adelphi University

Adel­phi Uni­ver­si­ty offers an online BS in Emer­gency Man­age­ment. This online degree pre­pares stu­dents to respond effec­tive­ly in the face of ter­ror­ist attacks, health crises, nat­ur­al dis­as­ters, and more. It’s designed to help stu­dents tran­si­tion more eas­i­ly into man­age­ment roles than they would with job expe­ri­ence alone. Com­bin­ing lead­er­ship skills with prac­ti­cal knowl­edge, this pro­gram is con­sid­ered one of the best online home­land secu­ri­ty degree choic­es avail­able to stu­dents today.

Adel­phi Uni­ver­si­ty’s online pro­grams are designed to pro­vide just as much chal­lenge, com­mu­ni­ca­tion, and mean­ing­ful learn­ing as its on-cam­pus degree pro­grams. Adel­phi has pro­vid­ed strong aca­d­e­mics for over 120 years. Dur­ing that time, it has adapt­ed its strate­gies, grow­ing and chang­ing to meet the lat­est needs with­out sac­ri­fic­ing its com­mit­ment to chal­lenge and lead­er­ship. Stu­dents here learn how to make con­nec­tions as they sharp­en their pro­fes­sion­al abilities.

What We Like: For the past ten years, the Fiske Guide has ranked Adel­phi as one of their top “Best Buy” colleges.

Degree: Emer­gency Ser­vices Admin­is­tra­tion, BS

Adel­phi Uni­ver­si­ty BS in Emer­gency Management

6. Thomas Edison State University

Thomas Edi­son State Uni­ver­si­ty’s home­land secu­ri­ty and emer­gency man­age­ment pro­gram helps stu­dents pre­pare for the day-to-day life of an emer­gency man­age­ment pol­i­cy leader. The pro­gram cov­ers a wide array of top­ics, includ­ing the five Nation­al Pre­pared­ness sub­jects of pre­ven­tion, pro­tec­tion, mit­i­ga­tion, response, and recov­ery. The pro­gram is offered com­plete­ly online, and it cov­ers both the­o­ret­i­cal and prac­ti­cal skills so that stu­dents can approach home­land secu­ri­ty from all angles. As a result, TESU is one of the best home­land secu­ri­ty degree online options.

TESU was built specif­i­cal­ly for adult learn­ers, which means that it spe­cial­izes in the unique learn­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties that busy adults need. While adult learn­ers may feel pushed aside at some uni­ver­si­ties, at TESU they’re cen­tral to their school’s mis­sion and val­ues. The school is trans­fer-friend­ly and lets stu­dents put their cur­rent knowl­edge to work in their class­es. TESU accom­plish­es all of this while pro­vid­ing a rel­e­vant and chal­leng­ing education.

What We Like: 91% of recent grad­u­ates report a high sat­is­fac­tion rat­ing with TESU.

Degree: Home­land Secu­ri­ty and Emer­gency Man­age­ment, BS

Thomas Edi­son State Uni­ver­si­ty Home­land Secu­ri­ty and Emer­gency Man­age­ment, BS

7. Saint Leo University

Saint Leo Uni­ver­si­ty offers an online crim­i­nal jus­tice and home­land secu­ri­ty degree. This pro­gram pro­vides the most rel­e­vant edu­ca­tion in domes­tic and inter­na­tion­al ter­ror­ism. Its class­es stay up to date, par­tial­ly because its fac­ul­ty mem­bers have so much rel­e­vant hands-on expe­ri­ence in the field. Many count this pro­gram as the best online home­land secu­ri­ty degree because it pre­pares stu­dents for all sorts of crim­i­nal jus­tice careers. Stu­dents move on to work in cyber secu­ri­ty, land secu­ri­ty, air secu­ri­ty, and more.

Saint Leo Uni­ver­si­ty is a pri­vate Catholic school that val­ues lead­er­ship and aca­d­e­m­ic chal­lenge. Though dis­tinct­ly Catholic in its mis­sion, Saint Leo edu­cates stu­dents of all faiths. It has a strong lib­er­al arts pro­gram that pro­vides stu­dents with a well-round­ed edu­ca­tion, and its online pro­grams are just as rig­or­ous as its on-cam­pus programs.

