California Institute of Arts & Technology Online Applied Bachelor's Degree in Cybersecurity

This is a live-instruction, certification-heavy applied bachelor's degree for people who want a structured weekly schedule and plenty of hands-on practice in cloud and network environments. It is also the priciest bachelor's among these six, at $660 per credit across 130 credits, and the school is a for-profit college.

It suits someone who already has an associate-level IT background and wants a clear route from certifications to a degree, and it suits less well a student who wants the lowest total price or a flexible, self-paced pace.

California Institute of Arts & Technology is an online technology college based in National City, California, now operating as California Institute of Applied Technology. Everything it teaches is delivered online, and federal data shows 100% of its students enrolled exclusively online, so you won't be the lone remote student in a campus program.

The Applied Bachelor's Degree in Cybersecurity is a Bachelor of Applied Science (B.A.S.), which means it is built around job skills rather than a general-education core. You complete a 35-course, 130-credit curriculum in roughly 3.5 years. The school is small by federal counts, with 2,112 students, and it awards about 30 degrees a year in this field.

One detail matters before you apply: the tuition table row the school publishes belongs to its Applied Bachelor's Degree in Computer Information Systems, which the page says is pending a name change to the cybersecurity degree with the same curriculum and credit hours. Confirm the final program name and price in writing.

You earn a Bachelor of Applied Science. The school's accreditor is ACCET, and the source material describes the applied bachelor's as part of an ACCET pilot for that degree type, so ask what that means for transfer and for graduate admission.

The certification story is the strongest part: CompTIA, ISC2 and EC-Council exams sit inside the course plan, and the school says it supplies vouchers and unlimited attempts. Treat those certifications as the credential employers will read first.

Where this degree can lead: Cybersecurity Degree Jobs.

Who It Fits

• Career changers or help-desk workers who already hold an associate degree in computer information systems and want the upper-division coursework in one place.
• People who learn better on a fixed live schedule than in recorded lectures, since classes are taught live online by industry practitioners.
• Students who want to collect industry certifications while they study, because the school says you can earn up to 14 along the way, with complimentary exam vouchers and unlimited exam attempts.
• Working technicians with certifications or job experience who want to turn that into credit through challenge exams.

Who Should Skip It

• Anyone who needs a self-paced or asynchronous format. Classes are synchronous, so you attend live sessions on a set schedule.
• Students watching the total bill closely. With $85,800 in tuition plus a $1,250 tech fee and lab fees, other bachelor's options on this site cost far less.
• Students planning to continue to a graduate program that cares about the type of accreditation, until they have confirmed how an ACCET-accredited applied bachelor's is treated there.

The school describes a 35-course curriculum that finishes with a Cybersecurity Senior Project as the capstone. Courses are mapped to vendor certifications, which is the main thing that sets the degree apart. The notable course list includes Certified Ethical Hacker, Advanced Network Security with a CISSP focus, AWS Security Foundations and Linux Administration.

The school also says students work hands-on across Azure, AWS, Linux and Cisco environments, so the lab work spans a cloud provider and a networking vendor rather than one stack. Certification prep spans CompTIA, Cisco, Microsoft, AWS, EC-Council and ISC2. The tradeoff is breadth over depth in theory: this is an applied degree, so expect less math and computer science theory than a Bachelor of Science would require.

Courses run five weeks each, so you focus on one subject at a time and finish it quickly.

Courses the School Names

• Certified Ethical Hacker
• Advanced Network Security CISSP
• AWS Security Foundations
• Linux Administration

Standout Features

• Hands-on work across Azure, AWS, Linux and Cisco environments
• Up to 14 industry certifications along the way, with complimentary exam vouchers and unlimited exam attempts

Tuition is $660 per credit hour, and the published total is $85,800 for 130 credits. On top of that, the school lists a $1,250 tech fee and lab fees, so the real bill is higher than the tuition figure.

For context, the same rate applies to the associate sibling, which is why a transfer student should compare carefully: the Associate of Applied Science in Computer Information Systems runs 64 credits at $660, or $42,240 in total. If you already hold that associate degree from CIAT or elsewhere, the upper-division share is what you still owe.

Challenge exams can reduce the credits you pay for if your certifications and job experience convert. The cost data for this program comes from the Computer Information Systems row, so ask for a fresh quote once the rename is final.

130 credits at $660 a credit comes to $85,800 in tuition, before fees.

Classes are live and online, led by industry experts, and each course lasts five weeks. That is a good fit if you want accountability and a fixed rhythm, and a poor one if your work hours change from week to week. The program takes approximately 3.5 years.

Hands-on work happens in cloud and network environments rather than a campus lab, and the school lists lab fees for it. Federal data shows a 56% overall graduation rate for the school and 69% for students who transfer in, which is the group most likely to enter this degree after an associate program.

The full rubric is on the methodology page.

• Tuition of $85,800 is high for a bachelor's, and fees add to it.
• Live, synchronous classes limit flexibility for shift workers.
• Admission expects an associate-level IT degree or an equivalent before upper-division coursework, so beginners usually need a pathway first.
• The program name and tuition row are tied to a pending name change, so details may shift.

• Has the name change to Applied Bachelor's Degree in Cybersecurity been approved, and will my tuition rate stay at $660 per credit?
• What do the $1,250 tech fee and the lab fees add up to over the whole program?
• Which of the up to 14 certifications are built into required courses, and which are optional?
• How do challenge exams work, and what do they cost compared with taking the course?
• How do ACCET accreditation and the applied bachelor's pilot affect transfer credit and graduate school admission?
• Which live class times are offered, and what happens if I miss a session?

Online technology college in National City, California, now operating as California Institute of Applied Technology.

• Best Accelerated Online Programs Rank 7 of 10, bachelor's
• Best Online Programs in California Rank 2 of 4, bachelor's

• Associate of Applied Science in Computer Information Systems

  A.A.S., Associate

  Fully Online $660 per credit Score 55.6

• Old Dominion University

  Bachelor of Science in Cybersecurity

  Virginia $453 per credit Score 56.1

• Stevenson University

  Cybersecurity and Digital Forensics, B.S.

  Maryland $470 per credit Score 55.9

• Boise State University

  Bachelor of Science in Cyber Operations and Resilience

  Idaho $395 per credit Score 57.2

• Fort Hays State University

  Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science in Information Networking and Telecommunications (Cybersecurity)

  Kansas $275.65 per credit Score 55.4