Program Overview

Graduate Program

Florida International University in Miami, Florida, offers a 30-credit Master's in Disaster Management through the Robert Stempel College of Public Health & Social Work.

The graduate degree program has been developed in response to the growing recognition and need for graduate-level education in disaster management. Drawing on faculty from across FIU's nationally recognized colleges and programs as well as disaster practitioners with international and national preparedness and response disaster experience, the program's curriculum is interdisciplinary in nature and scope and designed to develop and improve the skills of disaster practitioners and those interested in entering the exciting field of disaster management.

Curriculum

The graduate degree program has been designed to be completed within a year and will cover national and international disaster management. The program consists of the following ten courses:

• Comparative Disaster Management Systems
• Disaster Preparedness and Planning Methodologies
• Disaster Response and Recovery
• Introduction to Vulnerability Analysis and Hazard Mitigation
• Crisis Communications
• Special Topics in Disaster Studies
• Foundations in Humanitarian Assistance and Coordination
• Disaster Health Readiness
• Environmental Disasters and Human Health
• Disaster Field Operations

Disaster Field Course

The graduate degree program culminates with a disaster field course whereby students will engage in a field simulated exercise focusing on the practical issues that arise in a disaster (rapid damage and public health assessment, shelter and site planning, field cluster sampling, water, sanitation and hygiene, personal security, food aid, and operational approaches to relations with the military).

Tuition

Tuition includes the cost of the disaster field simulation exercise. The in-person market rate program ($24,990) includes university fees, books, parking and meals, which will be served prior to each class on Saturdays. The full online tuition ($19,990) does not include parking nor books. However, it does include the cost of the disaster field course simulation including uniforms, meals, and shelter for the period of the exercise.

Our Rankings

• No. 2 Best Online Master's Program (Online Master's Degrees, 2023)
• No. 4 Best Graduate Degree Program (Best Accredited Colleges, 2021)
• No. 7 Best Crisis/Emergency Disaster Management Master's Degree Schools (CollegeFactual.com, 2024)
• No. 23 Best Master's in Emergency Management Degree Programs (2023, Intelligent.com)

Master of Arts in Disaster Management Cohort Profile

• 79% White
• 18% African American
• 61% Hispanic
• 62% Male
• 38% Female
• 35 Average Age
• 3.34 Average GPA
• 4% Non-governmental Organization Employed
• 7% Emergency Management Employed
• 14% Fire Service Employed
• 18% Law Enforcement Employed
• 17% Other Employed
• 86% have a bachelor's degree
• 7% have a master's degree
• 94% Currently Employed
• 47% FIU Alumni
• $76k Average Annual Salary
• 15% Veterans