Pennsylvania pays emergency management directors $81,550, which is
$11,780 below the national median and the lowest of the four states with enough
programs to rank. It employs 520 of them, around 3.9% of the national
total, so the work exists here. The pay simply does not keep up, and that changes how you
should read the prices below.
Because the state holds one of the most expensive emergency management programs in the
country alongside two of the cheapest. Four years at the PASSHE price of $7,716 costs
$30,864. Four years at $45,000 costs $180,000, a difference
of $149,136. Set that against a state median of $81,550 and the more expensive route asks you to spend more than two years of median salary on
the gap alone.
All 5 Bachelor's In Emergency Management Programs In Pennsylvania, 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 Pennsylvania ranked by score
#
School
City
In-state tuition
Graduation rate
Online
Score
1
Pennsylvania College of Technology
Williamsport
$15,450
53%
Yes
71.4
2
Millersville University of Pennsylvania
Millersville
$7,716
58%
Yes
68.7
3
Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania
Slippery Rock
$7,716
66%
No
63.3
4
Immaculata University
Immaculata
$28,130
71%
No
54.6
5
DeSales University
Center Valley
$45,000
72%
No
44.1
1
Bachelor's In Emergency Management & Homeland Security
Pennsylvania College of Technology
Williamsport, Pennsylvania
Online
Penn College charges every student in-state tuition regardless of where they live, which makes its published price the same wherever you are applying from.
The BS in Emergency Management and Homeland Security runs through the School of Business, Arts and Sciences, and Penn College offers it both on campus and fully online. The college states the online degree follows the same curriculum as the on-campus one rather than being a reduced version, and the coursework runs from designing emergency operations plans through to implementing a coordinated response.
The tuition policy is the thing to notice. Penn College states that all students receive in-state tuition no matter their residency, which is unusual and changes the comparison entirely if you are outside Pennsylvania. Against the other programs on this page, where an out-of-state student would normally pay a premium, the published figure here is what you actually pay. Admission is open and rolling, and students can pair the degree with a minor or an immersion.
In-state tuition for all students regardless of residency
Online degree follows the same curriculum as on campus
Open and rolling admission
Minors and immersions available alongside the degree
Millersville teaches emergency management as an earth science. The required coursework includes oceanography, meteorology, environmental geology and GIS, which no other program on this list demands.
The BS runs through Millersville's Center for Disaster Research and Education, with a 21-credit core of Introduction to Emergency Management, Natural Hazards Risk Assessment and Mitigation, Disaster Management and Community Risk Reduction, Disaster Recovery and Response, Business Continuity and Continuity of Operations, Introduction to Terrorism, WMD and Homeland Security, and Emergency Management Planning.
What sets it apart is the 26 credits of required related science sitting on top of that: Earth Systems and Natural Hazards, World Oceans or Oceanography, The Atmosphere, Environmental Geology, Environmental Meteorology, precalculus, and a GIS course chosen from three options. If you want to understand the hazard itself rather than only the administrative response to it, this is the curriculum that does it. The program is offered on campus, fully online and hybrid, includes a required internship or research project, and connects to an accelerated combined BS and MS in Emergency Management. Contact for the program is Dr. Duane Hagelgans.
Slippery Rock pairs homeland security with corporate security, so 15 of the 60 major credits are fraud, physical security and personnel security rather than disaster response.
The BS sits in the Department of Homeland and Corporate Security Studies and totals 121 credits, with 60 in the major. The homeland security core is 36 credits across twelve courses: Introduction to Homeland Security, Principles of Emergency Management, Fundamentals of Terrorism, Risk Analysis and Strategic Planning, Emergency Management Planning, Terrorist Organizations and Lone Wolves, Weapons of Mass Destruction, Protecting Infrastructure and Key Assets, Intelligence Operations, Intelligence for Homeland Security, Securing Virtual Infrastructure, and Terrorism, Law and National Security.
Then there are 15 required credits from the corporate security side: Physical Security, Personnel Security, Fraud, Law and Ethics in the Workplace, and Risk Assessment and Fraud Prevention. That combination points at private-sector security work as much as at county emergency management, and it is worth knowing before you enrol if public-sector disaster work is the goal. Students finish with a capstone or an internship, and the department runs a Security Studies Club, a Project to End Human Trafficking club and a speaker series. Slippery Rock is part of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education.
36-credit homeland security core plus 15 credits of corporate security
Fraud examination and physical security required
Capstone or internship to finish
Highest graduation rate of the two PASSHE options here
DeSales runs a Center for Homeland Security, an applied AI track that doubles as a data analytics minor, and an Act 120 partnership that folds police academy training into regular tuition.
