Major or Minor?: For What Audiences are Intelligence Studies Programs Best Suited

Abstract

Intelligence and security studies degree programs at non-government universities offer a variety of diplomas, from bachelor’s degrees, to graduate certificates, to master’s degrees. In most cases, universities market intelligence studies degree programs to two audiences: those who aspire to a job in a security-related career (intelligence, law enforcement, or homeland security); and those already in one of those careers who want to improve their qualifications for career advancement. This article proposes three additional audiences—intelligence scholars, students seeking to improve critical thinking and analytic skills, and any informed student—that would also benefit from such degree programs, with each requiring a different combination and weighting of competencies, thus necessitating a different level of emphasis in an intelligence degree program.