The CTU Master of Science in Homeland Security (MS-HLS) is designed to provide students with a broad understanding of the homeland security enterprise at the strategic policymaking level.

The program is geared towards homeland security practitioners and provides them with analytical and communication tools that can prepare them to become decision-makers in their chosen area of expertise. It has also been designed to expand students' knowledge of other disciplines within the larger homeland security enterprise, thus helping them understand the roles of given disciplines, such as law enforcement, fire, emergency services and public health in the larger homeland security picture.

The program curriculum is designed for students with previous coursework and/or prior work experience in homeland security.  Although prior knowledge or experience in the homeland security field is not required, it is highly recommended.

Successful completion of this program requires the researching and writing of a thesis. Coursework will challenge students to:

• Outline trends in the development and evolution of the HLS enterprise.
• Analyze current policy issues within the HLS enterprise and/or its sub-disciplines.
• Use research to suggest policy solutions to existing HLS problems.
• Explore strategies and institutional frameworks that affect HLS policy.
• Analyze the role of the intelligence community, first-responders, the military, the private sector and others in the HLS enterprise.
• Interpret, synthesize and critique the threat posed by terrorism, natural disasters and public health emergencies.
• Analyze the legal, institutional and policy barriers to unity of effort and enhanced HLS policy and the possible methodologies for circumventing or eliminating those barriers.
• Evaluate the impact of policies within HLS sub-disciplines on the creation of a common HLS strategy and effort.

Core courses in this program have been designed to help students develop relevant, applicable knowledge of the homeland security enterprise at the strategic policymaking level. For example:

• In Dynamics of Terrorism, the focus is on violent clandestine activity that, whatever its motivation, has a political purpose or effect. Coursework examines such specific topics as suicide terrorism, the role of the media, innovation and technology acquisition, the decline of terrorism and ways of measuring the effect of counterterrorism policies and strategies. By the end of the course, students should be able to design effective measures for countering and responding to terrorism based on an understanding of its organizational and operational dynamics.
• In Intelligence Organizational and Policy Challenges, course reference materials will provide an overview of diverse intelligence disciplines and how the intelligence community operates. Emphasis will be on issues affecting policy, oversight and intelligence support to homeland defense/security and national decision-making. The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 is addressed, and the course is shaped to focus on homeland intelligence support issues at the state/local/tribal levels.
• In Homeland Security and Government, the purpose is to provide participants with an insight into the structural, conceptual and intellectual underpinnings and implications of the homeland security project. The course focuses on legislative and policy frameworks (including the US Constitution, the Patriot Act, relevant presidential policy directives and the national strategy for homeland security) within which the homeland security enterprise operates. It also examines the relationship between the relevant federal entities and their respective state and local counterparts.

Other core courses in this curriculum include:

• Homeland Security Fundamentals
• Technology Solutions for HLS
• Vulnerability Analysis and Protection
• Introduction to Research Methodologies
• Writing the Thesis Proposal
• Research and Writing 1
• Research and Writing 2
• Research and Writing 3
• Research and Writing 4

In addition to the broad-based core curriculum, students will have the option of choosing electives in particular subfields of homeland security, giving them the opportunity to become thought leaders in the field through the researching and writing of a mandatory thesis.

Elective Courses from the Emergency Management and Public Health track include:

• Disaster Emergency Planning
• Principles of Disaster Medicine
• Emergency Management and Communication in Disasters
• Introduction to Public Health

Elective Courses from the Cybersecurity track include:

• Introduction to Cybersecurity Policy
• Government and the Cyber Sector
• Cyber Organizations and Structures
• Emerging Initiatives in Cybersecurity Strategy