Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness

Emergency preparedness has always been a critical aspect of governmental policy at the federal, state and local levels. Response to natural disasters — floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, outbreak of infectious disease — requires pre-disaster planning, mid-disaster operations and postdisaster reconstruction that can only be carried out successfully through a partnership between all levels of government and between the public sector, private sector and civil society. Since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania the concept of emergency preparedness has been expanded to include the task of homeland security — protecting the U.S. from terrorist-caused disasters. Policy planners and operational responders at all levels of government who had previously focused upon natural disasters now have the added responsibility of preparing for and mitigating the effects of politically inspired terrorist violence.

Admission to a VCU undergraduate degree program requires graduation from a secondary school or the equivalent (lyceum, senior middle school, university preparatory school, completion of GCSE exams, Standard 12 graduation, etc.), which typically consists of at least 12 years beyond kindergarten.Your secondary education should be the type that would prepare you for entrance to a recognized university in your home country.VCU also requires you to have completed the following academic units by the final year of your high school curriculum:MathematicsNatural scienceHistory or social scienceEnglish or foreign languageYou must complete any special departmental requirements in advance, including standardized tests, and the appropriate testing agency must send your official test results to international admissions.