What’s measured This indicator measures the number of colleges and universities in the 14-county region with a two- or four-year degree in criminal justice, fire safety or emergency-medical training. The College Opportunities Online Locator on the National Center for Education Statistics’ Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System was used to search for schools with degrees having the words “criminal justice,” “public safety,” “fire safety,” “fire fighting” and “emergency medical.” Why it’s measured As the region grows, the need for a more trained public safety personnel gains importance. More stations for emergency-medical services, fire fighters and police open as the population expands out into the suburbs. Educated, trained personnel are needed to staff the stations. Furthermore, as technology continues to advance, more training is needed on global positioning systems, life-saving equipment and other high-tech resources. Indicator results Fifteen of the region’s 36 colleges and universities (41.7%) are preparing the next wave of public safety personnel and helping today’s public safety professionals keep up with new technology. Nine of the region’s counties have at least one school offering at least one public safety degree or certificate program. Mecklenburg, the most urbanized county, has the most schools with degrees in public safety (4). Residents of Cabarrus, Chester, Lincoln, Union and York counties must travel outside their home county to receive higher education in public safety. Criminal justice is the degree most schools offer (14 out of 15 schools). Emergency Medical Services training is offered at 4 schools, as is Fire Safety. Gaston College is alone in offering programs in all three areas. Eight of the schools offering public safety degrees are community colleges and two are public universities. Evaluation Currently, this indicator simply identifies the number of degree programs in the region in the field of public safety, with a breakdown by three categories of type of program. The available data sources do not provide historic data, meaning the Indicators Project will have to build its own trend data over time and address trends in this indicator in future reports. In the future, the authors would also like to include data on the number of graduates from those programs. And, if statewide data can be made accessible on a more cost-effective basis than is currently available, a per-population based comparison of the region to the two states would be helpful. Connections Higher education in public safety relates to demographics, education, economics and health theme areas. One of the strongest connections is the educational system, especially at the K-12 levels, as proficiency in math, science and technology is increasingly important as a foundation for higher education in public safety. The number of colleges and universities offering public safety degrees has increased across the country, boosted by the appeal of hit television shows like “CSI,” data shows. Public safety, and thus public safety education, also took on additional importance as a result of 9/11 and heightened awareness of the importance of homeland security to sustained economic prosperity. It continues to gain importance as the region’s population increases and ages. The number of trained and qualified public safety personnel available makes a significant difference to the health of the community.
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