The National Disaster & Emergency Management University

Our nation faces an ever-changing homeland security risk environment, and the profession of emergency management must evolve to meet it. The nation needs well-trained emergency management personnel, strategic leadership, and innovation. FEMA’s National Disaster & Emergency Management University ensures we continue to build a diverse pipeline of talent and depth of knowledge to proactively face current and future threats and hazards.

Since its founding as the Civil Defense Staff College in 1951, FEMA’s Emergency Management Institute (EMI) has evolved to meet the needs of a changing world. Today, in response to a global pandemic, more frequent severe weather emergencies, climate change, and domestic threats, EMI is transforming into the National Disaster & Emergency Management University (NDEMU). This transformation reflects our commitment to meet the changing needs of the emergency management field and the security of our homeland.

NDEMU brings together emergency management professionals, strategic thinkers, policymakers, academics, and researchers to create a comprehensive training, professional development, and education continuum. This continuum will support professionals from the beginning of their careers to the most senior executive levels, addressing training and education gaps and elevating the field into a recognized profession.

The transformation into a university aims to meet the needs of emergency managers and the larger responder community by providing training at any point in people’s careers, and at a location or setting that suits them. By equipping future generations of emergency management professionals with the knowledge, skills, and expertise needed to confront evolving threats and hazards ensures that the United States remains secure and resilient in the face of disasters and emergencies, safeguarding lives, livelihoods, and critical infrastructure. It will also highlight FEMA’s long-term investment in the nation's security and resilience.

The shift towards the NDEMU involves moving from a technical training focus toward a traditional university structure to be comprised of three specialized schools supporting different emergency management career paths and specialized communities: the Emergency Management Institute; School of Disaster Leadership; and School of National Resilience.

The transformation to NDEMU will allow for stronger collaboration and partnerships among government agencies, academia, and non-profit organizations. These partnerships will facilitate knowledge exchange, resource sharing, and coordinated response efforts, strengthening the nation's overall resilience to disasters and emergencies.

The University will expand curricula to fill known knowledge gaps tailored to the diverse needs of emergency management professionals.

Specialized certificates supporting professional development pathways will be used as a means of growing the profession: The transformation of FEMA's EMI into a university will enable a more highly recognized and new set of certificates tailored to the diverse needs of emergency management professionals.

In this 2024 Year of Resilience, engage with NDEMU’s new opportunities. Please register to take courses here to learn more about how together we are transforming to meet the needs of emergency managers anywhere they are, anytime in their career, and on any platform.

Join us in shaping the future of emergency management education. We welcome your support as we work to enhance the stature of the emergency management profession through NDEMU.

Reach out to explore NDEMU’s programs that academic partners can take advantage of and how we can work together to educate the emergency management workforce and create a more resilient world.