About

Do you need a graduate degree program that fits well with your busy schedule? Do you want to gain the analytical skills and knowledge that security-related employers want their recruits to have?

The master of science in security studies program at East Carolina University is a truly innovative and challenging curriculum. Students engage with top-notch faculty in an online setting to learn about the diverse fields relevant to security studies. ECU's MSSS program features six core courses to provide our students with a common base of knowledge about the field of security studies, combined with areas of emphasis designed to allow students to gain insights and knowledge about specific security sub-fields of interest to them. The areas of emphasis include international security, homeland security policy, science and technology security (computer science or information technology specialization), and environmental health and occupational safety.

You will study in an online environment designed to accommodate your busy schedule, while allowing you to participate extensively in your classes. Students in the MSSS program come from a variety of career fields and interests providing students with the opportunity to be exposed to different perspectives about security issues. Faculty for the program are drawn from more than 15 departments, which gives MSSS students the opportunity to learn from experts in different fields. Across all the classes, the MSSS program emphasizes the importance of thinking and writing analytically and with clarity, two skill sets that your future employers will be seeking.

ECU Advantage

East Carolina's master of science in security studies program examines security problems and responses from many different perspectives, providing students with a broad base of knowledge. Security issues are examined from the international, U.S., state and local levels. The MSSS program is also interdisciplinary, allowing students to choose classes that best suit their interests while exposing them to perspectives from a variety of different security-related disciplines.

Through the MSSS online program, students will have the opportunity to interface with not just our excellent faculty, but also other students who are engaged in different security fields, including the US Armed Services, National Guard, law enforcement, intelligence, private security, emergency management, and many more. The approach gives ECU's MSSS students a broad understanding of security issues as well as providing them with the analytical skills that are sought after by security-related employers.

As an ECU student, you can research your future career in Steppingblocks. Explore real-world stats about your major, your interests, and your dream job title with data-powered career exploration tools designed for doers like you.

What You Will Study

Program Coordinator: Armin Krishnan (119-A Brewster Building; 252-328-6156; krishnana@ecu.edu)

The Security Studies, MS offers four areas of emphasis: environmental health and occupational safety, homeland security policy, international security, and science and technology security.

All students applying for the degree are expected to apply through the Graduate School's online process, submit three letters of reference, and submit a statement of purpose.

The required core courses are offered in a distance education format to enable security professionals to engage in the program without being on campus. The international security and homeland security policy areas of emphasis can be completed via distance education. If a course in the area of emphasis is offered face-to-face, students may opt to take it on campus. Otherwise, they will have to either select another course or wait for that class to be offered again in a distance education format.

The degree requires a minimum of 36 s.h. as follows: 

1. Core courses - 15 s.h.
  • SECS 6000 - Security Studies Foundations
  • SECS 6155 - Changing Nature of National Security Policy
  • SECS 6260 - Intelligence and National Security
  • SECS 6300 - Research Methods for Security Studies
  • SECS 6350 - Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)
2. Internship - 3 s.h.

Students with relevant work experience in excess of one year may apply to the director of the program for exemption from the internship requirement. Those students who are exempted will complete 33 s.h. instead of 36 s.h.; no academic credit will be awarded for work experience.

  • SECS 6450 - Internship
3. Area of Emphasis - 12 s.h.

All students must complete 12 s.h. in one of the following areas of emphasis.

