Students completing the Graduate Certificate in Cybersecurity will advance their technical and practical skills within the information security discipline. The purpose of this graduate certificate is to offer a practitioner-oriented credential in the information security area to students who are seeking an opportunity for more focused study.
This certificate program is primarily delivered at the Edwards Campus in Overland Park, KS. Some of the courses in this certificate program may be delivered online, but the program may not be able to be completed entirely online.
Admission
In addition to all University requirements for admission to graduate studies, admission to the graduate certificate in Cybersecurity requires the following materials to submit a complete application for admission:
- Resume
- Statement of Purpose
For admission to KU’s Graduate Certificate in Cybersecurity program, applicants must have:
- An undergraduate degree in a computing or related discipline with a GPA of 2.75 or better. Students with less than a 2.75 may be admitted upon Program review and approval.
- For applicants with at least two years of practical work experience in IT, no GRE scores will be required. For those who would like to take the GRE, exam requirements are as follows: 146+ verbal, 155+ quantitative (mean GRE: 152 verbal, 163 quantitative). If GRE scores are submitted, they will be considered as part of the admission process.
These are the admission requirements in place at the time this catalog content was published.
Certificate Requirements
Course List | Code | Title | Hours |
| ITEC 710 | Information Security and Assurance | 3 |
| ITEC 711 | Security Management and Audit | 3 |
| ITEC 712 | Network Security and its Application | 3 |
| Information Security and Cyber Law | |
| Communication Networks | |
| Total Hours | 12 |
The completion requirements of the graduate certificate in Cybersecurity include: (a) students must have a GPA of 3.0 or better on the required courses; (b) the minimum grade for any course to be applied toward the certificate is a grade of C; and (c) no credits may be transferred from another institution for this certificate.
Note: The completion of the graduate certificate program does not lead to automatic admission to the MSIT program, particularly if the student lacks the BS degree in computing or related discipline. However, for students who are able to gain admission to the MSIT program within three years of earning the certificate, all certificate course work completed with a grade B or higher will be recognized through a combination of the following methods.
For students admitted to the MSIT program before completion of the certificate, all certificate course work may also be applied to the degree-granting program. For students admitted to the MSIT program after completing the certificate, departments will use a combination of transfer credit and degree requirement waivers to recognize the 12 hours earned through the certificate program. At the discretion of the degree-granting program and the Graduate Division, up to nine (9) credit hours may be transferred to the degree program. For the purposes of the MSIT program, completion of the graduate certificate in Cybersecurity within three years, with a grade of B or better, shall also be recognized as exceptional preparation which warrants the waiver of course work completed during the certificate program and not transferred. Please see the M.A. & M.S. Degrees and Graduate Credit policies for more information.
At the completion of this program, students will be able to:
- Synthesize information security concepts.
- Evaluate governance of fundamental and emerging technologies in network security, computer systems security.
- Assess security policies, procedures, risk management and audit practices.
