National Security Policy Studies Degrees (2026 stats)
TL;DR
National Security Policy Studies maps to BLS occupations averaging about $61,954, with roughly 1,789,550 workers nationwide in those roles. Median in-state published tuition is about $10,176; common paths include Security Guards and Information Security Analysts.
Key Statistics
National Security Policy Studies: what the data shows
Common questions about national security policy studies degrees, answered from IPEDS, College Scorecard, BLS OEWS, and O*NET in this repository—not program marketing copy.
What is a national security policy studies degree?
A National Security Policy Studies program is classified under NCES CIP 45.0902 in the International Relations and National Security Studies field family (45.09).
A program that focuses on the theory and application of intelligence, diplomacy, military power, and related tools of statecraft to national defense policy formulation and power projection. Includes instruction in history, political theory, public policy analysis, civil-military relations, military and defense studies, homeland security, leadership, threat scenarios, regional and local issues, alliance and coalition issues, defense budgeting and economics, intelligence, and strategy
IPEDS counted 218 completions for this CIP in the survey year in our extract.
How long does it take to get a national security policy studies degree?
Award levels reported to IPEDS for CIP 45.0902 in our file:
- 218 Bachelor's (31.9% of IPEDS total)—typically four years
- 466 Master's (68.1% of IPEDS total)—one to two years beyond a bachelor's
Time to completion depends on enrollment intensity and transfer credits; figures above describe credential type, not calendar time for every student.
What degree do you need?
For Security Guards (top mapped occupation), O*NET incumbent surveys in our career profile report these education credentials most often: Some college (29%), High School or Equivalent (27%), Bachelors Degree (22%).
O*NET education distributions describe incumbent workers, not minimum legal or employer requirements.
What jobs can you get with a national security policy studies degree?
Our degree→occupation mapping links National Security Policy Studies to the BLS roles below. Employment is U.S. OEWS; median wage is national May 2024 where published in our extract.
| Occupation | U.S. employment | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Security Guards | 1,241,770 | $38,370 |
| Information Security Analysts | 179,430 | $124,910 |
| Security and Fire Alarm Systems Installers | 81,510 | $59,300 |
| Transportation Security Screeners | 46,340 | $63,360 |
| Area, Ethnic, and Cultural Studies Teachers, Postsecondary | 11,430 | $84,290 |
| Insurance Claims and Policy Processing Clerks | 229,070 | $48,450 |
See Careers & Jobs for mean wages and industry context.
Is a national security policy studies degree worth it?
College Scorecard national medians for the International Relations and National Security Studies bachelor's program family: median debt $50,224, median earnings $66,596 four years after enrollment. Debt-to-earnings proxy: 1.31.
About 8.6% of graduates in this field family were not working and not enrolled one year after completion in Scorecard's national program medians.
Among schools reporting in our Scorecard extract, median published in-state tuition is $10,176 and median net price is $21,145.
We do not score "worth" on opinion—compare debt, earnings, wages for mapped occupations, and completion data above against your cost and career target.
Institutions
Information about the types of higher education institutions that grant degrees in National Security Policy Studies and the types of students that study this field.
Tuition Costs for Common Institutions
$10,176 Median In-State Public
$48,590 Median Out of State Private
Tuition costs for National Security Policy Studies majors are, on average, $10,176 for in-state public colleges, and $48,590 for out of state private colleges.
Tuition costs comparison for National Security Policy Studies programs.
Degrees Awarded Over Time
100,000 Total Degrees Awarded in 2023
This chart shows the number of degrees awarded in National Security Policy Studies from 2015 to 2023.
Historical trend of degrees awarded in National Security Policy Studies.
Top 5 Schools by Enrollment
| # | School | State | Enrollment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Southern New Hampshire University | NH | 163,164 |
| 2 | Arizona State University Campus Immersion | AZ | 64,674 |
| 3 | Texas A&M University-College Station | TX | 59,615 |
| 4 | Texas A&M University-College Station | TX | 59,615 |
| 5 | University of Central Florida | FL | 59,146 |
Schools with the largest enrollment offering National Security Policy Studies programs.
