Albany Technical College Online Cybersecurity Degree (Associate of Applied Science)

This is a low-cost, fully online two-year degree for someone who wants hands-on security skills and a job-ready credential without a university price tag. Tuition is $107 per credit hour and the whole 72-credit degree comes to $7,704 before fees. The tradeoff is that it is a technical college degree built for work, so check how its credits would transfer if you ever want a bachelor's.

Albany Technical College is a public technical college in Albany, Georgia. It lists its Cybersecurity degree among programs you can finish 100% online, and this page covers the Associate of Applied Science (A.A.S.), the longer of its two cybersecurity credentials.

The college also offers a Cybersecurity Diploma at 58 credits, also fully online and also $107 per credit. The degree adds 14 credits to the diploma. Those extra credits are what turn a short, skills-only credential into a full associate degree, which is the version employers and four-year schools tend to recognize more readily.

Students can start in any semester, so you don't have to wait for a single fall cohort. Terms run on a 16-week semester schedule. Admission asks for a high school diploma or equivalent plus minimum ACCUPLACER placement scores, which is the standard placement test many technical colleges use for reading, writing and math.

The full rubric is on the methodology page.

Tuition is $107 per credit hour, or $1,284 per semester for 12 or more credit hours, and it is capped at 15 hours. That cap means a heavier course load in a single semester doesn't cost more. Over 72 credits, tuition comes to $7,704.

Mandatory fees are charged on top of tuition, so ask for the current fee schedule when you request a cost estimate. Because the rate is published as one per-credit number, you can compare it directly with other schools.

For comparison, Central Georgia Technical College charges the same $107 per credit for Georgia residents but asks for 60 credits, and doubles the rate for out-of-state students. Albany's catalog lists a single rate, so ask whether a non-Georgia address changes your price.

72 credits at $107 a credit comes to $7,704 in tuition, before fees.

Who It Fits

• You want to get into network or security work quickly and keep tuition for the whole degree at $7,704.
• You live in Georgia or elsewhere and like the idea of a public technical college with a flat per-credit price you can budget against.
• You learn best by doing labs, such as breaking into practice systems and defending them, rather than writing long research papers.
• You already work in IT support or networking and want a credential that backs up what you do every day.

Who Should Skip It

• You are sure you want a bachelor's degree in the end and want every credit to carry over automatically. Ask about articulation agreements before you enroll, because technical college credits don't always move one for one.
• You want a school with a national research reputation or a large alumni network in cybersecurity.

The notable courses read like a practical toolkit. Network Security and Network Defense and Countermeasures cover how to protect a network and respond when something gets through. Implementing Operating Systems Security is about hardening the systems themselves, such as locking down accounts and services on the machines a company runs.

The two courses that stand out are Ethical Hacking and Penetration Testing (listed in the catalog as CIST 2613) and Computer Forensics. Penetration testing means you have permission to attack a system and report the weak spots, so it teaches you to think like an intruder. Forensics is the other side of the work: gathering evidence after an incident and keeping it usable.

That mix of defense, attack and investigation is a good sampler. At 72 credits you also take general education courses, so ask for the full course map to see how many of them are security classes.

Courses the School Names

• Network Security
• Ethical Hacking and Penetration Testing
• Computer Forensics
• Network Defense and Countermeasures
• Implementing Operating Systems Security

Albany Technical College says it offers 100% online classes, and this degree is on that list. Federal enrollment data shows 55% of the college's students are enrolled exclusively online, so online learners aren't a side group here.

The college runs on 16-week semesters, which is slower than the 7 or 8-week terms many online universities use. That pace is easier on a full-time job because each class stretches over a longer stretch of the calendar. It also means a fast start-to-finish plan depends on how many credits you load into each semester, up to the 15-hour cap.

Ask whether any hands-on labs run on virtual machines you reach from home, and whether any exams must be taken at a testing location.

You would earn an Associate of Applied Science in Cybersecurity from a public technical college. An A.A.S. is built to prepare you for a job, so its courses are weighted toward skills rather than general academics.

The college's federal graduation rate is 42%, a school-wide figure across all programs and students. Treat it as context rather than a prediction for this degree, since many technical college students attend part time or transfer.

Ask the program office which certification exams the courses line up with, such as the entry-level security and network credentials hiring managers look for.

Where this degree can lead: Cybersecurity Degree Jobs.

• An A.A.S. is a workforce degree, so transfer into a bachelor's program can lose some credits. Get the answer in writing from the four-year school you might attend.
• Mandatory fees are charged in addition to the $107 per credit, so the real bill is higher than the $7,704 in tuition.
• Admission includes minimum ACCUPLACER scores, which means a placement test may stand between you and your first class.

• What are the current mandatory fees per semester, and do they change if I take fewer than 12 hours?
• Which four-year schools accept this degree's credits toward a bachelor's, and is there a written agreement?
• Are the penetration testing and forensics labs done on virtual machines I reach from home?
• Do any exams need to be taken at a campus or testing center?
• Which industry certification exams do the courses prepare me for?
• If I live outside Georgia, is my per-credit price the same?
• Can ACCUPLACER scores be waived if I have SAT, ACT or earlier college credit?

A public technical college in Albany, Georgia that lists its Cybersecurity degree and diploma among its 100% online programs.

• Best Online Cybersecurity Degrees Rank 2 of 10, associate
• Best Online Associate Programs Rank 2 of 10, associate
• Best Affordable Online Programs Rank 1 of 10, associate
• Best Public University Programs Rank 2 of 10, associate
• Best 100% Online Programs Rank 2 of 10, associate
• Best Online Programs in Georgia Rank 1 of 8, associate

• Central Georgia Technical College

  Cybersecurity (Associate Degree)

  Georgia $214 per credit Score 58.6

• Southern Arkansas University Tech

  Associate of Applied Science in Cybersecurity

  Arkansas $170 per credit Score 58.4

• Community College of Baltimore County

  Cybersecurity

  Maryland $247 per credit Score 56.5

• Minnesota State College Southeast

  Cybersecurity and Network Administration (A.A.S.)

  Minnesota Score 56.4