Hello all,
I am currently getting my MS in criminal justice from University of Cincinnati. One of the courses I had to take was computer security and I found myself really interested in the field. I have been recently researching schools, and the NSA (national security agency) actually has a list of schools that are awarded “Centers of Academic Excellence Institutions”. Cyber security is a very needed field these days, and not only for the NSA. I feel that there would be a lot of job security in this field given what I have researched.
Moving on, I have not had to take the GRE to get into my grad program, nor is my undergrad in computer science or IT at all. But based on learning a bit more about this field, I am still quite interested in it. It seems that cyber security is much less math intensive than traditional computer science\engineering degrees (thankfully). It is more of understanding how security programs work, learning about intrusions and operating systems, etc. There’s not many programs emphasizing calculus to succeed.
UMUC is a regionally accredited school, but It is not ranked on US News. From reading their website, it is a sister school of the University of Maryland - College Park. UMUC has been around a long time, and on their website they promote how their school is very recognized by the NSA and DHS (department of homeland sec). Given this prestigious viewpoint from such agencies, I would not think this university could be considered a “diploma mill” or anything of the likes. However, this is what troubles me a little. They are pretty accepting of students into their program. They do not require a GRE score, and they don’t seem to require a minimum GPA at all either. I quote from their site: “UMUC recognizes the value of past education and workplace experiences and does not require standardized tests like the GMAT or GRE for standard graduate admission”. Is this school really legit for cyber security? I have called an advisor and they claim it is for people of all walks of education (sociology, psychology, English, etc) and people do well in it for the most part. I also got an email from the cyber security department explaining what I could expect to learn from the program, and tips on what I should learn before entering the program. I have read reviews from students who went to this school and they claim it was pretty challenging (as it should be at grad level!), and not a diploma mill factory. I will also add that this is an online program.
What is your opinion on this school? It seems to be well respected from the looks of things, but their lack of GRE AND GPA makes me wonder. My current grad school may have waived the GRE requirement, but they also had a minimum GPA of a 3.0 requirement to get in.