Serving Your Community with a Homeland Security Career

Although border safety and international terrorism have always been priorities in the United States, the attacks of 9/11 required even greater focus and scrutiny. This is especially true in the cyber-world where criminal and terrorist activity can be incredibly difficult to monitor. By completing a homeland security degree program, you can help law enforcement agencies across the country protect America's borders, both physical and virtual.

Which Homeland Security Degree Program to Choose

Because homeland security is a vast field that encompasses computer science, legal studies, diplomacy, law enforcement, and defense, you have a broad range of disciplines, degrees, and career paths from which to choose:

• Lawyers, for example, typically require 3 years of law school plus licensing in their state
• Law enforcement officials usually go through specialized academies
• If you want to pursue policy-related fields, then studying political science at the associates level or higher might be a better fit

In all cases, however, your focus is on mastering the tools necessary to detect, prevent, and prosecute criminal activity that threatens the country as a whole. Keep in mind, however, that higher level degrees typically open many more doors for you when you graduate. Having a bachelor's degree is better than having an associate's, and graduating from a master's homeland security degree program is better still.

Online Degree Program in Homeland Security

If you're serious about long-term growth in the field, you should consider completing your education online. This is because the Internet is increasingly both a tool for would-be attackers and for those who try to stop them. While enrolled in an online degree program, you can become more familiar with Internet technology and computer science, even if these areas are not the primary focus of your education.

Career Potential after Your Online Degree Program

After completing your online or campus-based education in homeland security, you should be qualified to assume any number of career positions, depending on the length and nature of your training. Public sector jobs usually provide the greatest security, while private sector jobs typically offer the best pay packages. Private lawyers, for example, can make well over $200,000 every year, while an attorney with the criminal justice department might make closer to $120,000 a year. This relationship holds true for most positions within the homeland security umbrella. But in almost all cases, demand for qualified individuals is likely to increase as globalization and international traffic makes the United States more vulnerable to attacks.
Sources:
Bureau of Labor Statistics, career information for police and detectives
Bureau of Labor Statistics, career information for lawyers
Bureau of Labor Statistics, homeland security career information