What We Like: Saint Leo ranks among the best col­leges for social mobility.

Degree: Crim­i­nal Justice/Homeland Secu­ri­ty, BA

Saint Leo Uni­ver­si­ty Crim­i­nal Justice/Homeland Secu­ri­ty, BA

8. Colorado Technical University

Col­orado Tech­ni­cal Uni­ver­si­ty’s home­land secu­ri­ty pro­gram goes well beyond home­land secu­ri­ty. As a mat­ter of fact, it com­bines home­land secu­ri­ty, crim­i­nal jus­tice, and emer­gency man­age­ment into one dynam­ic degree. WIth this pro­gram, stu­dents get a deep under­stand­ing of all facets of home­land secu­ri­ty. This pro­gram rec­og­nizes that the need for secu­ri­ty experts is grow­ing, so it aims to help fill that need with tal­ent­ed and pre­pared indi­vid­u­als. Because of its mul­ti­fac­eted approach, many con­sid­er it to be the best home­land secu­ri­ty degree online.

CTU pro­vides a high­ly rel­e­vant edu­ca­tion. Cours­es are taught by fac­ul­ty mem­bers who are experts in their fields. Cours­es also use top-tier inno­va­tion so that stu­dents can stay up to speed in their future indus­tries. The online cours­es at CTU pro­vide the flex­i­bil­i­ty that busy learn­ers need to main­tain bal­ance in their lives. With its unique career focus, CTU attracts a lot of goal-ori­ent­ed students.

What We Like: US News and World Report has ranked CTU’s online pro­grams among the best for 2020.

Degree: Crim­i­nal Justice/ Home­land Secu­ri­ty & Emer­gency Man­age­ment, BS

Col­orado Tech­ni­cal Uni­ver­si­ty Home­land Secu­ri­ty & Emer­gency Man­age­ment, BS

9. Southwestern College

South­west­ern Col­lege’s Secu­ri­ty Man­age­ment BS pre­pares stu­dents to meet the most cur­rent secu­ri­ty needs in the US. From emer­gency man­age­ment to home­land secu­ri­ty, cours­es in this pro­gram pro­vides a com­pre­hen­sive overview of the most rel­e­vant infor­ma­tion. Stu­dents emerge from this pro­gram with con­fi­dence and the abil­i­ty to improve safe­ty pro­ce­dures from sev­er­al angles. For many, South­west­ern’s pro­gram is the best home­land secu­ri­ty degree online.

South­west­ern Col­lege has a thriv­ing pro­fes­sion­al stud­ies pro­gram that lets stu­dents learn with flex­i­bil­i­ty. Though it’s just as com­pre­hen­sive as its on-cam­pus coun­ter­part, the online pro­gram builds its class­es around the sched­ules of busy adults. South­west­ern is ded­i­cat­ed to help­ing stu­dents move into ful­fill­ing careers, and it pro­vides all of the sup­port and resources that stu­dents need to do so.

What We Like: South­west­ern has been rec­og­nized among the best online col­leges in Kansas.

Degree: Secu­ri­ty Man­age­ment, BS

South­west­ern Col­lege Secu­ri­ty Man­age­ment BS

10. Medaille College

Medaille Col­lege’s home­land secu­ri­ty pro­gram focus­es 100% of its course­work on secu­ri­ty and emer­gency man­age­ment. Stu­dents get to work right away on the cours­es that are most rel­e­vant to them. They learn about a broad range of top­ics, includ­ing legal issues, emer­gency respons­es, and ter­ror­ism. Even among online pro­grams, this one stands out for its flex­i­bil­i­ty. Though it has week­ly due dates, it also has no set login times, so stu­dents can learn and study at their own pace. As a result, it’s one of the best online home­land secu­ri­ty degree options for busy adults.

Medaille is a unique­ly stu­dent-cen­tered uni­ver­si­ty. It takes each stu­den­t’s indi­vid­u­al­i­ty to heart, help­ing them build careers that empow­er them to make a dif­fer­ence. With a low stu­dent to fac­ul­ty ratio, stu­dents get the indi­vid­ual help that they need in their stud­ies. This school com­bines chal­lenge and flex­i­bil­i­ty to cre­ate a dynam­ic learn­ing expe­ri­ence for online and on-cam­pus learn­ers alike.

