Best Online Associate in Emergency Management 2025

Badge for BEST ONLINE ASSOCIATE'S IN EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT

Find top-ranked online associate in emergency management degree programs to prepare students starting their career as a firefighter, police officer, or paramedic.

Key Takeaways

  • The associate degree in emergency management is an affordable way to get started on your college education. The typical associate degree will take about two years to complete.

  • Many community colleges and two-year schools offer both traditional and online degree programs for students pursuing their associate degree in emergency management.

  • Earning an online associate degree in emergency management can prepare you for a variety of entry level jobs in your field. Many students also continue into a bachelor’s degree program in emergency management or a related area.

2025 Ranking Update

Our Influence Ranking Engine™ leverages machine learning to track the real-world influence of colleges and universities over time. Below you’ll see which schools gained or lost ground for the 2025 school year.

In 2025, the top ten schools in our ranking of the best online associate’s in emergency management saw substantial ranking changes. New England College gained the most ranking positions as the university developed the Crisis Simulation Lab, providing students with hands-on training in disaster response, emergency planning, and crisis communication through realistic simulations.

Additionally, NEC has integrated new courses focusing on cybersecurity in emergency management and climate change resilience, addressing the evolving challenges in the field. The college has also strengthened its partnerships with local and regional emergency services agencies, offering students more internship opportunities and fieldwork experiences in real-world emergency management settings. These updates make the program more dynamic and relevant to current industry demands.

Featured Programs

Best Online Associate in Emergency Management Degree Programs

  1. Other Rankings

    Tuition + fees

    $7K

    Acceptance

    70%

    Graduation

    53%

    Student body

    18K

    Median SAT/ACT

    1090/22

    Career Outlook for Emergency Management degree at Arkansas State University

    Cost of Degree: $7,754
    Expenses: $18,472
    Starting Salary: $43,729
    Salary after 4 years: $55,811
    Cost Recoup Time: 6 years
    Paid back at 15% of annual salary

    Online Degrees

    AAS in Disaster Preparedness/Emergency Management
    • Required Credits: 60
    • Completion time: 2 years
    • Format: Online
  2. Other Rankings

    Tuition + fees

    $10K

    Acceptance

    64%

    Graduation

    49%

    Student body

    17K

    Median SAT/ACT

    1062/20

    Career Outlook for Emergency Management degree at Eastern Kentucky University

    Cost of Degree: $10,130
    Expenses: $14,535
    Starting Salary: $46,955
    Salary after 4 years: $59,928
    Cost Recoup Time: 5 years
    Paid back at 15% of annual salary

    Online Degrees

    AS in Paramedicine
    • Required Credits: 64
    • Completion time: None Reported
    • Format: Online
  3. #4

    Idaho State University

    Pocatello , ID
    Other Rankings

    Tuition + fees

    $8K

    Graduation

    37%

    Student body

    15K

    Career Outlook for Emergency Management degree at Idaho State University

    Cost of Degree: $8,356
    Expenses: $14,854
    Starting Salary: $52,451
    Salary after 4 years: $66,942
    Cost Recoup Time: 5 years
    Paid back at 15% of annual salary

    Online Degrees

    AS in Homeland Security and Emergency Management
    • Required Credits: 60
    • Completion time: 2 years
    • Format: Online
  4. #6

    St. Petersburg College

    St. Petersburg , FL
    Other Rankings

    Tuition + fees

    $3K

    Graduation

    38%

    Student body

    33K

    Career Outlook for Emergency Management degree at St. Petersburg College

    Cost of Degree: $2,682
    Starting Salary: $43,849
    Salary after 4 years: $55,963

    Online Degrees

    AS in Emergency Administration And Management

    Concentrations

    • Emergency Administration And Management
    • Homeland Security
    • Required Credits: 60
    • Completion time: None Reported
    • Format: Online
  5. #7

    Central Texas College

    Killeen , TX
    Other Rankings

    Tuition + fees

    $4K

    Graduation

    17%

    Student body

    17K

    Career Outlook for Emergency Management degree at Central Texas College

    Cost of Degree: $3,900
    Expenses: $13,021
    Starting Salary: $41,698
    Salary after 4 years: $53,218
    Cost Recoup Time: 4 years
    Paid back at 15% of annual salary

    Online Degrees

    AAS in Homeland Security and Emergency Management
    • Required Credits: 60
    • Completion time: 2-3 years
    • Format: Online
  6. #8

    Schoolcraft College

    Livonia , MI
    Other Rankings

    Tuition + fees

    $6K

    Graduation

    17%

    Student body

    13K

    Career Outlook for Emergency Management degree at Schoolcraft College

    Cost of Degree: $5,982
    Starting Salary: $43,251
    Salary after 4 years: $55,201

