California State University San Marcos

The Master of Science in Cybersecurity is a professional science degree program designed to meet the needs of the computing industry and associated organizations. The program is a blend of technical courses and business courses with a capstone project. The objective of the program is to train an expertly skilled workforce to fulfill the imminent needs of the emerging and evolving cybersecurity industry. The program is designed to prepare those with strong background in computer science for management positions in cybersecurity such as the manager of the information security department, the director of risk assessment and compliance, the chief information security officer, the director of IT security, and project managers of security related projects.

Throughout the program, students will be exposed to real-world problems/cases, leading-edge technologies, managerial/interpersonal skills, ethics and governance knowledge, and problem-solving skills.

The rigorous program is taught online to accommodate the working student. The program design is a cohort model that requires students to go through the program together over a five-semester period with a predetermined course sequence. It is a non-thesis degree program requiring a rigorous “Internship or Semester-in-Residence” project as culminating experience.

Each student will be guided and evaluated by an Advisory Committee that will be made up of university faculty, program instructors, and industry mentors, as well as program advisors.