SrA Bronson Strange 7522308 <div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>I am looking to get my Bachelor&#39;s (and then Master&#39;s) degree using my GI Bill to try and start a career within the Intelligence Community. I&#39;m trying to keep multiple options in mind such as raw analysis, all-source intel, HUMINT, etc. I&#39;ve narrowed my choices down to three (all online by the way):<br />BA in Intelligence and Security Studies at The Citadel<br />BS in National Security Studies at Norwich<br />and BA in International Relations and Global Security at AMU, most likely with a minor in Intelligence.<br /><br />Now, I didn&#39;t want the degree to be JUST Intelligence, because I want to have something to fall back on if I cant get a TS/SCI, I decided it&#39;s not for me, or just whatever. <br /><br />It&#39;s very difficult to weigh the pros and the cons when you can&#39;t quantify just how a potential employer will look at one degree vs the other. That said, what do you think would provide the best ROI? I think the AMU option not only gives me more confidence that I can get my foot in the door, but that it can be more useful outside of the IC in comparison to the other two. That said, I&#39;ve seen some say that a degree from The Citadel or Norwich would be more respected than one from AMU. But my opinion is very limited, and I would like to hear what some more knowledgeable members think of my potential choices. 2022-02-10T21:23:03-05:00 SrA Bronson Strange 7522308

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>I am looking to get my Bachelor&#39;s (and then Master&#39;s) degree using my GI Bill to try and start a career within the Intelligence Community. I&#39;m trying to keep multiple options in mind such as raw analysis, all-source intel, HUMINT, etc. I&#39;ve narrowed my choices down to three (all online by the way):<br />BA in Intelligence and Security Studies at The Citadel<br />BS in National Security Studies at Norwich<br />and BA in International Relations and Global Security at AMU, most likely with a minor in Intelligence.<br /><br />Now, I didn&#39;t want the degree to be JUST Intelligence, because I want to have something to fall back on if I cant get a TS/SCI, I decided it&#39;s not for me, or just whatever. <br /><br />It&#39;s very difficult to weigh the pros and the cons when you can&#39;t quantify just how a potential employer will look at one degree vs the other. That said, what do you think would provide the best ROI? I think the AMU option not only gives me more confidence that I can get my foot in the door, but that it can be more useful outside of the IC in comparison to the other two. That said, I&#39;ve seen some say that a degree from The Citadel or Norwich would be more respected than one from AMU. But my opinion is very limited, and I would like to hear what some more knowledgeable members think of my potential choices.

2022-02-10T21:23:03-05:00 2022-02-10T21:23:03-05:00 PO2 Marco Monsalve 7523108

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>For years, one of the most respected degrees came from the Intelligence Studies program at Mercyhurst University in Erie, PA.(they were placing close to 95% of their graduates with public and private sector intelligence offices) Not sure that is still the case, however the primary reason given by employers was the balanced study load including liberal arts with an emphasis on critical thinking and good writing. You will definitely need the TS/SCI for career advancement in govt intel and it certainly helps in the private sector competitive intel arena.

2022-02-11T10:53:27-05:00 2022-02-11T10:53:27-05:00 SSgt Christophe Murphy 7523197

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>If you can&#39;t get a clearance you may need to focus on a different career field. Even if you were going the Federal Agency route you will eventually run into needing some form of clearance and all paths will converge to the same crossroad. Focus more on a solid education and less on getting a degree specifically in the intel field. Not all Intel workers have Bachelor&#39;s in their career field just as you won&#39;t find every FBI agent or US Marshal with a Bachelor&#39;s in Criminal Justice. Just be sure to do your research

2022-02-11T11:43:57-05:00 2022-02-11T11:43:57-05:00 SFC Private RallyPoint Member 7523431

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>If you can&#39;t get a TS/SCI, you&#39;re not going to work in intel. At all. Ever. So I would definitely not base any degree on a career field that you potentially can&#39;t even work in. What makes you think you can&#39;t get a TS/SCI? These are the thee main reasons a clearance is denied: Financial issues, Drug use. If you have a ton of debt you&#39;re not actively paying or you have a serious history of drug use, then you won&#39;t get one no. <br /><br />I&#39;ve been an all source analyst for 17 1/2 years - and not one of my degrees that I have is in intelligence studies. I came in with a Bachelor&#39;s in Journalism. I have a Master&#39;s in Public Relations and one in Security Management. <br /><br />Ultimately someone is going to look with an intelligence professional who has some experience especially after the military but the one degree you mentioned that could be useful is International Relations. But you also have to have a focus of what INT discipline you want because you nearly listed all of them above. Each one is different - HUMINTers do different things than SIGINTers and all source analysts basically we just make products taking together all the disciplines and putting them together. We make Power Points mostly. <br /><br />The fact you haven&#39;t done intel, you don&#39;t have a clearance and don&#39;t have experience yet you wouldn&#39;t likely be a top contender among others who are going for the same job who have a TS/SCI clearance and experience.

2022-02-11T14:01:16-05:00 2022-02-11T14:01:16-05:00 SSG Private RallyPoint Member 7523953

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>As someone who is Intel, if you have ZERO experience doing anything related to intel, the door is locked and isn’t opening. You aren’t getting to a 3 letter without at least 8+ years on related intel experience and contracting firms require some, usually 2 years of intel experience. Just having a degree doesn’t even unlock the door for you. As <a class="dark-link bold-link" role="profile-hover" data-qtip-container="body" data-id="1155667" data-source-page-controller="question_response_contents" href="/profiles/1155667-35f-enlisted-intelligence-analyst">SFC Private RallyPoint Member</a> mentioned, the degree alone is not what makes you a good candidate for the intelligence field. I’ve been an All source analyst for 8 years, 3 of which is strategic level intel on active missions and have done counter terrorism work in both Africa and Asia. If you can’t explain to employers what you provide outside of a degree, you aren’t getting hired.

2022-02-11T20:36:32-05:00 2022-02-11T20:36:32-05:00 SPC Bob Ridley 7553088

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>I’m my opinion, a BA in History would be a solid academic foundation.

2022-03-03T06:12:27-05:00 2022-03-03T06:12:27-05:00 2022-02-10T21:23:03-05:00