Teaching emergency management students about money: "Without money you ain't doin bupkis"

The objective of this article is to address the glaring deficiency in educating emergency managers with regard to the financial aspects of Emergency Management (EM) and suggest curriculum changes. This article reviews 313 Higher Education Programs in EM located in 189 institutions of higher education in the United States to determine which include courses in the financial aspects of EM. The programs reviewed range from undergraduate certificates to PhD Degrees in EM. Of the 313 EM programs, only 78 [24.8 percent] have any courses discussing accounting, budgeting, economics, or finance either as a required or restricted elective course. Only nine [2.9 percent] courses focus on the financial issues of EM. Based upon the data reported, the author suggests changes in EM education as a starting point in the necessary discussion of what an EM educational program should cover.