Computer Science/Cybersecurity College Research

College Majors Math/Computer Science Majors
1

I’m a junior in high school and I’m looking to go into Cybersecurity. Based on the research I have done, I see that the majority of schools do not have undergraduate programs focused on Cybersecurity but rather Computer Science and one can pursue Cybersecurity for a masters. What schools are known for having good Cybersecurity undergrad programs or good Computer Science programs that may have a concentration in Cybersecurity or at least have some classes in that area?

I’m looking at East Coast schools and I’ve been thinking CMU or MIT because of their amazing computer science departments. I’m also somewhat looking into Hopkins and Northeastern. I wasn’t really looking into NJIT ( most certainly, their Honors College) but I had visited there for an open house and I heard some amazing things about their partnership with the NSA I think? Were they just trying to make a pitch or is it really a great program?

In terms of the type of schools I’m interested in, I would like a medium size, East coast school in a decent sized city. I was specifically looking into DC schools at one point because I thought it could be a good place because of the opportunities for government work /internships in the area of cyber security.

Are there any official lists of top schools in this field that I could look at?

I’m really struggling to find information regarding this topic so anything helps. Thanks in advance.

2

CMU and MIT of course you can’t go wrong with. Northeastern has a lot of direct connections to government cybersecurity and a great program for it, so I’d second that. Instead/in addition to of John Hopkins, I would look at UMD which has a fantastic cybersecurity program, great connections and more.

Check out ACES there: https://aces.umd.edu/

Generally, looking for good CS schools should be enough, but the few with cybersecurity focus are worth the extra look.

Some other good specific cybersecurity options can probsbly be found here: http://csrankings.org/#/index?comm&sec&ops&crypt

That link looks specifically at research output to top conferences of schools in specific areas related to cybersecurity in the past 10 years. While not perfect, it should correlate a bit to offered classes in the areas and available research opportunities. You’ll notice the typical CS names are still top there. Northeastern is #13, UMD is #15. As many will be reaches, I’d recommend focusing on fit factors, selecting a few programs from the top in addition to those already picked, and then pick simply solid CS programs that are matches/safeties.

You can also cross-reference this list of schools below, but I would put more weight into CS quality than a presence on that list.

https://www.nsa.gov/resources/educators/centers-academic-excellence/