Learn more about how you may fit into the world of intelligence from the experts who are living it day-to-day.

We invite all students in our MS in Counter-Terrorism and Homeland Security program to come campus once a year. This unique opportunity gives you an insider’s perspective of the national security policy world and builds on concepts and ideas discussed in your online courses.

These few days are packed with personalized visits and private tours with our friends and contacts in places like capitol hill and the pentagon.*

You can talk one-on-one with professionals:

• In the organizations
• On a career panel
• At networking dinners

This intensely packed experience also gives you the opportunity to further friendships with peers in the program and connect personally with your instructors.

*The sponsoring U.S. Government agency will have certain policies and procedures that visitors must follow in order to access and visit these sites. These procedures may include the sponsoring agency conducting a brief background check using Personal Identifying Information (PII). The program director will coordinate that process; however, AU cannot guarantee access to students for one or all agencies. Students who are not cleared as visitors will be provided an alternate experience.

As an intelligence research analyst, it’s vitally important that you know how to complete research and analyze data. Aside from individual assignments throughout the coursework in the program, we dedicate two full courses to research and analysis. You start with the foundations of effective research as you learn the “why” and the “how” of theory and then move on to how to complete research and develop its outcomes using STATA, a statistical software for data science.

To graduate from the online MS in Counter-Terrorism and Homeland Security, you will complete a non-credit internship that can, if you wish, be carried out in your local area. This is a chance for you to connect classroom learning to real-world situations as you further your qualifications for high-level rigorous jobs in counter-terrorism and homeland security.

Past internship sites include research centers, police departments, cybersecurity departments in organizations, and Federal Government agencies such as DHS, the CIA, and the FBI.

Have you considered adding Analytics and Management credentials to your graduate degree?  

The School of Public Affairs Analytics and Management Institute (SAMI) offers zero-credit and one-credit skills courses for all students currently enrolled in our M.S. in Counter-Terrorism and Homeland Security. Whether for-credit as part of your degree program or non-credit – and thus tuition-free – in addition to your degree program, by completing any combination of three courses, you can earn a valuable Certificate in Analytics and Management. SAMI classes are available exclusively to current students in a School of Public Affairs online MSCTHS and are offered in a convenient online or hybrid format, with in-person and virtual sessions available on select weekends. To learn more, visit our SAMI course offerings and FAQs or speak to an advisor.