Ohio is where emergency management directors are paid best at the top. The state's 90th percentile is
$193,060, which is $26,630 above the national 90th percentile of
$166,430. Its bottom decile, $54,090, is within $120 of the
national one. So the floor here is ordinary and the ceiling is not, which is the reverse of
what several southern states offer and a different proposition entirely.
The median, $94,690, sits $1,360 above the national figure and
18th of 47, but the median understates what is happening: Ohio's
mean is $103,520, $8,830 above its own median, which is the signature
of a distribution pulled upward by a well-paid minority. Those are the senior state, federal
and large-metropolitan roles. Ohio is a state to build a career in rather than simply to start
one, and that should change how much you are willing to spend on the degree.
All 3 Bachelor's In Emergency Management Programs In Ohio, Ranked
Scored on graduation rate, cost, delivery, selectivity and how directly the degree targets
emergency management. Full weighting on the methodology page.
Emergency management programs in Ohio ranked by score
#
School
City
In-state tuition
Graduation rate
Online
Score
1
University of Akron Main Campus
Akron
$10,735
52%
Yes
68.9
2
Ashland University
Ashland
$29,940
61%
Yes
56.1
3
Mount Vernon Nazarene University
Mount Vernon
$26,719
68%
No
54.7
1
Bachelor's In Crisis/Emergency/Disaster Management
University of Akron Main Campus
Akron, Ohio
Online
Akron is one of very few universities anywhere where this subject has a school of its own rather than a department that hosts it, and it requires both a capstone and a senior internship to graduate.
The BS in Emergency Management and Homeland Security is 120 credit hours in the College of Health and Human Sciences, taught by the School of Disaster Science and Emergency Services. A dedicated school for this subject is rare: almost everywhere else on this site the degree is a program inside criminal justice, public administration, business or nursing, and it competes for attention with whatever else that department does. Akron's course codes tell the same story, because EMHS is its own prefix rather than a handful of electives borrowed from elsewhere.
The required sequence is unusually complete for an undergraduate degree. It runs EMHS 105 Introduction to Disaster, Hazards and Risk, EMHS 305 Principles of Emergency Management and Homeland Security, EMHS 340 Disaster Research Methods, EMHS 350 Disaster Preparedness and Response, EMHS 360 Introduction to Terrorism, EMHS 365 Disaster Mitigation, EMHS 367 Disaster Recovery, EMHS 401 Crisis Leadership and EMHS 420 Disaster Vulnerability, before EMHS 480 Capstone in the fourth-year autumn and EMHS 495 Internship in the final spring. Three communication courses in leadership and supervision sit alongside them. Disaster Research Methods and Disaster Vulnerability as separate required courses are the giveaway that this is a research-capable department rather than a vocational one. There are two entry routes: a traditional four-year curriculum, or a step-up option for people arriving with a responder-related associate degree in something like criminal justice or fire protection. Akron runs the degree fully online as well as on campus, so the step-up route is open to a working responder anywhere.
Taught by a school built for this subject, not a department hosting it
Required senior internship and a separate capstone
Disaster research methods and disaster vulnerability as required courses
Bachelor's In Emergency Management and Homeland Security
Ashland University
Ashland, Ohio
Online
Ashland organizes the degree around four security contexts, border, transportation, environmental and infrastructure, and places interns with the Advanced Technical Intelligence Center.
The BS in Emergency Management and Homeland Security is 120 credit hours in the College of Arts and Sciences, taught by the Criminal Justice and Sociology Department. Ashland states the four primary security contexts the degree works across, which is a cleaner organizing idea than most programs manage: border, transportation, environmental and infrastructure. Coursework runs through emergency management, critical infrastructure protection, risk analysis, industrial and environmental security, domestic and international terror organizations, homeland security operations and intelligence, criminal justice, cybersecurity, and law and policy.
The department connection is what the degree trades on. Students hear from professional speakers including judges, coroners, investigators and FBI agents, attend professional meetings in criminal justice with the opportunity to present their research, and can intern with law enforcement agencies, county emergency management agencies and the Advanced Technical Intelligence Center. That last one is worth a look before you apply, because an intelligence-analysis placement is not something most undergraduate programs in this field can offer. Ashland is candid about who the degree suits, saying people who excel in this field are not averse to confronting a disaster directly, and pointing at counter-intelligence, FEMA and corporate security as destinations.
Organized around border, transportation, environmental and infrastructure security
Internships with the Advanced Technical Intelligence Center
Speakers including judges, coroners, investigators and FBI agents
120 credit hours in the Criminal Justice and Sociology Department
MVNU takes students out to the Ohio EMA, the Ohio Department of Homeland Security, FEMA and DHS, and on domestic disaster and international emergency deployments.
The BA in Emergency Management and Homeland Security is built around applied learning, and the off-campus program is the substance of that rather than a phrase. Faculty guide students on visits to the Ohio Emergency Management Department, the Ohio Department of Homeland Security, FEMA, the Department of Homeland Security and county emergency management offices, and on domestic disaster and international emergency deployments. Students may work alongside professionals in local, national or international settings depending on what is available. For an undergraduate deciding between a county planning career and a federal one, seeing both before graduating is worth more than most curriculum differences.