What We Like: Medaille Col­lege has a 95% job place­ment rate.

Degree: Home­land Secu­ri­ty, BS

11. North Carolina Central University

North Car­oli­na Cen­tral Uni­ver­si­ty offers a home­land secu­ri­ty con­cen­tra­tion in its crim­i­nal jus­tice pro­gram. This pro­gram teach­es stu­dents about the crim­i­nal jus­tice sys­tem as a whole, includ­ing its his­to­ry and branch­es. Those who study home­land secu­ri­ty will learn about all of the dif­fer­ent fac­tors that go into keep­ing the US safe from ter­ror­ist threats and oth­er safe­ty threats. These stud­ies com­bine the­o­ry and his­to­ry with infor­ma­tion on infra­struc­ture and prac­tice. It has a straight­for­ward approach that makes it one of the best online home­land secu­ri­ty degree choices.

NCCU is a His­tor­i­cal­ly Black Uni­ver­si­ty that thrives in its research, com­mu­ni­ty, and inno­va­tion. It has small class sizes, so stu­dents get all the sup­port that they need for suc­cess in the class­room. Whether that class­room is on cam­pus or vir­tu­al, stu­dents have access to resources that can help them make the most of their edu­ca­tions. This school is also unique­ly com­mit­ted to ser­vice, giv­ing stu­dents lots of oppor­tu­ni­ties to help their communities.

What We Like: NCCU is ranked among the top His­tor­i­cal­ly Black Col­leges and Uni­ver­si­ties in the US.

Degree: Crim­i­nal Justice/Homeland Secu­ri­ty, BS

North Car­oli­na Cen­tral Uni­ver­si­ty Crim­i­nal Justice/Homeland Secu­ri­ty, BS

12. Concordia University Portland

The BS in Home­land Secu­ri­ty and Emer­gency Man­age­ment at Con­cor­dia Uni­ver­si­ty Port­land is intend­ed to give stu­dents a broad ground­ing in the prin­ci­ples of secu­ri­ty, both domes­tic and inter­na­tion­al. While course­work is devot­ed to past and cur­rent issues in secu­ri­ty, stu­dents also receive a deep under­stand­ing of essen­tial skills that can be applied to dan­gers that will arise in the future as well. As a Chris­t­ian insti­tu­tion, Con­cor­dia Port­land roots its Home­land Secu­ri­ty bachelor’s pro­gram in Chris­t­ian ethics and morals.

Con­cor­dia Uni­ver­si­ty Port­land is part of the nation­al­ly-renowned Con­cor­dia Uni­ver­si­ty Sys­tem, made up of a group of top-ranked Luther­an uni­ver­si­ties. Like its sis­ter insti­tu­tions, Con­cor­dia Port­land has become a nation­al leader in online edu­ca­tion, spread­ing the Con­cor­dia mes­sage across the US and the world.

What We Like: All Con­cor­dia Port­land Home­land Secu­ri­ty stu­dents take part in a Practicum with a real-world secu­ri­ty orga­ni­za­tion for hands-on learning.

Degree: Home­land Secu­ri­ty and Emer­gency Man­age­ment, BS

13. Marian University

Mar­i­an Uni­ver­si­ty’s home­land secu­ri­ty degree is designed with flex­i­bil­i­ty in mind. Not only does the online for­mat pro­vide flex­i­ble sched­ul­ing, but the pro­gram as a whole helps stu­dents carve out the career that will work best for their goals and lifestyles. The cur­ricu­lum fol­lows DHS and FEMA com­pe­ten­cies so that stu­dents get the skills they need for home­land secu­ri­ty work. Because of its flex­i­bil­i­ty, chal­leng­ing nature, and trans­fer friend­li­ness, Mar­i­an Uni­ver­si­ty has one of the best online home­land secu­ri­ty degree pro­grams in the country.

Mar­i­an Uni­ver­si­ty is a Catholic school with deep val­ues. Stu­dents here explore their faith as they delve deeply into their stud­ies and careers. This school has small class sizes, so stu­dents often work togeth­er as a cohort. Even in its online class­es, Mar­i­an Uni­ver­si­ty pro­vides a tight-knit com­mu­ni­ty between stu­dents and fac­ul­ty mem­bers. Whether stu­dents choose to move on to grad school or go straight to the work­force, Mar­i­an Uni­ver­si­ty pro­vides a chal­leng­ing and worth­while prepa­ra­tion experience.

