EducationN.C. university becomes first in state to offer homeland security degree
There are 380 security-related academic programs in U.S. colleges, most of which are two-year programs. Campbell University, established in 1887, has become the first university in North Carolina to offer a bachelor’s degree program in homeland security, beginning this fall. The school says the new degree is a direct result of a rising interest in the field.
Campbell University, which was established in 1887 and set a record with an enrollment of 3,049 in 2011, has become the first university in North Carolina to offer a bachelor’s degree program in homeland security beginning this fall.
WRAL-5 reports that the school says the degree is a direct result of a rising interest in the field after the 9/11 attacks.
“What’s interesting about that is what you see is that the discipline itself is maturing,” David Gray, a criminal justice professor at Campbell, told WRAL. “It’s only been really a discipline for 12 years, since 9/11, but it’s starting to get more mature and more robust and more definition as far as what the topics are.”
About fifty students have declared the major at Campbell. The degree is an expansion of the coursework which is already offered in the university’s criminal justice program and other areas.
“It seems like a logical thing to do to help educate men and women to help with the global war on terrorism,” Mark Hammond, dean of Campbell’s College of Arts and Sciences told WRAL. “For us, the idea of expanding a very popular concentration in criminal justice and changing that into a full-blown homeland security (degree) became a no-brainer when we realized that very few institutions across the nation offer such academic programs.”
There has been a significant rise in homeland security college programs across the country in recent years. The Center for Homeland Defense and Security says there are 380 security-related academic programs, most of which are two-year programs.
According to Gray, events such as the Boston Marathon bombings increased the public’s perception of what homeland security is and does. Hewants to educate his students about the field.
“There’re a number of lessons that we learn from the Boston Marathon attack,” Gray said to students during a recent class. “You have to understand the importance of some of the international dynamics of what’s going on in Chechnya, because it comes home to good ol’ US of A.”
