Masters in Homeland Security

Friday, December 3, 2010 posted by Amy Belmonte

My husband has decided to go back to school to earn his masters in homeland security degree. He had served several years as a security guard for a private security contracting company, but the hours and pay was not what he had thought it would be after working there for 10 years. He wanted to move up, but couldn’t do so without the proper education. He didn’t want to spend the rest of his life working odd hours, with little chance of an increase in pay or ability to move up simply on the basis of recognition. He wanted to be able to show that he had the educational creditentials to move up. He felt that by earning his masters in homeland security, he could find more opportunities and even better paying, government jobs.

Now more than ever, Homeland Security has become a necessity since our country has become more vulnerable to terrorist attacks from overseas and on the home-front. A Masters in Homeland security degree program is also more popular than ever, as many students choose to find a career in preserving and protecting this great nation. There are a number of job opportunities within the Department of Homeland Security, in local, state, and federal levels, and with the right education, you may be able to find a career that can prove to be fulfilling and worthwhile.

Homeland security degree programs can be found at almost all levels including associates, bachelors, masters, and certificate programs. There may also be PhD programs offered online or on-campus with a focus on homeland security.

Masters in Homeland security degree programs tend to include training on the following. Many of these topics are also covered in a more general level in the undergraduate degree programs:

  • Criminal Justice
  • Bio-Terrorism
  • Handling of Hazardous Materials
  • Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs)
  • Domestic Terrorism
  • International Terrorism
  • Constitutional Law
  • Cyber-Terrorism
  • Emergency Planning and Disaster Preparedness

The higher level of the homeland security degrees that you choose to study, the more further in depth you will go in the fields of psychology, sociology, political science, and criminal justice. Specializing in any of these fields can help place you in a specific line of work within the Department of Homeland Security.

Careers for graduates of the masters in homeland security programs can expect to  find work in local, state, and federal agencies as well as independent security and surveillance companies, and public transportation companies. The higher the degree, the more opportunities for higher ranking positions within the organization.

Our country has been primarily focused on protecting ourselves from all sorts of threats, small and large, for almost 10 years. By having the right education and training under your belt, you should have very little trouble finding successful employment in the field of homeland security and counter-terrorism. Since the masters in homeland security degree is in fact able to be completed online, it would be very easy for someone who currently works as a third-shift or second-shift security officer to find the time necessary to complete the degree program. So consider a masters in homeland security degree today