    Online Degrees

    AAS in Fire and Emergency Services
    • Required Credits: 60-78
    • Completion time: 2 years
    • Format: Online
  7. #10

    Granite State College

    Concord , NH
    Other Rankings

    Tuition + fees

    $8K

    Graduation

    15%

    Student body

    3K

    Career Outlook for Emergency Management degree at Granite State College

    Cost of Degree: $7,812
    Starting Salary: $46,955
    Salary after 4 years: $59,928

    Online Degrees

    AS in Business

    Concentrations

    • Emergency Management
    • Required Credits: 60
    • Completion time: 2 years
    • Format: Online
    AS in Behavioral Science

    Concentrations

    • Court Advocacy
    • Criminal Justice
    • Emergency Management
    • Required Credits: 60
    • Completion time: 2 years
    • Format: Online
  8. Other Rankings

    Tuition + fees

    $9K

    Graduation

    25%

    Student body

    10K

    Career Outlook for Emergency Management degree at Bucks County Community College

    Cost of Degree: $9,184
    Starting Salary: $50,539
    Salary after 4 years: $64,502

    Online Degrees

    AA in Emergency Management
    • Required Credits: 62-63
    • Completion time: None Reported
    • Format: Online
  9. Other Rankings

    Tuition + fees

    $3K

    Graduation

    21%

    Student body

    12K

    Career Outlook for Emergency Management degree at Arizona Western College

    Cost of Degree: $2,820
    Expenses: $16,508
    Starting Salary: $38,233
    Salary after 4 years: $48,796
    Cost Recoup Time: 5 years
    Paid back at 15% of annual salary

    Online Degrees

    AAS in Emergency Medical Services Paramedic
    • Required Credits: 66
    • Completion time: None Reported
    • Format: Online
    AAS in Emergency and Disaster Management
    • Required Credits: 64
    • Completion time: None Reported
    • Format: Online
    AA in Theatre
    • Required Credits: 64
    • Completion time: None Reported
    • Format: Online
  10. #14

    Cape Fear Community College

    Wilmington , NC

    Tuition + fees

    $3K

    Graduation

    30%

    Student body

    23K

    Career Outlook for Emergency Management degree at Cape Fear Community College

    Cost of Degree: $2,748
    Starting Salary: $37,755
    Salary after 4 years: $48,186

    Online Degrees

    AAS in Emergency Management
    • Required Credits: 69
    • Completion time: None Reported
    • Format: Online
  11. Tuition + fees

    $2K

    Graduation

    24%

    Student body

    7K

    Career Outlook for Emergency Management degree at Durham Technical Community College

    Cost of Degree: $2,290
    Starting Salary: $37,994
    Salary after 4 years: $48,491

    Online Degrees

    AAS in Emergency Management
    • Required Credits: 67
    • Completion time: None Reported
    • Format: Online
  12. Other Rankings

    Tuition + fees

    $3K

    Graduation

    16%

    Student body

    13K

    Career Outlook for Emergency Management degree at Fayetteville Technical Community College

    Cost of Degree: $2,628
    Starting Salary: $36,680
    Salary after 4 years: $46,814

    Online Degrees

    AA in Emergency Management Technology
    • Required Credits: 68
    • Completion time: None Reported
    • Format: Online
  13. Tuition + fees

    $7K

    Graduation

    33%

    Student body

    7K

    Career Outlook for Emergency Management degree at Frederick Community College

    Cost of Degree: $7,444
    Starting Salary: $50,300
    Salary after 4 years: $64,198

    Online Degrees

    AS in Emergency Management Track Ii

    Concentrations

    • Fema Independent Study
    • Required Credits: 60
    • Completion time: 2 years
    • Format: Online
  14. Tuition + fees

    $2K

    Graduation

    29%

    Student body

    10K

    Career Outlook for Emergency Management degree at Forsyth Technical Community College

    Cost of Degree: $2,256
    Starting Salary: $35,844
    Salary after 4 years: $45,746

    Online Degrees

    AAS in Emergency Management
    • Required Credits: 65
    • Completion time: None Reported
    • Format: Online
  15. Tuition + fees

    $3K

    Graduation

    50%

    Student body

    4K

    Career Outlook for Emergency Management degree at Blue Ridge Community College

    Cost of Degree: $2,660
    Starting Salary: $35,366
    Salary after 4 years: $45,136

    Online Degrees

    AS in Emergency Management
    • Required Credits: 64
    • Completion time: None Reported
    • Format: Online
  16. Tuition + fees

    $3K

    Graduation

    29%

    Student body

    3K

    Career Outlook for Emergency Management degree at Lenoir Community College

    Cost of Degree: $2,568
    Starting Salary: $35,127
    Salary after 4 years: $44,832

