Master of Science
Emergency Management (Cohort) Degree
Advance your emergency management career with leadership skills in this hands-on master’s program.
Emergency Management (Cohort) Degree
Learn relevant management skills essential for emergency managers.
Bellevue University’s master’s in emergency management not only offers practical and relevant coursework in preparation, response and recovery, but also a faculty that is experienced in their field, working in professions like the military, FEMA, and public and private sectors. By the time you graduate with your master’s in emergency management, you will have a detailed portfolio of projects from real-world emergency scenarios to present to prospective employers.
![Fire and rescue team discussing plan of action](/https/www.bellevue.edu/degrees/images/v3/master/v3-emergency-mgmt-ms-in-copy.jpg)
Disaster recovery and emergency preparedness skills to build your career.
The emergency management master’s degree may help expand your opportunities for management or leadership roles in the public or private sectors by developing critical thinking and decision-making skills in:
- Emergency planning and disaster preparedness
- Disaster response and recovery
- Project management
- Communication and working relationships with public and private sectors
- Risk management
- Business practices
Take one course at a time in your master’s in emergency management.
As a cohort program, the master’s in emergency management allows you to simplify your study experience with a course load that’s manageable for busy students. You’ll register for classes once at the beginning of the program without creating a new class schedule each term.
Take the next step toward your emergency management master’s degree. We’re ready to help you get there.
Courses
What You’ll Learn
Graduates of the master's in emergency management online will be able to:
- Design emergency plans based on situational characteristics.
- Assess available resources to ensure operational continuity.
- Formulate emergency communications to engage stakeholders.
- Understand a grant proposal aligned with an available funding source.
- Compose a leadership philosophy compatible with ethical and legal standards.
Emergency Management (Cohort) Degree Courses
Current students please login to BRUIN and select “Academic Progress” for your curriculum requirements.
Requirements (36 credit hours)
(Click a course name below to view course details)
Term 1
This course will give the student a deep understanding of the fundamentals of the emergency planning process and how to manage disasters with precision and skill. Students will achieve a new level of disaster preparedness, learn the holistic recovery process, proper mitigation procedures, planning considerations and the importance of both public and private sector involvement. Real life experiences will be examined and utilized to reach that high level of learning. Skills Learned: Emergency Management
This course focuses on the legal aspects of Emergency Management through identification and study of controlling constitutional, Federal and State Statutes along with current case law. Know and understand the legal aspect working with (national security entities, domestic security entities, state and local emergency managers and the military including National Guard). Skills Learned: Emergency Management, Federal and State Statutes.
Create a fictional company of minimum 500 employees in an environment with a population of at least 250,000 citizens. The goal of this project is to identify the basic preparations the company has/should have for an event where emergency management is needed. This will include the identification of risk, strategic planning and BCP (preparation, response and recovery). Skill Learned: Strategic Planning Prerequisites: This course is taken in conjunction with MSEM 501 and MSEM 511
Term 2
This course will give the student the understanding of disaster resiliency. Disasters of all types present multiple social impacts on communities, businesses, and the population impacted by these disasters. Disaster response professionals use their knowledge of these social impacts to reduce the potential for extreme impacts before disasters occur and to assist communities in most efficient and effective recoveries. The concept of resiliency will be used to explore social impacts from disasters, along with strategies to enhance resiliency and mitigate the impacts of the social impacts of disasters. Skills Learned: Disaster Response, Emergency management, Resilience and Resilience Planning
This course serves as an advanced exploration into ill-structured situations requiring strategic plans and effective resource management. Students develop strategies around personnel management, budget allocation, performance metrics and goal setting. Skills Learned: Goal Setting, Management, Performance Metric, Resource Management and Strategic Planning
With the framework of your company created in Part 1, how would you benchmark your company with other private sector companies in your geographical footprint? This would include comparing and contrasting their BCP/EM plans for preparation, response and recovery with these partners (a minimum of 3). Benchmarking with these partners on their preparation, response and recovery and how they strategically plan for emergency events through metric comparison. This would include exterior real life outreach to companies within the geographical footprint. Skill Learned: Benchmarking Prerequisites: This course is taken in conjunction with MSEM 531 and MSEM 541
Term 3
Students explore issues and challenges in disaster response and recovery, including evacuation or relocation in the aftermath of a crisis. Using a case-study approach, students analyze real-world critical incidents requiring fast response measures and recovery support and determine the degree of success, in part, on the coordination and cooperation of various departments and agencies. Topics include National Response Framework (NRF), National Disaster Recovery Framework (NDRF), and resource management, stakeholders, infrastructure, leadership, communication and mitigation activities. Students completing the course have a broad view of a response and recovery mission from beginning to end. Skills Learned: Communications, Cooperation, Coordinating, Disaster Recovery, Disaster Response, Infrastructure, Leadership, National Response Framework and Resource management