What We Like: Afford­able Col­leges Online ranked Mar­i­an as one of the “High­est Life­time Return on Invest­ment” col­leges in Wisconsin.

Degree: Home­land Secu­ri­ty, BS

Mar­i­an Uni­ver­si­ty Home­land Secu­ri­ty, BS

14. California University of Pennsylvania

Cal­i­for­nia Uni­ver­si­ty of Penn­syl­va­nia offers a 100% online home­land secu­ri­ty degree. This high­ly ranked pro­gram teach­es all about dif­fer­ent crim­i­nal jus­tice orga­ni­za­tions, and the home­land secu­ri­ty con­cen­tra­tion teach­es how the DHS inter­acts with all of these dif­fer­ent orga­ni­za­tions. Stu­dents in this pro­gram learn how to lead teams, pro­tect vul­ner­a­ble infra­struc­tures, and mit­i­gate all lev­els of dis­as­ter. With its online for­mat and rig­or­ous train­ing, Cal­i­for­nia Uni­ver­si­ty of Penn­syl­va­nia where many stu­dents go to earn the best home­land secu­ri­ty degree online.

Cal U is com­mit­ted to pro­vid­ing an excel­lent edu­ca­tion while pro­vid­ing a career edge. Stu­dents get a high ROI for their mon­ey, learn­ing from field experts and mak­ing impor­tant net­work­ing con­nec­tions as they study. Stu­dents here go well beyond the basics in their class­es. They learn how to apply their class­room learn­ing to their careers out­side of the class­room, which means that their edu­ca­tions serve them well for many years.

What We Like: The Prince­ton Review con­sis­tent­ly ranks Cal U as one of the Best Col­leges in the Northeast.

Degree: Crim­i­nal Justice/Homeland & Inter­na­tion­al Secu­ri­ty, BS

Cal­i­for­nia Uni­ver­si­ty of Penn­syl­va­nia Crim­i­nal Justice/Homeland & Inter­na­tion­al Secu­ri­ty, BS

15. Drury University

Drury Uni­ver­si­ty’s emer­gency man­age­ment pro­gram pro­vides stu­dents with a ver­sa­tile learn­ing struc­ture. This way, whether they work in the pub­lic or pri­vate sec­tor, they can feel con­fi­dent that they have the skills they need to pro­vide pro­tec­tion and safe­ty to their com­mu­ni­ties. The pro­gram includes intro-lev­el cours­es as well as more spe­cial­ized cours­es on haz­ard man­age­ment, con­flict res­o­lu­tion, and more. It even has some class­es geared specif­i­cal­ly toward pri­vate-sec­tor safe­ty. Over­all, a lot of stu­dents count this pro­gram as one of the best online home­land secu­ri­ty degree opportunities.

Drury Uni­ver­si­ty is very inten­tion­al about com­bin­ing his­to­ry and the­o­ry with prac­ti­cal appli­ca­tion. This way, stu­dents get a strong foun­da­tion of knowl­edge for their careers, and then they become empow­ered to apply that knowl­edge to the work­force. Because this school com­bines rel­e­van­cy and inno­va­tion, Drury grad­u­ates can step into their careers with con­fi­dence. This church-affil­i­at­ed uni­ver­si­ty com­bines career and faith, an ide­al com­bi­na­tion for many of Amer­i­ca’s students.

What We Like: In 2020, US News and World Report ranked Drury as one of the best region­al uni­ver­si­ties in the midwest.

Degree: Emer­gency Man­age­ment, BS

Drury Uni­ver­si­ty’s Emer­gency Man­age­ment, BS

Should I Get My Homeland Security Degree Online?

