Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting

Types of Degrees Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many homeland security, law enforcement & firefighting graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	56,692
Associate Degree	29,478
Basic Certificate	26,408
Master’s Degree	11,331
Undergraduate Certificate	6,773
Graduate Certificate	1,809
Doctor’s Degree	370

What Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to homeland security, law enforcement & firefighting 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, Law Enforcement & Firefighting Majors

Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Skills for Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting Majors

A major in homeland security, law enforcement & firefighting prepares you for careers in which the following skill-sets are crucial:

• 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.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• 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, Law Enforcement & Firefighting Majors

As a homeland security, law enforcement & firefighting major, you will find yourself needing the following abilities:

• 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.
• 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.
• Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
• 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, Law Enforcement & Firefighting Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with homeland security, law enforcement & firefighting:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Auditors	10.0%	$70,500
Compliance Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Fire Inspectors	7.3%	$62,510
Fire Investigators	7.3%	$62,510
Forest Fire Fighting and Prevention Supervisors	7.1%	$76,330
Forest Fire Inspectors and Prevention Specialists	29.4%	$39,600
Immigration and Customs Inspectors	4.5%	$81,920
Intelligence Analysts	4.5%	$81,920
Loss Prevention Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Municipal Firefighters	7.2%	$49,620
Regulatory Affairs Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Security Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Transit and Railroad Police	8.2%	$74,030
Wind Energy Operations Managers	8.0%	$107,480

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting?

The major attracts more women than men. About 56% of the recent graduates in this field are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	1,643
Black or African American	8,832
Hispanic or Latino	14,697
White	25,903
International Students	507
Other Races/Ethnicities	5,110

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting, too. About 0.9% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting

Some degrees associated with homeland security, law enforcement & firefighting may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

Find out what the typical degree level is for homeland security, law enforcement & firefighting careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	1.0%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	23.1%
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)	10.1%
Some College Courses	12.9%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	12.4%
Bachelor’s Degree	29.6%
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.	2.1%
Master’s Degree	7.7%
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.	0.4%
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.	0.4%
Doctoral Degree	0.8%
Post-Doctoral Training	0.1%

Online Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting Programs

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)	1,654	216
Certificate (2-4 Years)	28	0
Associate’s Degree	4,412	886
Bachelor’s Degree	584	266
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	1,274	566
Post-Master’s	46	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	116	36
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	4	2
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to homeland security, law enforcement & firefighting.

Major	Number of Grads
Legal Professions	64,269

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
• Image Credit: By Barry Bahler under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.