Free Master's Degree for Some People

"The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's National Preparedness Directorate, FEMA and the Naval Postgraduate School Center for Homeland Defense and Security (CHDS) have pioneered graduate education programs for homeland security. Over the last nine years, CHDS has built a cadre of graduate education programs and resources used by universities and agencies across the country.

The M.A. program is offered at no cost to eligible local, tribal, state, and federal officials. To accommodate participants' time constraints, NPS requires students to be in residence only two weeks every quarter (for a total of twelve weeks for the whole program). Students complete the remainder of their coursework via the web.

The degree is fully accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) and is awarded by the Naval Postgraduate School. The degree provides leaders with the knowledge and skills to:

Develop strategies, plans and programs to prevent terrorist attacks within the United States, and reduce America’s vulnerability to terrorism;
Build the organizational arrangements needed to strengthen homeland security, including local/tribal/state/federal, civil-military and interagency cooperation;
Help mayors, governors, and federal officials improve homeland security preparedness by conducting “real world” actionable policy and strategy development.

The degree program requires 18 months of continuous enrollment and coursework and a thesis. It involves a significant commitment on the part of the participants and the agencies to which they are assigned. The courses are organized in quarters rather than semesters. Each quarter requires only two weeks in residence at the NPS campus, located in Monterey, California or at the National Capital Region campus located in West Virginia. The remainder of the coursework is completed via network-based learning.

"The Master’s Degree Program is provided at no cost to State (including members of the National Guard under Title 32), Local municipality, Tribal, and U.S. Department of Homeland Security government employees (including the U.S. Coast Guard) accepted into the program. Non-DHS Federal government employees and U.S. military officers are also encouraged to apply; but are required to have financial sponsorship from their agency or command if they are accepted into the program. "


https://www.chds.us/?masters/overview

 

This is an awesome option for some. I considered it at one time, but my employment changed and I'm no longer eligible.

Naval Postgraduate School just sounds really impressive to me. Price is right!

 

Narrow audience. Few slots. Highly competitive. Short-residency requirements. Costs are huge, though. They're paid by the sponsoring organization (employer) and are, thus, free to the participant. I used to have a role in it. (Hi, Heather!)

 

Do local/state Gov. and Indian Tribes have to pay....or do the feds pick up those tabs? I'm sure it's not actually cheap. Then again I can't believe the money that must flow through a place like the CDP in Anniston.

 

IIRC, the hosting agency pays for their participating employee. I was the program manager representing DHS and we paid for our participating employees, but not the state, local, and tribal.