If you wish to pursue a career in law enforcement, firefighting, port security, immigration or even intelligence, a homeland security management degree provides the background for entry into these and other related fields. The concentrations of study include first responder classes, planning catastrophic incident plans and more broad courses including sociology, and world and regional geography. The broad base of coursework is meant to apply to a number of career disciplines in emergency management.
The Bachelor of Science in Public Safety provides a mix of public administration and management courses in the area of public policy. The focus is more on management and administration as opposed to first responder activities. Coursework includes budget development, grant writing, property management, administrative law, social policy and event response planning. Career paths include higher level administrators for fire departments, emergency management agencies, law enforcement management and management of other government agencies.
A growing concern with respect to emergency management is the continuation of business functions after a disaster has occurred. Programs in this field are designed to provide an understanding of business functions and processes, policy and management issues with respect to business continuity threats. Master's degree programs provide management level insight to those in decision-making roles for their organizations with respect to business continuity management and the wish to elevate their careers to senior management positions.
The Doctorate in Strategic Security is for individuals at the highest levels of the strategic security field. Studies will include education in dealing with various strategic security resources and personnel within their organization and within the framework of multiple agencies. Graduates will move into positions dealing with broad intelligence resources and communicating information in an advisory capacity to other leaders and policy makers in order to address security threats.