Program Overview:

The Masters of Business and Science (MBS) degree in Cybersecurity prepares students for roles within the industry, building on students’ backgrounds and experiences. Students come into the program with backgrounds such as Criminal Justice, Computer Science, Forensic Science, IT, Psychology, ECE, Law, Political Science, Public Policy, Law Enforcement, Policing, Military, Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, and more. The curriculum integrates traditional courses in cybersecurity science with courses in business and management, through a professionally guided curriculum, building on your existing background and helping to guide you to where you want to go through our professionally guided curriculum.

An MBS degree gives students multiple hands on course projects that give them the opportunity to partner with companies, nonprofits, and government agencies. Students are also given the opportunity to do semester long projects through the MBS Externship Exchange program. Open to working students, online students, and full/part time students. MBS courses are offered to help working professionals get ahead or move into new fields, with our courses offered in the evenings and hybrid/online.

The MBS Cybersecurity curriculum brings together the fields of computer science, IT, policy, criminal justice, management, and more. It provides rigorous cybersecurity curriculum in information assurance, information systems, computer security and systems reliability, and criminal justice, paired with business and policy courses. The goal is to create a well-rounded cybersecurity professional that understands the technology and how it relates to policing, business, policy, and legal issues. Students will gain mission-critical skills to secure information technology infrastructure and also the business skills for becoming strategic experts and leaders in a variety of fields.

Admissions Requirements

Admission requirements are consistent with the overall admission requirements of the Master of Business & Science degree programs. GRE is required. A minimum undergraduate GPA of 3.0 in a relevant discipline is required. It’s recommended the students should a bachelor degree in information technology, information systems, cybersecurity, computer science or engineering, or have taken courses in programming, operating systems, and algorithms. IT work experience is preferred. Students with a non-IT background, but with relevant experience (e.g., law enforcement, criminal justice) are also suggested to apply. For those without significant programming experience, basic programming and data structures courses are available.

Program Requirements

Cybersecurity Pathways

To assist students coming in with experiences in science or business areas, we have created pathways within the Cybersecurity concentration to build on student’s existing skills. All Cybersecurity students must take the core business and science (cybersecurity) courses, but within each pathway, students have required electives to assist in their professionally guided curriculum.

For students with a background in Criminal Justice, Law Enforcement, defense background, security background, military background, psychology, criminology, forensics, Criminal Intelligence, and related areas, the student is guided towards our Digital Forensics pathway where your advisor will work with you to come up with your professionally guided curriculum based on your experience, professional background, and career goals.

For students with a background in Computer Science, IT, ECE, and related areas, the student is guided towards our traditional Technical Cybersecurity pathway where your advisor will work with you to come up with your professionally guided curriculum based on your experience, professional background, and career goals.

For students with a background, experience, or major in Management, Business, Training, and related areas, or 10+ years of experience in CS, IT, cybersecurity, or policing, the student is guided towards our Cybersecurity Management pathway where your advisor will work with you to come up with your professionally guided curriculum based on your experience, professional background, and career goals.

For students with a background in Analytics, Data Science, Databases, and related areas, the student is guided towards our Computer Forensics & Big Data pathway where your advisor will work with you to come up with your professionally guided curriculum based on your experience, professional background, and career goals.

For students with a background in Public Policy, Law, and related areas, the student is guided towards our Cybersecurity Management & Policy pathway where your advisor will work with you to come up with your professionally guided curriculum based on your experience, professional background, and career goals.

Cybersecurity Overview

The Master of Business and Science is a 43 credit professional science master’s program with 8 courses (24 credits) in science and 19 credits in business. In addition, students must attend 12 colloquium events to qualify for graduation. The program is affiliated with the PSM National Office who provides an affiliation process (similar to accreditation) for professional science master’s programs. As part of the cybersecurity concentration students are expected to complete two certification courses such as CEH, CISSP. Other certifications are also available.

A total of 19 credits are required in the business curriculum. Six courses are required – all but one of the courses are for 3 credits each. A total of 24 credits are required in the science curriculum. More details about core and elective courses can be found by Cybersecurity Pathway