    Online Degrees

    AAS in Emergency Management
    • Required Credits: 67
    • Completion time: None Reported
    • Format: Online
    AAS in Emergency Medical Science Bridging
    • Required Credits: 68-71
    • Completion time: None Reported
    • Format: Online
  17. #22

    Nash Community College

    Rocky Mount , NC
    Other Rankings

    Tuition + fees

    $3K

    Graduation

    40%

    Student body

    4K

    Career Outlook for Emergency Management degree at Nash Community College

    Cost of Degree: $2,883
    Starting Salary: $34,410
    Salary after 4 years: $43,917

    Online Degrees

    AEM in Emergency Management
    • Required Credits: 70-72
    • Completion time: None Reported
    • Format: Online
  18. Tuition + fees

    $5K

    Graduation

    44%

    Student body

    3K

    Career Outlook for Emergency Management degree at Southwest Virginia Community College

    Cost of Degree: $4,901
    Starting Salary: $35,844
    Salary after 4 years: $45,746

    Online Degrees

    AAS in Emergency Management & Preparedness

    Concentrations

    • Administration Of Justice Specialization
    • Required Credits: 66
    • Completion time: 2 years
    • Format: Online
  19. Tuition + fees

    $2K

    Graduation

    38%

    Student body

    5K

    Career Outlook for Emergency Management degree at Coastal Carolina Community College

    Cost of Degree: $2,462
    Starting Salary: $37,038
    Salary after 4 years: $47,271

    Online Degrees

    AS in Emergency Management
    • Required Credits: 66-67
    • Completion time: 2 Years
    • Format: Online

Career Outlook for Students with Emergency Management Degree

Go to Degree Finder tool

Crisis/Emergency/Disaster Management

Degree Level: Associate's

  • Location: The U.S. (Private Schools)
  • Avg. Cost of Degree*: $3,987
  • Avg. Expenses*: $17,051
  • Avg. Starting Salary*: $42,663
  • Avg. Salary after 4 Years*: $54,450
  • Avg. Cost Recoup Time**: 5 years
  • Job Growth: 5.54%
  • Number of Jobs: 1,439,400
  • * denotes ‘annually’
  • ** denotes ‘at 15% of annual salary’

Career Salaries

CareerJob GrowthAvg. Salary
Managers, All Other5.75%$133,560
First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives3.81%$101,750
Emergency Management Directors4.03%$83,960
Postsecondary Teachers, All Other3.21%$79,870
Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement Teachers, Postsecondary3.11%$69,030

Top Industries

IndustryAvg. Salary
Managers, All Other$133,560
First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives$101,750
Emergency Management Directors$83,960

Frequently Asked Questions About Emergency Management Degrees

An associate degree in emergency management is an affordable first step whether you’re just getting a start in your career, or you already have work experience as a firefighter, police officer, or paramedic. The online emergency management degree makes it possible to earn your associate’s degree without disrupting your professional responsibilities. With a growing number of online degree programs for emergency management professionals, you have plenty of options for advancing your career in the emergency management field.

Back to Top

Although the traditional emergency management program is offered on campus, a growing number of community colleges offer an introductory emergency management degree program online. Students must typically earn 60 credits, whether completing a traditional emergency management degree program or earning an online emergency management degree.

Back to Top

Students may also have the option to earn either an associate of arts or an associate of science and to select from several degree variations, including emergency management and homeland security; fire and emergency management; and emergency and disaster management.

Back to Top

Core courses cover topics like disaster prevention, infrastructure planning, and communications. Students may need other work experience or degrees beyond their associate to obtain or advance careers in this field.

Back to Top

Earning an online emergency management degree can qualify you for a variety of entry level roles either in public service or in the private sector. This may include roles like emergency medical technician, first-responder, and Homeland Security agent. Student who wish to pursue leadership roles such as emergency management director or Certified emergency manager will likely need to earn a bachelor’s degree or a professional certification.

Back to Top
Back to Top

Online Emergency Management Programs Looking for You

There are many amazing options for getting your online associate’s degree! You could also get your associate’s in information systems, human services, or communications! Look into a plethora of options and then decide which one works best for you!

Back to Top

Online Degree Frequently Asked Questions

If this is your first time taking an online course, the experience may require a time of adjustment. Although you’ll typically learn the same material and take the same exams as your on-campus peers, going online will require greater independence and responsibility than going in person. You’ll be accountable for your own time management, for harnessing the online educational technology that you’ll need to use, and for completing the course requirements, such as listening to lectures, learning lessons, reading texts, and handing in assignments. This means you’ll need to create a suitable workspace for yourself, maintain a realistic schedule, and take the initiative in building relationships with your instructors and classmates. With online college, your goal is to find a balance between independence and engagement.

