The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) is kicking off a fully online degree program in cybersecurity.
The deadline to apply for the fall of 2017 is June 1 for the program, which will allow students to earn a BBA in cybersecurity entirely through distance learning. The program will include over 30 industry-aligned certificates in specializations such as cyber-intrusion detection, cyber-incident response, and cyberattack analysis. Students will also earn badges and micro-certificates along the way, providing additional relevance to the job market.
Students in the online degree program will have access to the same cybersecurity expertise that UTSA students currently experience on-campus—which is ranked as the No. 1 cybersecurity program in the nation by the Ponemon Institute, based on a survey of IT executives. UTSA’s academic and research programs also are recognized for excellence by both the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Partnering with the University of Texas System's innovation department, the new online degree program is supported by Total Educational Experience (TEx), a web-based learner platform that guides students on personalized journeys throughout their lifetime.
The news comes as The Center for Cyber Safety and Education says that employers must look to millennials to fill the projected 1.8 million positions that are estimated to be unfilled by 2022.
This is an increase of 20% from the 1.5 million worker shortfall forecast by the Center’s 2015 Global Information Security Workforce Study (GISWS).
“For years, we’ve known about the impending shortage of the information security workforce, as evidenced by our study year-over-year,” said David Shearer, CEO, (ISC)², which sponsored the report. “For the first time, we’re taking a deep dive into the millennial respondents, and we’re finding that they want different things in terms of job satisfaction and career paths. They truly are the future of cybersecurity, and I believe they hold the key to filling the well-publicized information security workforce gap.”