Masters in Cyber Security Online: Requirements You Need to Meet

Cybersecurity is the practice of defending sensitive information on the web, and although you might not think much about it, it plays a critical role in keeping us all safe in this hyper-digitized age. It’s a red-hot industry right now and only expected to become more so in the future, so now is an excellent time to look at getting an online degree in this field.

To do this, though, there are a few criteria you’ll have to meet. There are very few hard requirements for getting an online master’s degree in this field, but there are many soft ones that are just as likely to affect your chances of success in the program. Below are a few necessities to be mindful of when thinking about embarking on these years of study.

Direct Requirements

Like most master’s programs, getting a master’s degree in cybersecurity usually requires the applicant to have completed a bachelor’s degree at some point beforehand. This prerequisite degree can be in just about any field – however, cybersecurity is a highly technical field, so a related degree field like computer science or engineering is best to ensure that you have the background necessary to keep up with course content. Some programs may also publish a list of required classes that all applicants must have completed before enrolling, but the school will usually make it easy to for students to sign up for these classes and finish them quickly if they lack the necessary credits.

Considering Other Roadblocks

Whichever way you go about qualifying for it, the fact remains that a master’s degree program is an advanced educational pursuit that you can’t just drop into right out of high school. You have to have spent some of your time as a young adult working or studying already.

This means that you’re likely to be slightly older than the typical college crowd, and you may have existing commitments (a full-time job, children, or elderly parents, to name a few) that require your attention on an ongoing basis. Part of the appeal of online programs is the flexibility they afford you, but this can backfire if you fail to plan appropriately. Success means putting school first sometimes, so make sure that you can do this if you apply.

Once you’ve carved out that time, though, you also need to make sure you’re using it to your best advantage. Online learning often provides students with written texts or video lectures that can be referenced at any time, which might initially seem to obviate the need for things like notes. However, evidence suggests that cutting out those extra steps to learning significantly decreases a student’s ability to retain the content. Your study time needs to be extensive and involved in order for it to be of any use to you in the long run; one quick reading won’t do.

How Can I Prepare?

Now that you know that these hurdles are likely to come up, you can take steps to avoid them; with luck, this will make your studies as hassle-free as possible. Here are a few things you might try:

• Schedule dedicated blocks of time for studying every week, and don’t stop until the time is up
• Engage actively with the material – reread, take notes, try practice quizzes, and discuss it with others
• Look for supplementary materials to further your understanding of course topics
• Always make schoolwork a high priority in your life, even if it can’t take the top spot

Are you interested in moving ahead in your cyber security career? If you want to earn a Master of Science in Cybersecurity, ECPI University offers this class at an accelerated course of study. For more information about this exciting program, connect with one of our helpful admissions counselors today.

It could be the Best Decision You Ever Make!

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