Is a Homeland Security degree worth it?
Across 24 schools, graduates of Homeland Security earn a median $62,672 five years out on $23,205 of debt. Graduates most commonly work as First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives (modeled from the federal CIP-to-SOC crosswalk). These earnings and debt figures come from the U.S. Dept. of Education.
Median 5-yr pay
$62,672
Median debt
$23,205
Years to pay off
3.4
at 10% of pay
AI task exposure
35%
GPT-4-era overlap
10-yr job growth
+2.7%
BLS 2024–2034
Gender pay gap
14.9%
$69,521 vs $59,193
Net price
$19,297/yr
Debt-test failures
5.9%
of programs
'Real' premium
+$4,025
vs avg, adjusted
See where this degree leads, who's hiring, and whether the pay covers the rent.
Explore Homeland Security in full →Data: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard, BLS OEWS, O*NET, AI-exposure measures (Eloundou/AIOE), Zillow. Earnings reflect federally-aided graduates; see the full story for methodology and limitations.