Cybersecurity is becoming one of the most in-demand industries in the U.S. Indeed, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that the number of cybersecurity jobs will grow 33% in the next decade—more than four times faster than the average for all occupations.
While it’s not always necessary to earn a master’s degree in cybersecurity to enter the field, it can certainly pay off. The average base salary for workers with a master’s degree in cybersecurity is about $91,000, according to Payscale. But many top programs see graduates nab $200,000 base salaries, like the University of California—Berkeley, for instance.
If you’re looking for an East Coast-based program or have always dreamed of earning a degree from an Ivy League school, you have a few options. Three Ivy League schools offer online master’s degree programs in cybersecurity: Harvard University, Brown University, and Columbia University.
Fortune rounded up the details of these three online master’s programs including curriculum information, class profiles, and application details.
Harvard University
Harvard Extension School, which hosts many of the university’s continuing education degree programs, offers an online master’s degree program in cybersecurity to professionals who already know how to use object-oriented programming languages like C++, Python, or Java. The school also requires that applicants enroll in and earn at least a “B” in two courses: Systems Programming and Machine Organization and Communication Protocols and Internet Architectures.
The program was designed by an advisory board that includes chief information security officers from large publicly traded companies, Bruce Huang, director of Harvard Extension School’s cybersecurity graduate program in information technology, tells Fortune.
“Our goal is to create a cybersecurity talent pool to address the tactical need and the long-term strategic need in cybersecurity,” Huang says. “By strategic need, we mean the need to have subject matter leaders who can think strategically and proactively when crafting cybersecurity plans and strategies for their organizations.”
Admissions
At Harvard Extension School, future students have to “earn” their way in—only students who are enrolled in their second prerequisite course can apply to the cybersecurity master’s program.
“Why? Because we know that standardized test scores and previous transcripts don’t always accurately reflect our adult learners’ current academic capabilities and drive to succeed,” Harvard Extension School’s admissions website reads.
Registration opens for students interested in enrolling in fall 2022 on July 18. The degree program includes 12 courses; a three-week, on-campus precapstone experience at Harvard; and a final cybersecurity capstone project. Students work with an industry partner on either an innovation or improvement cybersecurity project.
“Since we introduced this offering, our cybersecurity program continues to meet the increased demand from both employers looking for skilled talent, as well as the expectations of our students who want an excellent education and learning experience,” Nancy Coleman, dean of the Harvard Division of Continuing Education and University Extension, tells Fortune.