    Environmental health and occupational safety:
    • EHST 6010 - Fundamentals of Environmental Health
    • EHST 6100 - Elements in Environmental Engineering
    • SAFT 6290 - Fire Protection and Prevention and Emergency Management
    • SAFT 6402 - Applied Safety Management
    • SAFT 6410 - Systems Safety and Risk Analysis
    Homeland security policy:
    • BIOL 6110 - Bioterrorism and Biosecurity
    • EHST 6010 - Fundamentals of Environmental Health
    • HIST 6260 - The United States and the Middle East, 1783 to the Present
    • CRIM 5000 - Comparative Criminal Justice
    • CRIM 6502 - Criminal Justice and Terrorism
    • CRIM 6620 - Transnational Crime
    • PADM 6163 - Environmental Policy
    • PADM 6170 - Intergovernmental/Interagency Relations
    • PADM 6220 - Leadership and Ethics in the Public Sector
    • PLAN 6015 - Disaster Planning, Policy, and Practice
    • POLS 6382 - Global Terrorism
    • SECS 6270 - Intelligence Analysis
    • SECS 6320 - Cyber Warfare and Security
    • SECS 6400 - The Foundation of Homeland Security and Defense
    • SECS 6430 - Special Topics Seminar
    • SOCI 5500 - Seminar in Population
    International security:
    • HIST 6210 - War and Society
    • HIST 6260 - The United States and the Middle East, 1783 to the Present
    • HIST 6570 - The Modern Middle East: The Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries
    • INTL 6005 - Communication Across Cultures
    • INTL 6105 - Global Issues
    • INTL 6500 - International Problem Solving and Decision Making
    • INTL 6510 - Global and Multicultural Discourse
    • POLS 6080 - American Foreign Relations
    • POLS 6360 - Causes of International War
    • POLS 6382 - Global Terrorism
    • POLS 6425 - War, Peace and Security in the Middle East
    • POLS 6440 - Seminar in International Organization
    • SECS 6250 - Policy and Practice of Security
    • SECS 6270 - Intelligence Analysis
    • SECS 6320 - Cyber Warfare and Security
    • SECS 6330 - Covert Action and Hybrid Warfare
    • SECS 6380 - The Art of Statecraft and International Security
    • SECS 6390 - Human Security
    • SECS 6420 - Globalization and Security
    • SECS 6430 - Special Topics Seminar
    Science and technology security:

    Students must select one specialization and choose four courses from that specialization. Only students with a technical undergraduate background may apply for this. Students should be aware that the science and technology security and environmental health and occupational safety areas of emphasis do not guarantee that the coursework will be available via a distance education format. Furthermore, the area of emphasis in these programs may exceed the minimum 12 s.h. requirement due to the student's need to have completed prerequisites or the numbers of credit hours associated with specific courses. Students interested in these areas of emphasis are encouraged to contact the relevant department to receive further information about their current offerings.

      Areas of specialization are as follows:
        Computer science:
        • CSCI 5800 - Artificial Intelligence
        • CSCI 6100 - Cryptography and Information Security
        • CSCI 6130 - Networking and Telecommunication
        • CSCI 6300 - Cryptographic Protocols
        • CSCI 7000 - Thesis
        Information technology:
        • ICTN 6823 - Information Security Management
        • ICTN 6865 - Fundamental Network Security
        • ICTN 6878 - Legal and Ethical Issues in Information Technology
        • IDIS 6515 - Logistical Security and Safety Management
        • ITEC 6011 - Technological Ethics, Diversity, and Leadership
        • ITEC 6050 - Technology Management Strategy
        • ITEC 6060 - Research Methods in Technology
3. Thesis or non-thesis option - 6 s.h.

Students may take either a thesis or non-thesis option. Students selecting the thesis option must complete a minimum of 6 s.h. of SECS 7000 and prepare a thesis acceptable to a three-person committee with relevant expertise. Students pursuing the area of emphasis in science and technology security, computer science specialization must combine SECS 7000 - Thesis (3 s.h.) with CSCI 7000 - Thesis (3 s.h.) for the total of 6 s.h. of thesis. Students may choose the non-thesis option by taking two additional courses (6 s.h.) in their area of emphasis.

    Comprehensive Assessment Requirement

    All ECU graduate programs require students to successfully complete a comprehensive assessment. All students in this program must pass a comprehensive exam.

      For more information about this degree visit the university's academic catalogs.
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