No. The only part of online education that’s easier than campus-based education is ease of access: all you need is a computer and an internet connection for online education. But even this seeming advantage of online education can be misleading: what’s easier, studying online with your computer and internet connection from your home where you need to cook, clean, pay rent, and maintain a job? Or studying on campus in a dorm where all your living needs are handled by the school, and college staff are there to help you every step of the way?

If you take the commute to campus out of the equation, campus-based education is easier. All the support structures available on campus for students, especially with real people to help you in person, are not there online. The demands on you as an online student will largely be the same as for your campus-based counterpart, but without the same helps.

In general, your online courses will present the same material and test you in the same way as traditional in-person courses. In many cases, you’ll even have the same instructors as your on-campus counterparts. In fact, if you are adjusting to the experience of independent learning with remote educational technology for the first time, online college may be considerably more challenging than campus-based college. For a few insights on how to manage this new online experience, check out our 10 Tips for Adjusting to School Online.

Accreditation is especially important when it comes to online college. This is because the online education landscape is a mix of highly-reputable non-profit institutions on the one end and less-than-reputable for-profit institutions on the other end. Accreditation gives you the power to identify the more reputable actors in online education. Accreditation is a stamp of approval from an independent accrediting agency indicating that a college or university is meeting standards of quality and credibility. School-wide accreditation falls into two major categories: regional and national accreditation. Regional accreditors generally hold jurisdiction only over schools in the states comprising their region, whereas national accreditors hold jurisdiction over schools in all states. Regional accreditation is widely regarded as a more rigorous standard of quality and credibility than national accreditation.

Attending a college or university that is not regionally accredited could limit your opportunities. For students seeking an online education, we strongly recommend that they opt for regionally accredited schools. Regional accreditation ensures eligibility for federal loans and grants, ensures your college credits can be transferred between schools, and ensures that your degree credits can be accepted if you wish to earn an advanced degree. For more on this important topic, check out our What is Accreditation and Why Does It Matter? College & University Accreditation Guide.

As long as your online college degree is regionally accredited (see the previous point), you should have little difficulty transferring most of your credits or credentials to another regionally accredited undergraduate school. Every school carries its own standards and procedures for granting a transfer of credits. In many cases, you will encounter some bureaucratic haggling in which some of your credits will be transferred and others may be refused. However, provided that you have attended an online school with recognized regional accreditation, you should be in good shape in transferring your credits earned online.

In most cases, as long you graduate from a well-regarded, regionally-accredited online college, prospective employers won’t look sideways at your degree. In fact, unless you attend an exclusively online college or university, there will likely be no specific indicator on your degree, transcript, or resumé differentiating your school from its brick-and-mortar counterpart. This means that your employer will likely only differentiate between an online and in-person degree if you mention this distinction.

Some employers may express the concern that because you did your degree online, you may need to transition from an online education experience to in-person workplace experience. But in an age of Covid, that concern seems much diminished. The fact is that much employment these days is remote. And collaboration increasingly happens online over Zoom. Many employers will therefore view your online degree as evidence of valuable 21st century professional skills such as independence, self-motivation, time management, and tech savvy.

If you are a student who thrives on the dynamic energy of in-person discussion, who requires the physical surroundings of a classroom to feel engaged, or who considers the social aspects of education to be of equal importance to the actual content of your courses, online education will be less than ideal for you (though depending on your circumstances, it may also be the only viable option).

While there is much in traditional campus-based education that can be substituted or simulated through the online medium, some students may find that there is nothing that can replace the conversation, collaboration, and motivation that occur in an actual in-person classroom setting. As you transition to online education, one of the biggest challenges you will likely face in getting the most out of your online classes is overcoming this difference between “real reality” and “virtual reality.” Fortunately, we’ve got some great Tips for Online Education Beginners.

The advantages of online classes are many. Above all, online courses give you the freedom and flexibility to attend class from anywhere that works for you, whether you’re at home, in a coffee shop, or in a quiet conference room at work. In many cases, you’ll also enjoy the convenience of asynchronous learning opportunities-educational experiences that you can complete at your own pace and on your own schedule. This may include pre-taped lectures, ongoing chat-board discussions, and 24/7 access to digital materials. And of course, just as there are some learners who prefer the energy of a live classroom, there are those who learn best when working in their own personal space, free from distractions. If this sounds like you, you might find the solitude of online learning to be a major advantage.

Resources for Online College-Bound Students

Whether you’re just getting started on your college search, you’re looking for survival tips on your way to a bachelor’s degree, or you’re preparing for the transition into grad school, we’ve got guides, how to’s and tons of other valuable resources to keep you moving forward in your educational journey.

Do you have a question about this topic? Ask it here