Students focus on the concepts, tools, and best practices of project management. The course adopts a managerial process approach to Project Management, which consists of initiating, planning, executing and closing the project. Major topics will include project scope, project time, project cost, project quality, project risk, project resources, project communications and to be an effective project manager. Cases are utilized to integrate the learning in the course and provide decision- making experience for the student. Skills Learned: Decision Making, Project Communications, Project Management, Project Resources, Project Risk management and Scope Management
With the framework of your company created in Project 1, how would you benchmark your company with public sector resources (local, state and federal) to assist you in an emergency management event and how those resources would be allocated and allocated to your region that would assist your fictional company? Benchmarking with these partners on their preparation, response and recovery framework and how they strategically plan for emergency events through metric comparison. What processes do these public resources offer private sector entity as compared to the general public? Skill Learned: Benchmarking Prerequisites: This course is taken in conjunction with MSEM 601 and MSEM 611
Term 4
This course provides a thorough grounding in risk management theory and its application to real world problems. It will provide the opportunity to engage in a wide-ranging interdisciplinary analysis of the extent, effects and explanations of crisis and disaster, and the use of risk theory. Skill Learned: Risk Management
Social media is a critical source of information and communication tool during emergencies. As emergency managers, students will learn proper ways to leverage social media to improve situational awareness, engage with the public, and share important information. Additionally, students will learn how to create a Disaster Preparedness Budget designed to assist in preparing their companies finances to withstand small to large-scale emergencies. Skills Learned: Communications and Emergency Management
Table Top Exercise. Based upon the complication of the past 3 projects, you will use the information gathered in each project to formulate a table top exercise for your fictional company. This table top will include the members from the private sector, public sector as well as the internal stakeholders for your company. For example, this would include your HR, legal, corporate communications, security, facilities, IT and any other groups that you feel should be included. Skill Learned: Corporate Communication Prerequisites: This course is taken in conjunction with MSEM 631 and MSEM 641.
University Accreditation
Bellevue University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (hlcommission.org).
Whether a college, university, or program is accredited is important to students with financial aid, employers who provide tuition assistance, donors, and the federal government.
This program is considered a non-licensure degree/certificate program and is not intended for those seeking licensure or the practice of licensed profession. This program may be relevant to multiple occupations that do not require licensure and was not designed to meet educational requirements for any specific professional license or certification.
*Consult with an admissions counselor to determine your eligible credits, as well as to verify minimum graduation requirements for this degree. Transfer credits must be from a regionally accredited college or university. Bellevue University makes no promises to prospective students regarding the acceptance of credit awarded by examination, credit for prior learning, or credit for transfer until an evaluation has been conducted.
We work with the experience you bring to the table for your master’s in emergency management.
Format
100% Online learning that works for your life and your goals.
Our flexible online courses are designed to bring quality learning into a format that fits your schedule, without sacrificing meaningful faculty feedback and collaboration with peers across the country. Stay on track with the help of your Student Coach — with you from day one to graduation.
See how online learning can make earning a master’s in emergency management possible for you.
Tuition & Financial Aid
Graduate degrees can be more affordable than you think.
Earning a degree is an investment in yourself. We want to help you make sure it’s a wise one.
2024 / 2025 Academic Year
$660 In-Class or Online Cost Per Credit
(Additional fees may apply to individual courses within your major requirements)
Curious about financial aid? We’ve got the answers.
As a graduate student, you may be eligible for up to $20,500 per year in unsubsidized Direct Student Loans.
And, students often apply for graduate program scholarships through Bellevue University or tuition reimbursement through their employers. Talk to us and we’ll help you explore your options.
Move forward with a more affordable emergency management master’s degree.
Admissions
Start on the path to your master’s. No GRE or GMAT required.
We believe in reducing roadblocks to education. That’s why our admissions requirements focus only on what matters—helping hardworking students access the education they deserve.
For admission to Bellevue University, applicants must:
- Possess a bachelor’s or master’s degree from a regionally accredited college or university, or a U.S. equivalent degree from a nationally or internationally accredited college or university.
- Have maintained a GPA of 2.5 or better from the most recent 60 credits of coursework earned toward the bachelor’s degree or have maintained a GPA of 3.0 or better in previous graduate level coursework earned toward the graduate degree.
If you haven’t already, take a moment to request information about your masters program and get in touch with our admissions team. We’ll help make sure you have what you need and answer your questions.
When you’re ready to apply, start your application online. You’ll then:
- Submit your deposit to Bellevue University. (You can do this at any point in the process.)
- Submit your transcripts from past institutions and any other required documentation.
- Complete the FAFSA and see what grants and loans you’re eligible for.
If you are an international student, please see the following specific information: International Student Master Admissions.
You'll just need to create an account and complete a pre-application to Bellevue University through Guild. Once you receive confirmation that your pre-application to Bellevue University has been approved, you'll need to complete the required steps to get fully accepted and registered. These include:
- Submitting transcripts from past institutions
- Submitting related documentation
Ready to get started?
Reach out to admissions.
- Get your questions answered about the Emergency Management (Cohort) Degree
- Understand your financial aid and scholarship options
- Map out a schedule that fits with your priorities