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Homeland Security MPA Online Specialization Overview

Commit to Protecting Your Community, Your Nation

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Mid-Career Track

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Earn the Credential Needed to Pursue Leadership Roles in Homeland Security

Be a recognized leader in this fast-growing, integral sector of America’s defense infrastructure. Anna Maria College’s online Master of Public Administration degree with a Homeland Security specialization gives you the disaster prevention and response expertise needed to protect your country, your community and your fellow citizens.

Homeland security experts protect and oversee the nation’s people, systems and environment; aid in disaster recovery efforts; and assist in mitigating loss of life following terrorist attacks, natural disasters and other crisis situations. Men and women who hold positions with the Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies, private corporations, or nonprofit organizations help reduce the vulnerabilities of the nation and minimize the damage from catastrophic hazards.

Anna Maria College’s online Homeland Security MPA online program will prepare you to meet the demands and challenges facing today’s homeland security professionals. And because our public administration master’s program is delivered 100 percent online and available to distance learners anywhere in the United States, you can learn how to address homeland security issues from any location and at times most convenient to you.

Program Details

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Specialized Homeland Security MPA Curriculum

Homeland security leaders must anticipate, prepare, prevent and react to numerous situations with a clear understanding of ethics, psychology, public communication and other critical skills and competencies. Anna Maria’s Homeland Security specialization brings you the most relevant knowledge and techniques needed to take a leading role in protecting the public, including risk analysis, international/domestic threat detection, inter-agency coordination, and public policy analysis.

Homeland Security MPA Course Sample:

This course explains the history of building national security, its mission and its role. Through a consideration of best practices and the balance between security and liberty, it examines the organizational structures and resources required to defend the homeland. This course provides an overview of DHS operations including mission, operational planning, execution and evaluation, security and communications, intelligence collection and reporting, critical infrastructure protection, and ethical, social and economic issues including the need to address victimization and fear.

This course examines, through a risk and vulnerability assessment of the global terrorism phenomenon, various international groups’ culture, history, ideology and motivation, capabilities, methods and activities within contexts of political, ethical, social and legal issues. Included in this examination is the emergence and growth of extremist and terrorist groups such as AlQaeda, Hamas, and other terrorist networks. Particular attention will be focused on U.S. foreign policy, media impact, intelligence cycles, acts and procedures at governmental, state, and community levels.

This course will identify and analyze best practices in multiagency cooperation, including the roles of local, state, and federal law enforcement, intelligence, and emergency management agencies in conjunction with the public sector as required for collective welfare and implementation of the Homeland Security Act. The role of technology and communication is included as well as an analysis of the Patriot Act, its practice, and its ethical, social and legal implications for American life today.

Curriculum Details

What Can You Do with a Public Administration Degree in Homeland Security Administration?

Agencies need trained homeland security leaders right now. Here are just a few examples of agencies in need of professionals with specific homeland security skills:

  • The Federal Bureau of Investigation
  • Central Intelligence Agency
  • U.S. Department of Homeland Security
  • State law enforcement agencies
  • Emergency management agencies
  • Local police departments and sheriffs’ offices

Take a look at the different components that make up the U.S. Department of Homeland Security positions in this industry, as well as other homeland security job opportunities.

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Learn from Homeland Security Specialists

Professors in the Master’s in Public Administration online program and Homeland Security specialization come directly from the industry with decades of combined experience and priceless career advice.

Impactful MPA Specializations

Professions within the public sector reach far and wide, across many industries. Anna Maria’s online master’s in public administration offers the choice of diverse specializations that give you critical knowledge in your specific area of interest:

Public Administration, MPA: Fire and Emergency Services

Combining foundational management development with an in-depth study of fire and emergency services administration, this specialized degree is a highly valuable credential for aspiring fire and EMS leaders.

Public Administration, MPA: Emergency Management

The Emergency Management concentration integrates the study of emergency management skills and techniques to produce graduates who are capable of leading during times of crisis.

Public Administration, MPA: Criminal Justice

Current law enforcement officers seeking career advancement or professionals looking to enter the field will gain valuable criminal justice leadership skills that the top agencies and law enforcement departments are looking for.

Public Administration, MPA: General Track

The General Track includes a broad study of public sector management topics and is designed to offer maximum career flexibility for students who could see themselves entering multiple fields after graduation.