Homeland Security

Types of Degrees Homeland Security Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many homeland security graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Master’s Degree	2,357
Graduate Certificate	371
Doctor’s Degree	31

What Homeland Security Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to homeland security were asked what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. They weighted these areas on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest.

Knowledge Areas for Homeland Security Majors

Homeland Security majors often go into careers in which the following knowledge areas are important:

• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
• Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

Skills for Homeland Security Majors

When studying homeland security, you’ll learn many skills that will help you be successful in a wide range of jobs - even those that do not require a degree in the field. The following is a list of some of the most common skills needed for careers associated with this major:

• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

Abilities for Homeland Security Majors

Some of the most crucial abilities to master while a homeland security student include the following:

• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

What Can You Do With a Homeland Security Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with homeland security:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Brownfield Redevelopment Specialists and Site Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Compliance Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement Professors	12.1%	$61,900
Emergency Management Directors	7.9%	$74,420
Investment Fund Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Loss Prevention Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Professors	9.4%	$65,660
Regulatory Affairs Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Security Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Wind Energy Operations Managers	8.0%	$107,480

Who Is Getting a Master’s Degree in Homeland Security?

This major attracts more men than women. About 67% of the graduates in this field are male.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of homeland security majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	77
Black or African American	312
Hispanic or Latino	333
White	1,284
International Students	74
Other Races/Ethnicities	277

Geographic Diversity

Homeland Security appeals to people across the globe. About 3.1% of those with this major are international students. The most popular countries for students from outside the country are:

• Saudi Arabia
• United Arab Emirates
• China
• Oman
• Nigeria

How Much Do Homeland Security Majors Make?

Master’s Degree Starting Salary

Data from the U.S. Department of Education shows that homeland security students who graduated in 2017-2019 with a master’s degree made a median starting salary of $61,989 per year. During this timeframe, most salaries fell between $56,958 (25th percentile) and $68,628 (75th percentile).

Note that some of these people may have jobs that are not directly related to a homeland security degree.

Salaries According to BLS

Average salaries range from $72,390 to $93,100 (25th to 75th percentile) for careers related to homeland security. This range includes all degree levels, so you may expect those with a more advanced degree to make more while those with less advanced degrees will typically make less.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Homeland Security

Some careers associated with homeland security require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

Find out what the typical degree level is for homeland security careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	10.6%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	5.8%
Some College Courses	6.7%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	9.9%
Bachelor’s Degree	43.4%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	2.3%
Master’s Degree	17.8%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.	1.6%
First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession.	0.7%
Doctoral Degree	2.1%

Online Homeland Security Programs

In 2020-2021, 317 schools offered a homeland security program of some type. The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	39	5
Certificate (2-4 Years)	2	0
Associate’s Degree	107	29
Bachelor’s Degree	77	40
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	92	56
Post-Master’s	6	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	5	3
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in Homeland Security Worth It?

The median salary for a homeland security grad is $76,990 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 93% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $741,800 after 20 years!

Majors Related to Homeland Security

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to homeland security.

Major	Number of Grads
Criminal Justice & Corrections	7,783
Security Science and Technology	1,875
Other Homeland Security	456
Fire Protection	172

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020

More about our data sources and methodologies.