Top 5 Most Affordable Tuition
| # | School | State | Tuition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chabot College | CA | $1,150 |
| 2 | Allan Hancock College | CA | $1,156 |
| 3 | Irvine Valley College | CA | $1,156 |
| 4 | Santa Monica College | CA | $1,156 |
| 5 | Santa Monica College | CA | $1,156 |
Schools with the lowest tuition costs for National Security Policy Studies programs.
Top 5 Lowest Net Price
| # | School | State | Net Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Irvine Valley College | CA | $2,090 |
| 2 | Cerritos College | CA | $2,424 |
| 3 | Cerritos College | CA | $2,424 |
| 4 | Santa Monica College | CA | $2,779 |
| 5 | Santa Monica College | CA | $2,779 |
Schools with the lowest average net price for National Security Policy Studies programs.
Graduation Rates
Graduation rate data is not available for this degree program.
Graduation/completion rates for National Security Policy Studies programs across institutions.
Where students complete this major (IPEDS)
Bachelor's-level completions (IPEDS Completions, award level 5) summed by institution state. State is taken from IPEDS Directory (HD2023) for each reporting institution.
Geographic concentration
The largest number of reported bachelor's completions for National Security Policy Studies is in TX (47 completions). That state represents about 21.6% of U.S. bachelor's completions reported for this CIP in the IPEDS file we use.
Among states, the highest concentration relative to all bachelor's degrees awarded in-state is VT (0.24% of that state's bachelor's completions).
Top states by count of bachelor's completions for this CIP (IPEDS).
| State | Bachelor's completions (this CIP) | % of U.S. total (this CIP) | % of state's all bachelor's |
|---|---|---|---|
| TX | 47 | 21.6% | 0.02% |
| WV | 34 | 15.6% | 0.10% |
| UT | 30 | 13.8% | 0.03% |
| VT | 30 | 13.8% | 0.24% |
| NY | 22 | 10.1% | 0.01% |
| NE | 18 | 8.3% | 0.06% |
| GA | 16 | 7.3% | 0.01% |
| OH | 10 | 4.6% | 0.01% |
| IN | 5 | 2.3% | 0.01% |
| MO | 3 | 1.4% | 0.00% |
| PA | 2 | 0.9% | 0.00% |
| TN | 1 | 0.5% | 0.00% |
Degree Levels (IPEDS)
Completions reported to IPEDS for CIP 45.0902 in the survey year used in our extract (684 total across levels below).
- 218 Bachelor's (31.9% of IPEDS total)
- 466 Master's (68.1% of IPEDS total)
Source: IPEDS Completions (c2024_a), summed by award level for this CIP.
Careers & Jobs
Occupations linked to this major in our degree→career mapping, with wages and employment from processed BLS career profiles in this repo.
Across these BLS occupations, employment-weighted mean pay is about $61,954. Figures are national OEWS estimates for the occupation—not earnings of National Security Policy Studies graduates alone.
Related occupations (BLS OEWS)
| Occupation | Mean annual wage | U.S. employment |
|---|---|---|
| Security Guards | $47,277 | 1,241,770 |
| Information Security Analysts | $156,788 | 179,430 |
| Security and Fire Alarm Systems Installers | $73,613 | 81,510 |
| Transportation Security Screeners | $68,936 | 46,340 |
| Area, Ethnic, and Cultural Studies Teachers, Postsecondary | $129,630 | 11,430 |
| Insurance Claims and Policy Processing Clerks | $58,299 | 229,070 |
Open each occupation for full career profile charts and industry breakdowns on EDsmart Data.
Program outcomes (College Scorecard)
National medians across bachelor's programs in the International Relations and National Security Studies CIP family (33 programs reporting debt). Not specific to every National Security Policy Studies graduate.
- $50,224 median federal loan debt among completers
- $66,596 median earnings four years after enrollment (national program median)
- 1.31 debt-to-earnings ratio (Scorecard proxy)
- 8.6% of graduates not working and not enrolled one year out (program cohort)
Source: College Scorecard program-level outcomes aggregated by 4-digit CIP family.
Employment
Wages and industry mix below use BLS OEWS data for occupations linked to this major in our mapping—not a graduate earnings survey.
Yearly Income for Common Jobs
$61,954 Average Wage in Workforce
The average salary for National Security Policy Studies majors is $61,954.
