Online Bachelor’s in Intelligence and National Security

Pittsburgh’s Intelligence Program Recognized by the U.S. Department of Defense

Prepare for a career in intelligence with Point Park University’s Bachelor’s in Intelligence and National Security program. This program, which is one of only three of its kind in the country, can be completed fully online, providing students with the opportunity to learn from and network with professionals from intelligence agencies.

Point Park University’s B.S. in Intelligence program has been vetted by the Intelligence community and students and graduates of the program are actively sought after for positions by agencies such as the National Security Agency, Central Intelligence Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Supreme Court Police as well as other non-governmental security businesses.

Read more about the intelligence programs at Point Park University through this Faculty Q&A with professor and Chair of the Department of Criminal Justice and Intelligence, Michael Botta, D.S.S.

Curriculum Overview

The online B.S. in Intelligence and National Security degree program offers a diverse curriculum on topics like terrorism, threat analysis and ethics of spying with an emphasis on career preparedness. Courses are developed by professionals within the intelligence field, with instructors bringing direct experience to the classroom. Our supportive digital community means students gain relevant, practical skills that can help set you up for a successful career in intelligence.

Transform your experience into college credit towards your Bachelor’s in Intelligence

Point Park University offers robust Prior Learning Assessment and Advanced Standing/Experiential Learning Credit opportunities. Students can transfer credits from qualifying experiences including other college institutions, College Level Examination Program (CLEP), DANTES Subject Standardized Tests (DSST exams) or UEXCEL exams, Advanced Placement (AP) credit and experiential learning assessment portfolio submissions. Experiential learning credits are not considered current coursework for financial aid and they do not fulfill any of the minimum 30 credits that must be completed at Point Park University to graduate. In addition, experiential learning credits through portfolio submissions are capped at 18 credits.

Contact an enrollment counselor to learn more.

  • Next Start Date: May 7, 2023

Est. Program Length: 2 – 4 Years
Credit Hours: 120
Course Length: 8 Weeks
Cost Per Credit: $520
Transfer Credits Accepted: Up to 90

  • Est. Program Length: 2-4 Years

  • Credit Hours: 120

  • Course Length: 8 Weeks

  • Cost Per Credit: $520

  • Transfer Credits Accepted: Up to 90

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Unique Intelligence and National Security Degree

Sean Elliot Martin, Ph.D., Assistant Professor for the Department of Criminal Justice and Intelligence Studies, talks about what makes the B.S. in Intelligence and National Security program unique.

Online B.S. in Intelligence and National Security Course Offerings

Admission Requirements

Course Description
This course included communication theory as well as speech preparation, delivery, and communication technology. Student learning focuses on researching, composing, and delivering formal and impromptu speeches and presentations. Topics include research, analyzing and adapting audiences, message construction, outlining, delivery of messages and effective use of visual aids and technology. This course will develop each student’s ability to communicate effectively with respect to audience and purpose. The major emphasis is on the preparation and delivery of presentations ranging from one-on-one pitches and small group discussion to large audience speeches.

Course Description
Students will write argument-based assignments leading to an independently researched project based on academic and professional goals. Students will be required to 1.) find and integrate a variety of sources, 2.) read and analyze these sources, 3.) develop strong thesis statements that reflect perspectives on topics or issues, and 4.) construct persuasive arguments that engage with the viewpoints of experts and commentators. As the term progresses, students will have the opportunity to re-think or revise the ideas and perspectives they explored in earlier writing assignments by engaging with peer feedback and revising earlier drafts. Placement recommendations will require students to take ENGL 101 as a three credit course OR in conjunction with an additional credit of lab or studio instruction. Students who earn F or NP grades in ENGL 101 will be required to re-take the course in conjunction with a one-credit Writing Studio course.

Course Description
This course introduces students to the kinds of communities that people construct for themselves (e.g. social, political, artistic, etc.), explores how those communities are defined, and analyzes the values and dynamics that define online and on-ground communities. The notion of what it means to be a responsible member of the “community” will actively be explored and discussed through engagement and analysis of multiple communities including the online classroom community and the Point Park University community. Students will also begin to develop research skills and analyze and create texts with attention to audience and purpose.

Choose two of the following courses:

  • ECON 201 – Principles of Macroeconomics
  • GCS 175 – Intro to Global Cultural Studies
  • HIST 201 – Western Civilization I
  • HIST 202 – Western Civilization II
  • PADM 210 – Public Administration
  • POLS 205 – World Geography
  • POLS 250 – Intro to Study of Gov’t Systems
  • PHIL 215 – World Religions

Choose one of the following courses:

  • NSET 110 – Intro to Natural Sciences I
  • NSET 111 – Intro to Natural Sciences II

Course Description

Choose one of the following courses:

  • MATH 150 -The Mathematical Experience
  • MATH 175 – Elementary Statistics
  • MATH 180 – College Algebra

*Math course level dependent on results of placement exam.

Choose one of the following courses:

  • ENGL 250 – World Lit: Drama, Poetry, Epic
  • ENGL 251 – World Lit: Novels

Choose one of the following courses:

  • BMGT 271 – The Money Thing: Life and Finances During and After College
  • BMGT 234 – Ethical Leadership
  • CMPS 330 – Electronic Commerce
  • ECON 202 – Principles of Microeconomics

Choose one of the following courses:

  • ART 100 – Intro to Visual Arts
  • COMM 290 – Seminar in Media Studies
  • COPA 250 – Exploring the Arts

A course on how Information Technology impacts organizations and how to use Information Technology to solve problems. Topics include: main concepts of Information Technology at a general level, online collaboration tools, application software, and information literacy as applied to searching and using the Internet. In addition, students will become proficient at an intermediate level in using application software. The student will learn each of the four software applications (Spreadsheet, Database, Word Processing and Presentation) and be able to apply them successfully to problem-solving scenarios.

