a master's degree in homeland security is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #64 out of 343 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.
In 2025, College Factual analyzed 2 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Homeland Security Master's Degree Schools in District of Columbia ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 228 master's degrees in homeland security to qualified students.
Average early-career salary of those graduating with their master's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. After all, your master's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.
Other Factors We Consider
The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.
Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to homeland security students as compared to other majors.
Major Demand - The number of homeland security students who choose to seek a master's degree at the school.
Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
Student Debt - How much debt homeland security students go into to obtain their master's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized homeland security related body.
Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for homeland security students working on their master's degree.
Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Homeland Security Master's Degree Schools in District of Columbia ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.
Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Homeland Security in District of Columbia
The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in homeland security.
Top District of Columbia Schools for a Master's in Homeland Security
George Washington University is a good decision for individuals interested in a master's degree in homeland security. Located in the large city of Washington, GWU is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.
Homeland Security master's degree recipients from George Washington University earn a boost of around $23,365 over the typical income of homeland security majors.
Every student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in homeland security has to take a look at American University. Located in the city of Washington, The American University is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.
Master's students who receive their degree from the homeland security program make about $70,939 in the first couple years of their career.
The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