Average annual salaries of the most common occupations for National Security Policy Studies majors.
Occupations by Share
1,789,550 2023 Workforce
The number of National Security Policy Studies graduates in the workforce has been growing.
Various jobs filled by those with a major in National Security Policy Studies by share of the total number of graduates.
Diversity
Demographic information for those who earn a degree in National Security Policy Studies in the United States.
Workforce Age
N/A Average Age in 2023
This chart shows distribution of ages for employees with a degree in National Security Policy Studies.
Age distribution for National Security Policy Studies degree holders in the workforce.
Gender Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
218 Total Degrees Awarded
169 Male (77.52%)
49 Female (22.48%)
Gender distribution of National Security Policy Studies degree recipients.
Race and Ethnicity Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
145 White (66.51%)
42 Hispanic or Latino (19.27%)
11 Black or African American (5.05%)
7 Asian (3.21%)
5 Two or More Races (2.29%)
Racial and ethnic distribution of National Security Policy Studies degree recipients.
Degrees Awarded
The most common degree types awarded to students graduating in National Security Policy Studies are Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree, and Associates Degree.
Distribution of degree types awarded in National Security Policy Studies.
Skills
Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for those working in the National Security Policy Studies field from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Required Skills
National Security Policy Studies majors need many skills, but most especially Critical Thinking, Active Listening, and Reading Comprehension.
Rating of how necessary various skills are for National Security Policy Studies majors.
Skills Bar Chart
This bar chart shows the same information as the radar chart, displaying the importance of each skill.
Skill importance ratings for National Security Policy Studies majors.
About
A program that focuses on the theory and application of intelligence, diplomacy, military power, and related tools of statecraft to national defense policy formulation and power projection. Includes instruction in history, political theory, public policy analysis, civil-military relations, military and defense studies, homeland security, leadership, threat scenarios, regional and local issues, alliance and coalition issues, defense budgeting and economics, intelligence, and strategy
In 2023, 100,000 degrees were awarded across all undergraduate and graduate programs in National Security Policy Studies.
CIP Code
45.0902 - National Security Policy Studies
What the data shows
At the program-family level, College Scorecard reports median debt of $50,224 for bachelor's completers and median earnings near $66,596, a debt-to-earnings ratio of 1.31. Those figures describe national program cohorts in this CIP family—not every individual National Security Policy Studies graduate.
About 8.6% of graduates in this field family were not working and not enrolled one year after completion in Scorecard's national program medians. That is a program-level mobility signal, not a national underemployment rate.
Men earned 26.6% of 788 National Security Policy Studies completions in the IPEDS file used here.
Mapped BLS occupations show employment-weighted mean pay of about $61,954. The largest mapped role by headcount is Security Guards (1,241,770 U.S. jobs in OEWS).
Published tuition medians in College Scorecard land at $10,176 in-state at public colleges and $48,590 at private institutions for programs in this field.
Data Sources
This page uses data from the following sources:
- College Scorecard - U.S. Department of Education
- Institutional characteristics, costs, completion rates, and earnings data
- Data years: 2015-2024
- Source: collegescorecard.ed.gov
- Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)
- Employment and wage data by occupation
- Latest data: May 2024
- Source: bls.gov/oes
- O*NET Online - U.S. Department of Labor
- Occupational skills, knowledge, abilities, and work activities
- Database version: 28.0 (August 2023)
- Source: onetcenter.org
- IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System) - National Center for Education Statistics
- Institutional data, completions, enrollment, and financial aid
- Data years: 2015-2024
- Source: nces.ed.gov/ipeds
- Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS)
- Demographic and workforce data
- Latest data: 2023 ACS 5-Year Estimates
- Source: census.gov/acs
Data Processing: All data has been processed, cleaned, and aggregated for presentation. Where specific data points are unavailable, estimates are based on available data and clearly marked.
Last Updated: Data reflects the most recent available information as of January 2025.
Methodology
Data for this profile is sourced from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard dataset, IPEDS completion data, and Bureau of Labor Statistics employment data.
All financial figures are adjusted for inflation and represent the most recent available data. Employment and wage data are from the most recent Census Bureau ACS PUMS estimates.