Lead the Fight Against Cyberattacks.
Learn to protect important assets with a powerful combination of technology expertise and business leadership skills
- 100% online
- Complete your degree in 1-2 years
- Prepare for CISSP + CISM certifications
- Does not require a bachelor’s in computer science or technology
- Two online graduate certificate opportunities in cybersecurity management and technology
Nearly every day brings news of a cybersecurity attack.
Global cybersecurity spending grew 10 percent to $60 billion in 20211, driven by data breaches, app testing, and an urgent need to protect vital data. Previously unaware of their vulnerabilities, large and small businesses alike now grasp how quickly they need to act to protect important assets.
In addition, the cybersecurity industry has a pressing demand for skilled professionals. According to Cybersecurity Ventures, there are now at least 3.5 million cybersecurity job openings2.
Through Saint Mary’s Master of Science in Cybersecurity, you’ll build on your technology expertise with hands-on coursework in network security, risk management, and more, and you’ll cultivate the leadership skills to land a top-paying position and prevent the next cyberattack. With the online graduate certificates in Cybersecurity Management and Cybersecurity Technology, you'll have the opportunity to specialize your training at another level.
We won’t just make you an expert. We’ll make you a leader.
Program Highlights
- Acquire Expert Insights. In partnership with Saint Mary's, real-world cybersecurity experts designed this program from the ground up. Course by course, these professionals, hiring managers, information security executives and government officials crafted this curriculum to give you the experience, knowledge and skills to stand out to professionals like them.
- Lead the Field. Our Masters in Cybersecurity online will add business communication, negotiation and applied ethics to your skillset. With these strengths, which are crucial to advancing your career, you'll graduate ready to manage fellow cyber-experts, explain your ideas to non-cyber leaders and lead the way in cybersecurity.
- Prepare for CISSP and CISM. Saint Mary's drew inspiration from the CISSP and CISM certifications while designing this program. You'll earn not only a master's degree in cybersecurity, but graduate with the knowledge needed to immediately excel at these exams.
- Apply Real-World Skills. Many cybersecurity programs emphasize theory over application. Ours goes in-depth on issues faced by modern, real-world companies, gives you application-based coursework, and prepares you with coursework on risk management, network security, intrusion detection and more. Go hands-on with technology.
- Save Time & Money. Saint Mary's Masters in Cybersecurity has a total estimated cost of $26,460 (just $735 per credit) and a 100% online curriculum that requires no campus visits or residency. This is a savings of up to $14,000 compared to other cybersecurity programs.
- Grow with Saint Mary's. You'll benefit from the credentials, prestige and welcoming community of Saint Mary's University of Minnesota. Our private, non-profit, Lasallian Catholic University has more than 100 years of history as an educational institution.
Academic Partner: Saint Mary's University of Minnesota is now an Official CompTIA Authorized Academic Partner.
Program Outcomes
- Demonstrate the business management skills relevant to administering information security programs in organizations.
- Apply leadership skills in information security planning.
- Demonstrate proficiency in communicating technical information.
- Balance business needs and overall information security architecture planning.
- Evaluate risk management frameworks, methods and strategies.
- Plan for cyber-attacks on networks and computer systems.
- Protect enterprise-wide information assets.
Graduate Certificate Options to Deepen Your Knowledge
Saint Mary's offers graduate certificate programs that students may stack with their degrees to accelerate their education and career advancement. Saint Mary's Accelerators include the following focus areas:
Comprehensive Leadership – From Ethics to Operations
“Employers simply aren’t looking for recruits who can maintain firewalls and mitigate risk. They want well-rounded professionals who can apply their security expertise across the business in order to yield bottom-line results.” – Todd Thibodeaux, “5 Soft Skills Young Cybersecurity Professionals Need to Get Ahead”4
Our online Master of Science in Cybersecurity was expertly designed to give you a broad understanding of this complex field.
Beyond technology fundamentals, you’ll learn a range of skills that are crucial to advancing your career. That includes communication, negotiation, and interrelation, so you can promote your initiatives to your superiors, manage teams of specialists, and stand out to high-level employers.
Additionally, Saint Mary's University of Minnesota offers two online graduate certificates to supplement the training you'll receive in the MS in Cybersecurity. In the online graduate certificate in Cybersecurity Technology, you'll engage with topics that cover intrusion detection, incident response, and network security to develop innovative protection strategies. Separately, in the online graduate certificate in Cybersecurity Management, you'll develop a set of leadership skills that will prepare you to apply the tenets of effective security policy, risk management, and security architecture.
The master’s program is easily broken down into three main components that are designed to work together to prepare graduates to lead cybersecurity programs within businesses.
-Don Heier, Ph.D., Program Director M.S.. Cybersecurity
To learn more about the program and how it helps prepare you to advance in cybersecurity check out this interview with Don Heier and Dean Michelle Wieser.
Computer Networking Requirement
Students who have not taken a foundational computer networking course and/or lack previous experience in the networking technology field may be required to take CYBR 590 Computer Networking (3 cr.) as part of their program.
COURSE CODE | COURSE TITLE (3 credits per course) |
CYBR600 | Foundations of Cybersecurity (required first course) |
CYBR606 | Cloud Architecture and Application Security |
CYBR610 | Network Security and Intrusion Detection |
CYBR615 | Cybersecurity Change Management |
CYBR620 | Operational Security Policy |
CYBR625 | Risk Management |
CYBR630 | Communication and Ethics for Cybersecurity Professionals |
CYBR635 | Data Privacy |
CYBR645 | Incident Response and Investigation |
CYBR650 | Ethical Hacking and Defense |
CYBR690 | Security Operations and Leadership (Capstone course) |
DIGA625 | Python Programming for Technology Applications |
Career Outlook – Meet the Demand
Companies spent more than $86 billion on cybersecurity in 20175
According to Cybersecurity Ventures, by 2021, there will be at least 3.5 million cybersecurity job openings6
40,000 new cybersecurity jobs go unfilled every year7
Postings for cybersecurity jobs grew 91% between 2010 and 2014, compared to 28% growth for general IT job postings8
According to Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median salary in 2018 for top-tier cybersecurity positions was $104,358.
Employers as varied as Booz Allen Hamilton, AT&T, JP Morgan Chase, Microsoft, Boeing and Lockheed Martin are all on the lookout for cybersecurity leaders. You’ll graduate from Saint Mary’s with the business leadership skills and technology fundamentals you need to stand out to these high-level employers.
Have a look at cybersecurity career paths and their 2016 median incomes, according to U.S. News & World Report and PayScale.com
TITLE | MEDIAN INCOME |
Computer Network Architect | $109,0209 |
Information Security Analyst | $98,35010 |
Information Security Engineer | $109,34011 |
Information Security Officer | $91,56212 |
Information Security Specialist | $75,34713 |
Information Systems Manager | $142,53014 |