Online MS in Cybersecurity

Our online MS in Cybersecurity prepares you to identify and mitigate risks from the U.S. and abroad as you build expertise in relevant theory, policies, and technologies. Organizations around the world depend on trained experts to analyze cyber threats and keep their systems secure. Prepare to become a leader in this field.

Prepare for CompTIA Security + and CySA+ certification exams and ISC2 certification through a CompTIA Authorized Academy Partner school, making you more attractive to many employers.

Our program is also a Recorded Future’s Partner. This provides students access to the leading threat intelligence platform and giving you hands on experience with cyber threat intelligence and generating cyber threat reports using AI.

Advance Your Career

Meet the rising demand for cybersecurity professionals with technical abilities and expertise in cyber defense, intelligence, and governance. Our online MS in Cybersecurity program gives you technical and analytical competencies for career opportunities across this field. The courses cover policy and governance, providing a holistic education that will benefit entry-level and seasoned professionals alike.

• Information Security Analyst: $120K per year
• Cybersecurity Specialist: $109K per year
• Data Security Officer: $97K per year
• Cyber Operations Analyst: $93K per year

Salary information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Salary.com, and Payscale.com.

Career Services

Your career advisor from our Center for Advising and Career Services will help you tailor your skills development, career exploration, and professional opportunities aligned with your experience, interests, and goals.

Alumni Network

Our large and influential alumni network in the global security industry is eager to help you take the next step in your career. They are thriving in careers around the world. Many top employers seek out our graduates as their go-to hires. Our proximity to Silicon Valley strengthens the impact of our alumni network, connecting graduates with professionals at the forefront of innovation.

CompTIA Authorized Academic Partner

The Middlebury Institute of International Studies is an Authorized Academy Partner of the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA), a non-profit that issues professional IT certifications. Our students leverage CompTIA’s resources and benefit from discounted exam vouchers for the CompTIA Security+ and CompTIA Cybersecurity Analyst Certification (CySA+) exams. Learn more about CompTIA certification.

Curriculum

In addition to your core coursework, you will develop specialized skills through a Cyber Defense and Intelligence track, in which you will learn to gather and analyze data on cybersecurity threats to safeguard important infrastructure and national assets. The program culminates in a cybersecurity practicum.

From protecting data stored in the cloud to employing AI in threat detection, cybersecurity professionals need skills at the forefront of technology. That’s why we designed this online degree in cybersecurity to blend theoretical studies and hands-on experiences with advanced software. Our curriculum also aligns with the requirements of many certifications, including the CompTIA Secure Infrastructure Specialist and Security Analytics Professional designations.

You’ll build expertise in the following areas:

• Threat and Vulnerability Assessment, Management, and Mitigation: Collect, analyze, manage, and mitigate threats and vulnerabilities using evidence-based decisions

• Security Architecture and Technology: Integrate and use fundamental information and emerging best practices about security architecture and technology to address day-to-day activities in the field

• Security Operations: Design and perform cybersecurity tasks following operations workflows and legal guidelines, as well as within established technology and leadership structures

• Security Program Management and Oversight: Design, implement, manage, and evaluate cybersecurity programs and projects using a systems-thinking perspective

• Cyber Defense, Threat, and Exploitation Analysis: Use defensive measures and information collected from a variety of sources to identify, analyze, and report events that occur or might occur within the network to protect information, information systems, and networks from threats

• Incident Response and Investigation: Design, develop, and deploy incident response, investigation workflows, and improvement plans

• Policy Analysis: Integrate relevant policies, standards, frameworks, and best practices into cybersecurity initiatives

• Communication: Communicate complex cybersecurity concepts, ideas, and results through multiple channels to diverse internal and external audiences

• Collaboration: Foster effective collaboration within and across public, private, and nonprofit organizations to address systemic issues that cannot be addressed via individual action alone

• Data Analysis and Evidence-Based Decision Making: Collect, analyze, manage, and visualize data to make evidence-based decisions related to cybersecurity

• Ethics: Acquire the ethical skills needed to secure sensitive data and critical infrastructure.

Explore your curriculum.

Faculty: Professors and Practitioners

While other graduate schools rely on teaching assistants, our students have direct access to expert faculty, including the coauthor of the leading textbook Understanding Cyber Warfare.

Your professors are committed to your success and, together with your career advisor, will become your mentors and colleagues throughout your career. 

Meet your faculty.

Program Details

• 12 courses (36 credits) including a Cyber Defense and Intelligence track and a capstone practicum.

• Gain insight into how AI is transforming the cybersecurity industry.

• Join the Cyber Collaborative and enrich your education by exploring the implications of the cyber domain for national and international security and provides opportunities for networking.

• Gain sought after skills, such as, information assurance, risk management, and vulnerability management.

• Participate in the Atlantic Council’s Cyber 9/12 Strategy Challenge, the world’s premier cyber policy and strategy competition.

• Eligible students can complete the capstone where they currently work.

Interactive Online Learning

Our interactive approach to online learning provides a high level of engagement with your faculty, career advisor, classmates, and alumni. You will join a supportive community and build a vast, experienced professional network while taking advantage of our flexible course scheduling. 

Our online programs provide the same top-level expertise and instruction that the Middlebury Institute is known for, with the added flexibility for you to continue working while you earn your degree.

• Asynchronous, meaning you don’t have to attend live class meetings and can complete weekly coursework on your schedule
• Part-time, so you can continue to work while you earn your degree
• Not time-zone dependent, allowing you to work worldwide.

Tuition and Financial Aid

Tuition for all of our online programs is $850/credit.

• The online MS in Cybersecurity degree program is 36 credits, so your total tuition cost for this master’s program will be approximately $30,600.
• Tuition rates are subject to change each year.
• Completing a cybersecurity master’s degree program is an investment in your future. You’ll open doors to rewarding roles with considerable demand and earning potential.
• We have designed this program to allow you to continue working as you earn your online master’s. Your asynchronous courses allow you to engage with each lesson on your own schedule. 
• Our Student Financial Services team will help you understand, manage, and finance your costs, including education loans.
• Contact your employer’s HR department to ask about tuition benefits.
• We offer full tuition coverage for qualifying veterans and their eligible dependents through the Post-9/11 GI Bill® and the Yellow Ribbon Program.
• Middlebury Institute scholarships are not available for online programs due to the reduced tuition rate.
• Many organizations offer funding for graduate school and this list of resources has been helpful to students in the past.

Review the tuition costs.

How to Apply

We take a holistic approach when considering your application, looking at your academic and professional background, international and multicultural experience, and career goals. We welcome applicants with or without relevant work experience, and our program has numerous opportunities for you to gain or expand your professional experience before you graduate.

We do not require GRE or GMAT scores for our master’s programs, but competitive scores may strengthen your application.

Learn how to apply.