In Turkey, disaster management and risk reduction issues are frequently discussed topics since the major earthquakes occurred in 1999. Impacts of climate change, recent earthquakes and the 20th anniversary of 1999 Marmara Earthquake have given a great shift in disaster management discussions. To deal with risks and hazards, training of professionals who currently work on these topics is crucial. In the last 20 years, new master programs have been offered by universities on Disaster Management. The background of students who attend these programs shows a great diversity from engineering through law. Besides the synergy which is created by students from different fields, the success level of these programs is investigated in this research. A web-based survey was used to contact master students of disaster management programs in different universities. The aim of the research is to evaluate their understanding of key notions such as disaster, risk, hazard, vulnerability to note the differentiation according to their background and also the program which they are enrolled. Furthermore, their motivation in choosing the program, the expected contribution of the program to their professional life and their subjective assessment about the program are evaluated.