Master of Science in Homeland Security*
The NGS Master of Science Degree in Homeland Security helps diverse professionals develop Homeland Security plans and policies which can be implemented, assessed and tested in their workplace or at a sponsoring organization. The program is well suited for:
- Law Enforcement Professionals
- Transportation Security Officials
- Emergency Response Managers
- Health Care Professionals
- Military Planners
- Community Service Administrators
- Individuals Responsible for National Protection
The program consists of a 12 course, 36 credit, 3 semester curriculum designed to serve as an “integrated storyboard” developed after extensive consultation with diverse focus groups of prospective employers, organizational leaders and quality practitioners. Homeland Security and Defense has matured into a distinct body of knowledge with its own best practices. The NGS Master of Science degree program combines practical knowledge related to Homeland Security strategy, planning and deployment with Quality Systems Management principles and best practices. The program includes a core curriculum that helps students understand the overview of homeland security strategy and implications as well as the cultural underpinnings of terrorism and anti-terrorism.
NGS has added its own unique twist to the study of Homeland Security by approaching the practical implementation of the discipline through the perspective of quality systems management. As is true in all NGS programs, NGS students achieve heightened operational effectiveness through the application of quality principles to their work situations.
The Homeland Security Digital Library at the Naval Postgraduate School’s Center for Homeland Defense and Security is available for student research that will supplement their hands-on projects.
In order for a student to graduate, the project’s supervisor or “Champion” must validate and formally attest to the school that results have been achieved. In the tradition akin to an oral thesis defense, students publicly defend their results before an audience of faculty and invited experts.
In the contemporary manner of programs for experienced, working adult professionals, the school emphasizes and monitors student study teams, which routinely spend at least as much time outside of class as they do in class. In addition, each student is expected to spend approximately 400 out-of-class hours on the project and will be monitored by designated faculty academic advisors.
Purpose of the MS HS
- To provide students, particularly working adults and other nontraditional students, with a business-related graduate education that will empower them to make rapid contributions to private, public and military sector organizations;
- To engage students in a rigorous, exciting, challenging, theoretical and practical learning experience in a specialized curriculum that is uniquely centered in both management sciences and quality systems, predicated on a teamwork approach and incorporates a business project which requires measurable results;
- To provide students with the resources needed to interact with others clearly and effectively;
- To impart knowledge and demonstrate to students the aligned relationship of a quality systems management theme to ethical behavior;
- To expose students to the actual and hypothetical situations, in policy and practice, that future homeland security leaders are likely to encounter in the workplace.
The program is offered only in cohort-group format.
*Not available in Massachusetts.