Course Description
This course is designed to prepare Intelligence students to combine their subject knowledge, analytical abilities, and communications skill to prepare documents for use in the Intelligence Community, including Presidential Daily Briefs and the five basic types of Intelligence reports: basic information, current reports, evaluative assessments, estimative reports, and warning assessments.

Course Description
Comprehensive examination of criminal investigative responsibilities of the various federal law enforcement agencies in the United States. It will compare and contrast the different responsibilities and missions of the various agencies, with respect to existing criminal statutes.

Course Description
The origins of collecting, assimilating, and using intelligence from the Spartans through the present will be discussed in detail in order to lay a foundation for today’s methods and analysis of intelligence.

Course Description
This course will present information on the degree of planning and the preparation methods used by terrorists prior to an attack. Emphasis is on the planning and preparation stages of the attack, the time when terrorists are most susceptible to law enforcement detection. Included in this course will be an extensive familiarization of the jargon utilized by the intelligence community and their research methods.

Course Description
This course examines the causes of domestic terrorism. It explains why people join such organizations and how they are recruited. The course relates how these organizations have developed in the U.S. over the past 20 plus years. It explains why domestic terrorism has become prevalent and what steps have been taken to curb its growth. It also describes how U.S. law enforcement is addressing the problem and what laws have been created to stop its growth and deal with its members.

Course Descriptions

This course analyzes the historical development of intelligence services and describes the reason(s) which have resulted in the proliferation and need for these services. It also explores how historical, global, and technological changes have impacted the intelligence community.

Course Descriptions
This course lays the foundation for the processes used by the intelligence community to determine credibility of assets and acquisition of intelligence prior to placing that intelligence into a matrix or on the i2 chart.

Course Descriptions
This course presents an in-depth analysis of the methods used by terrorist organizations to finance their global operations and the investigative techniques used to counter such measures. The means used by terrorist organizations to raise, transfer, and spend funds will be analyzed. It will also include an analysis of how the monies are spent by these organizations. During the computer lab portion to this course, students will become proficient in the use of I-2 program software. This course includes an analytic presentation/briefing to members of the intelligence community by the student.

Course Descriptions
As a nation of laws, this course covers the laws governing the collection, dissemination and use of intelligence as well as defining the 17 agencies in the Intelligence Community; includes a detailed study of the Patriot Act, national Intelligence Act and Emergency Powers of the President.

Course Descriptions
This course will identify and describe perceived failures of the U.S. Intelligence community over the past 50 plus years, which have affected national security and U.S. foreign policy. The course further explores the laws and amended policies that have been implemented as a result of these failures and analyzes the effect of these changes on the intelligence community and foreign policy making.

Course Descriptions
This course looks at the dilemmas that exist when someone is asked to perform a civil service that is in conflict with what that person believes to be ethical. Such ethics require and expect an intelligence officer to lie, deceive, steal, launder money, and perform a variety of other activities they would certainly be condemned as illegal if practiced in the United States.

Course Descriptions
This course consists of a comprehensive study of a minimum of four highly placed spies in our intelligence agencies. The methods and techniques utilized by the spies as well as the techniques utilized by our counterintelligence agents to discover and arrest those spies. In addition, the damage caused by each will be discussed in detail.

Course Descriptions
This course examines the type of methods employed by intelligence agencies to affect desired political outcomes and policies of foreign nations, which are favorable to U.S. interest and sovereignty. It examines the difference between overt and covert non-military psychological operations designed to achieve the desired results and possible blow back from such operations.

Course Descriptions
A minimum of 2 course sequence in the same foreign language. Courses in translation excluded.

Select 4 of the following courses:

  • INTL 204 – Intel in the Media
  • INTL 306 – Emergency Plan & Security
  • INTL 312 – Interrogation Techniques
  • INTL 315 – Intel Internship
  • INTL 402 – Current Issues US Sec Pol
  • INTL 407 – World Conflicts
  • INTL 408 – Generations of Warfare
  • INTL 409 – Intel Case Studies
  • INTL 411 – Threat Analysis
  • INTL 415 – Intel Internship II

Electives provide students with the opportunity to study content areas that meet personal, professional, or vocational interests.

Bachelor’s in Intelligence and National Security Career Outcomes

Point Park University’s online B.S. in Intelligence program prepares students for careers within intelligence and security. When you graduate, you’ll have the skills necessary to achieve success in a variety of positions, including:

Intelligence analysts are government employees charged with examining and delivering information regarding security threats. They are responsible for making sense of large amounts of data, identifying significant issues, conducting research, and establishing and maintaining records, among other duties. These professionals must be comfortable working with classified information and must possess excellent knowledge of databases, imagery analysis and signal intelligence.

Geospatial intelligence analysts are responsible for collecting and analyzing geospatial data for the armed forces. They must be knowledgeable in image collection; information interpretation; relevant software use; preparation of charts, maps and reports; and other relevant tasks. The work of geospatial intelligence analysts helps the armed forces gain relevant information needed for various courses of combative and non-combative action.

Protective agents are employees of the CIA and are responsible for conducting sensitive operations for the agency. These individuals may work as security personnel, serve in special detail operations, specialize in explosive ordinance disposal, become dog handlers or serve in a number of other roles. Protective agents must have military, police or security experience and must be willing to work in a covert job field.

Next Steps

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Official Transcripts

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