When choos­ing between an online degree and an on-cam­pus degree, it’s impor­tant to under­stand your own learn­ing style, too. For exam­ple, are you able to cre­ate your own struc­ture? Are you a self-starter, or do you need the struc­ture of an in-per­son class­room. If you strug­gle with learn­ing on your own, that does­n’t nec­es­sar­i­ly mean that you can’t pur­sue online learn­ing. How­ev­er, you should know your own strengths and weak­ness­es and cre­ate a plan that will help you get the most out of your edu­ca­tion. For exam­ple, if you need account­abil­i­ty to log into a vir­tu­al class­room, ask a friend or fam­i­ly mem­ber to check in with you every once in a while.

What Can I Do with a Homeland Security Degree?

What can you do with a home­land secu­ri­ty degree? More than you might think. The Depart­ment of Home­land Secu­ri­ty will always need peo­ple to fill cru­cial roles because it pro­vides so many cru­cial ser­vices. You’ll see some exam­ples of home­land secu­ri­ty careers in the next ses­sion, but on a broad lev­el, those with home­land secu­ri­ty careers are tasked with keep­ing the nation safe. The DHS has mul­ti­ple depart­ments, each one focused on a dif­fer­ent part of nation­al secu­ri­ty. There’s the TSA, for exam­ple, which pre­vents flight ter­ror­ism, and the Coast Guard, which is the only mil­i­tary depart­ment that falls under the NHS. Home­land secu­ri­ty careers can lead you in any num­ber of direc­tions, and you’re not lim­it­ed to a DHS career, either. You might also get a career in a state or local gov­ern­ment, or you could even work in the pri­vate sector.

What Do People Do in Homeland Security Jobs?

As you’ve prob­a­bly guessed after read­ing the sec­tion above, there’s no sim­ple descrip­tion for home­land secu­ri­ty jobs. In fact, home­land secu­ri­ty jobs include all kinds of descrip­tions. For the most part, the home­land secu­ri­ty job descrip­tion boils down to pre­vent­ing and respond­ing to ter­ror­ism. The DHS was estab­lished very short­ly after the the 9/11 ter­ror­ist attacks. Its pri­ma­ry mis­sion is to pre­vent attacks like 9/11 from hap­pen­ing in the future. How­ev­er, the DHS has grown over the years, and so has its mis­sion. Now, in addi­tion to preent­ing ter­ror­ist attacks, the DHS responds to any fac­tor that might threat­en the Unit­ed States. For exam­ple, oth­er home­land secu­ri­ty jobs include eco­nom­ic secu­ri­ty and cyber­se­cu­ri­ty. Any time a threat to US safe­ty emerges, the DHS works to pre­vent or respond to that threat. For exam­ple, the DHS did its part dur­ing the COVID-19 pan­dem­ic of ear­ly 2020, work­ing along with the CDC to mit­i­gate the dis­ease in the US.

Obvi­ous­ly, your home­land secu­ri­ty job require­ments will depend on which of the home­land secu­ri­ty jobs you pur­sue. On a gen­er­al lev­el, you’ll need the following:

  • A pas­sion and will­ing­ness to keep the US safe
  • Strong ana­lyt­i­cal skills
  • Focus
  • Work eth­ic
  • A rel­e­vant education

Now, on a spe­cif­ic lev­el, you can look up home­land secu­ri­ty job require­ments based on the spe­cif­ic job you might like to pur­sue. For exam­ple, take a look at the careers list­ed below.

A FEMA career might involve inspect­ing dis­as­ter sites, lead­ing dis­as­ter response teams, ana­lyz­ing relief pro­grams, or train­ing dis­as­ter work­ers.
A USCIS career might involve fraud detec­tion, sched­ul­ing immi­gra­tion appoint­ments, or pro­vid­ing oper­a­tions sup­port.
A CISA career might involve over­see­ing secu­ri­ty teams, pro­vid­ing edu­ca­tion on cyber­se­cu­ri­ty threats, detect­ing poten­tial threats, or pro­tect­ing gov­ern­ment web­sites from vul­ner­a­bil­i­ties.
In any case, the home­land secu­ri­ty jobs descrip­tion cov­ers a lot of ground, which means that the DHS must keep these posi­tions filled. That’s why hav­ing an online home­land secu­ri­ty degree can open your path to a lot of job security.

Relat­ed Rankings: 

25 Best Bach­e­lor’s in Home­land Security

10 Fastest Online Bach­e­lor’s in Home­land Security

10 Most Afford­able Bach­e­lor’s in Home­land Security