The BA in Homeland Security is 120 credits with 48 hours in the major, taught in the College of Sciences. Core coursework includes Organized Crime, Terrorism and Counterterrorism, Infrastructure Protection, Introduction to Emergency Management, Disaster Preparedness, Intelligence and Security, Psychology of Terror and Fear, and Bioterror and Diseases. The program is directed out of the DeSales University Center for Homeland Security, whose director, Ahmet Yayla, is an associate professor in the department.
Two pathways make the price easier to justify. The Data Analytics and Applied AI track adds cybersecurity, digital forensics, applied data analysis and data visualization, and counts as a data analytics minor. The accelerated five-year BA to MAHS route is open to juniors with a 3.00 GPA and lets three graduate courses count toward both degrees, with master's concentrations in counterterrorism digital forensics, counterterrorism investigations or emergency management. DeSales also partners with the Allentown Police Academy under Act 120, and states the academy tuition is included in the student's regular spring tuition. Past internships and placements include the US Coast Guard, Homeland Security Investigations and the National Security Agency. One thing to plan around: DeSales lists this degree as in-class day delivery, so it is a program you attend on campus. The fully online option belongs to the master's, not the bachelor's.
Data Analytics and Applied AI track, counts as a minor
Accelerated five-year bachelor's to master's
Act 120 police academy training included in spring tuition
Center for Homeland Security with a named director
Where Completion And Value Disagree In Pennsylvania Emergency Management Programs
In most states the best-scoring program is also a sensible buy. Pennsylvania is where those
two things separate. The two highest graduation rates on this page belong to the two most
expensive programs, and both sit in the bottom half of the ranking because the scoring weighs
what you pay as well as whether you finish. The top-ranked program graduates
53% of its students at $15,450.
Neither reading is wrong on its own. A higher graduation rate is a real signal, and a school
that finishes 72% of its students is doing something the others are not. The
question is whether that difference is worth
$118,200 across four years in a
state whose median salary for this work is $81,550. That is a judgment about your
finances rather than about the schools, which is why both numbers sit in the table rather than
being collapsed into one verdict.
What An Emergency Management Director Earns In Pennsylvania
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 $81,550. The bottom 10% earn $54,800 and the top 10% reach
$135,870, with the middle half between $62,350 and $103,220.
Pennsylvania's 90th percentile is the number that stands out least favorably: at
$135,870 it trails the national 90th percentile of $166,430, so the
ceiling here is lower as well as the midpoint.
Compare every state.
Accreditation For Emergency Management Degrees In Pennsylvania
CAEMHSE accredits degrees in this field, but it is thinly held and not CHEA-recognized, so it will not narrow this list. What applies to all five schools here is
institutional accreditation, which for Pennsylvania generally means the Middle States
Commission on Higher Education, verifiable in the
Department of Education's database.
EMAP accredits government emergency management agencies rather than degrees, and
FEMA's Higher Education Program listing is recognition rather than accreditation.
Common Questions About Emergency Management Programs In Pennsylvania
How many emergency management programs are there in Pennsylvania?
Five ranked bachelor's programs at 5 institutions. Two are public universities in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education charging $7,716, and the rest are private, running from $15,450 to $45,000.
What is the cheapest emergency management degree in Pennsylvania?
Millersville at $7,716 a year, tied with the other PASSHE option on this list. Four years at that price comes to $30,864, against $180,000 at DeSales University, a difference of $149,136 before any aid.
Do emergency management directors earn well in Pennsylvania?
Less than the national average. The Pennsylvania median is $81,550 against $93,330 nationally, $11,780 below. The state does employ 520 emergency management directors, around 3.9% of the national total, so the jobs are there; the pay simply trails.
Which Pennsylvania program has the highest graduation rate?
DeSales University at 72%. Worth reading alongside the price though: the two highest graduation rates in Pennsylvania belong to the two most expensive programs, while the top-ranked program here graduates 53% at a fraction of the cost. Graduation rate and value pull in opposite directions in this state more than in any other.
Can you study emergency management online in Pennsylvania?
Yes, and one option removes the usual out-of-state penalty. Penn College offers the degree fully online and states that all students receive in-state tuition regardless of residency. Millersville runs its degree on campus, fully online and hybrid.
Is there a Pennsylvania program for people going into policing?
DeSales partners with the Allentown Police Academy under Act 120 and states the academy tuition is included in the student's regular spring tuition. Slippery Rock takes a different angle, pairing homeland security with corporate security coursework in fraud examination, physical security and personnel security, which points at private-sector security work.
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.