The academic side leans toward research more than the size of the program would suggest. Students complete research projects as coursework and are encouraged to present through conferences, workshops and MVNU's undergraduate research symposium, with faculty supporting those who want to publish. The curriculum covers prevention, protection, mitigation, response and recovery across public agencies, private companies and nonprofits. Faculty include Dr. Thad Hicks, Professor of Emergency Management and Criminal Justice, and Professor Marc Hedrick, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice. One thing to weigh openly: MVNU describes faith as the foundation of the experience, with prayer in the classroom and Scripture engagement, and travel and service programs framed around growing in faith. That suits some students and not others, and it is better known before applying than after.
Field visits to Ohio EMA, Ohio DHS, FEMA and DHS
Domestic disaster and international emergency deployments
Undergraduate research symposium and conference presentation
Why A Dedicated Emergency Management School Matters In Ohio
Across every program on this site, emergency management is almost always a degree hosted by a
department built for something else: criminal justice, public administration, business,
nursing. That is not a scandal. It is what happens to a young field. But it does mean the
subject competes for faculty hires, timetable slots and equipment with whatever the department
was founded to do.
Akron is the exception. A School of Disaster Science and Emergency Services with its own EMHS
course prefix means the required sequence can include Disaster Research Methods and Disaster
Vulnerability as courses in their own right, which is what a department teaches when it has
researchers rather than borrowed instructors. Pair that with a required senior internship and a
separate capstone, and a step-up route for people arriving with a responder associate degree,
and it is the most institutionally serious arrangement in the state.
That is not an argument that the other two are weak. Mount Vernon Nazarene's off-campus
program puts undergraduates inside the Ohio EMA, the Ohio Department of Homeland Security,
FEMA and DHS, and on real deployments, which no curriculum can substitute for. Ashland's
internship pipeline reaches the Advanced Technical Intelligence Center. Both are worth the
look. The point is that Ohio is the one state on this site where you can choose a program on
the strength of the department behind it rather than only on the courses in front of it.
What An Emergency Management Director Earns In Ohio
Emergency management is the field and the degree, not a job title. The occupation the federal
government tracks against it is
emergency management director,
SOC 11-9161, and that is the code behind every wage figure in this section.
The median is $94,690. The bottom 10% earn $54,090 and the top 10% reach
$193,060, with the middle half between $69,650 and $123,910. The
advantage really is confined to the top: Ohio's 90th percentile runs
$26,630 above the national one, while its 75th percentile,
$123,910, sits $2,580 below the national
$126,490. At the 10th percentile Ohio and the national figure are effectively
the same, so none of this helps a first job.
Compare every state.
Accreditation For Emergency Management Degrees In Ohio
CAEMHSE accredits degrees in this field, but it is thinly held and not CHEA-recognized, so it will not narrow this list. Not even a dedicated school changes it: Akron's is an institutional structure, not an accreditation. What applies instead.
Common Questions About Emergency Management Programs In Ohio
How many emergency management programs are there in Ohio?
Three ranked bachelor's programs at 3 institutions: the University of Akron, Mount Vernon Nazarene University and Ashland University. Akron is the public option and by a wide margin the cheapest, at $10,735 against $29,940 at the priciest.
Do emergency management directors earn well in Ohio?
Better than the national figure, and much better at the top. The Ohio median is $94,690 against $93,330 nationally, 18th of the 47 BLS publishes. The striking number is the 90th percentile: $193,060 in Ohio against $166,430 nationally, $26,630 higher. The bottom decile, at $54,090, is within $120 of the national one.
What is the cheapest emergency management degree in Ohio?
The University of Akron at $10,735 a year, against $29,940 at Ashland University. Across four years that is $42,940 versus $119,760, a difference of $76,820. Akron is also the one with a school built for this subject behind it rather than a host department.
Which Ohio program has the strongest emergency management department?
Akron, on structure rather than opinion. Its degree is taught by a school built for the subject, with its own EMHS course prefix, requires both a capstone and a senior internship, and includes Disaster Research Methods and Disaster Vulnerability as required courses. Elsewhere on this site the subject is almost always a program inside a criminal justice, public administration, business or nursing department.
Are there emergency management jobs in Ohio?
BLS counts 250 emergency management directors in Ohio, 1.9% of the national total and the 15th largest state market of the 46 with a published count. That is a mid-sized market attached to an unusually high pay ceiling, which is a good combination for someone planning to stay.
Do any Ohio programs get students into federal agencies before graduation?
Mount Vernon Nazarene runs faculty-led visits to the Ohio Emergency Management Department, the Ohio Department of Homeland Security, FEMA, the Department of Homeland Security and county emergency management offices, plus domestic disaster and international emergency deployments. Ashland places interns with law enforcement agencies, county emergency management agencies and the Advanced Technical Intelligence Center.
Emergency Management Programs In Other States
62 of the 91 programs we hold are online, so for most of this
list the state you study in and the state you work in need not match. These are the other
states we rank, with what each one holds.
Program detail: each school's own program page, linked from its card above. Akron's course requirements come from the university's own undergraduate bulletin.
