Homeland security educationCAL U prepares its students for careers in homeland security

Published 3 March 2011

California University of Pennsylvania (CAL U), an institute of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, offers various courses, certificates, and degrees in Homeland Security; a recent survey found that CAL U offers the nation’s best Internet-based degree programs; the acting dean of the college of liberal arts says: “the quality, education, experience, and student-centered attitude of our faculty, along with our connections with real world professional organizations makes us one of the top education institutes in our country”

Cal U campus // Source: city-data.com

According to a 2010 nationwide survey conducted by SR Education Group, an educational resource provider based in Kirkland, Washington, California University of Pennsylvania offers the nation’s best Internet-based degree programs. Statistics on accreditation, the cost of tuition and books, student-to-faculty ratios, graduation and retention rates, and the rate at which students repay their college loans on time were gathered by the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics, the primary federal entity for collecting and analyzing data related to education, and used to distinguish CAL U from runners-up: Iowa Central College, Texas’s Abilene Christian University, and Vermont’s Norwich University.

Total enrollment for CAL U’s Global Online program increased by more than 7 percent from 2009-2010, while graduate program enrollment exceeded 9 percent. “Online learning resources enable Cal U students to receive the same caliber of education as a traditional classroom student,” the report says. “Bachelor’s and master’s degrees are available, along with graduate certificates to help students start new careers without disrupting their busy schedules.”

California University of Pennsylvania, an institute of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education located twenty miles southeast of Pittsburgh, offers various courses, certificates, and degrees in Homeland Security. In a conversation with Homeland Security NewsWire, Professor Mike Hummel, associate professor and acting dean of the college of liberal arts, said, “the quality, education, experience, and student-centered attitude of our faculty, along with our connections with real world professional organizations makes us one of the top education institutes in our country.”

CAL U’s online Master’s degree in Legal Studies includes a track in Homeland Security but does not offer certification programs that cater specifically to biometrics or IT. Hummel said that students do receive training in computer and physical security (biometrics) throughout the curriculum. The certificate in Homeland Security being offered through the Institute for Law and Public Policy takes place in a real-class setting as well as online. It addresses the theory and philosophy of protection systems while creating a forum for collaborative innovations. The program also provides its students with the reins on policy making and strategy development to prevent terrorist attacks within the United States. The curriculum consists of four content areas that focus on:

  • Homeland Security
  • Terrorism, threat, and vulnerability analysis and protection
  • Biological, chemical, nuclear, and WMD threats
  • Intelligence practice

There are three faculty members at CAL U that specialize in Homeland Security with doctorates and over half a century of combined