Champlain College Online Master of Science in Cybersecurity Management

This is the Champlain master's for people who want to manage security rather than configure it. The courses center on regulations, risk, architecture and leadership, and 100% of Champlain's graduate students study fully online. If you want to spend your days in malware or code, one of Champlain's four other cybersecurity and forensics master's degrees fits better.

Champlain College is a private nonprofit college in Burlington, Vermont, and it delivers its online degrees through Champlain College Online. The Master of Science in Cybersecurity Management is a 30-credit program that you complete entirely online.

Champlain offers several master's degrees in this field, and the differences are real. Cybersecurity Operations ends in a War Games capstone where two virtual teams attack and defend networks, and its courses cover malware analysis and incident response. Cybersecurity Analytics leans toward machine learning and data visualization. The two Digital Forensics master's degrees are investigation degrees.

This Management degree is the one with compliance, risk and leadership in the course list, and an IS Management Capstone at the end. It suits someone heading toward a security manager, compliance lead or program owner role.

The full rubric is on the methodology page.

Tuition is $608 per credit for Fall 2026 through Summer 2027, and the program is 30 credits, which comes to $18,240 in tuition. Alumni, servicemembers, veterans and their families pay $500 per credit. There is also a one-time $150 graduation fee.

Price is the main tradeoff here, since $608 per credit adds up even over 30 credits. The 10-month pace helps, because a shorter program means fewer months of paying while you also work. Ask whether your employer offers tuition assistance.

30 credits at $608 a credit comes to $18,240 in tuition, before fees.

Who It Fits

• IT professionals moving from technical work into security management or governance
• Working adults who need 7-week terms and the option to take one course at a time
• Applicants who want to skip the GMAT and GRE, since neither is required
• Servicemembers, veterans and their families, who pay $500 per credit instead of $608
• Career changers with a bachelor's degree in any field and experience or training that may earn transfer credit

Who Should Skip It

• Anyone who wants hands-on attack and defense practice as the center of the degree, who should compare Champlain's Cybersecurity Operations master's
• Students who want a machine learning or data analysis focus, who should compare Cybersecurity Analytics
• People who need a thesis or a research track for a doctoral application

Named courses include Security Regulations and Compliance Management, Managing Risk in IT Organizations, Security Design & Architecture, Technology Leadership for Innovation and Growth, and Cyber Warfare and Cyber Crime. The program ends with an IS Management Capstone.

Read that list as a manager's toolkit. Compliance and risk courses teach you how an organization decides what to protect and how to show an auditor it did. Security Design & Architecture gives you enough technical depth to challenge a vendor or a design review. The leadership course covers the people and budget side, which is where many technical staff are least prepared.

Cyber Warfare and Cyber Crime adds the threat picture. It is the one course here that touches the attacker's side, and it gives a manager a vocabulary for incidents.

Courses the School Names

• Security Regulations and Compliance Management
• Managing Risk in IT Organizations
• Security Design & Architecture
• Technology Leadership for Innovation and Growth
• Cyber Warfare and Cyber Crime

Champlain runs 7-week terms alongside 15-week semesters. You can take one course or two per 7-week term. With two courses per term, the school estimates 10 months to finish, which is fast for a master's degree and demands real weekly time.

In federal data, 100% of Champlain's graduate students study fully online, so the school is built around distance students instead of treating them as an add-on. Classes are designed for working professionals.

If 10 months sounds like too much, taking one course per term stretches the program out, and the 7-week format keeps each course short enough to stay manageable.

Champlain College is regionally accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE). Regional accreditation is the kind many employers look for when they review tuition assistance.

The degree is not built around one certification exam. Its courses on compliance, risk and architecture overlap with the topics on management certifications, but check with the school before you count on any exam tie. Federal data reports median earnings of $145,009 for Champlain graduates in this field, which is the figure to weigh against the tuition.

Where this degree can lead: Cybersecurity Degree Jobs.

• At $608 per credit, tuition is a real cost, though the 30-credit length keeps the total at $18,240.
• The degree is management focused, so you will not spend the program building labs the way an operations degree does.
• Finishing in 10 months means two courses per 7-week term while you work, which is a heavy load.
• The $150 graduation fee is one-time and separate from tuition.

• Which of the five named courses will I take first, and can I take them one at a time?
• What does the IS Management Capstone ask me to deliver, and can I base it on my own employer's security program?
• How much transfer credit will my work experience and training earn, since the school accepts credit for prior learning and military training?
• How does this degree differ from Cybersecurity Operations in the kind of job it prepares me for?
• Does the 2.5 GPA recommendation apply to me, and what happens if my GPA is lower?
• Does the $500 rate for alumni, servicemembers and veterans apply to my situation?

A private nonprofit college in Burlington, Vermont that delivers its online degrees through Champlain College Online.

• Best Cybersecurity Management Degrees Rank 1 of 10, master's
• Best Online Programs in Vermont Rank 5 of 5, master's

• BS in Computer Forensics & Digital Investigations

  B.S., Bachelor's

  Fully Online $342 per credit Score 75.9

• Bachelor of Science in Cybersecurity

  B.S., Bachelor's

  Fully Online $342 per credit Score 72.4

• Master of Science in Digital Forensic Science

  M.S., Master's

  Fully Online $608 per credit Score 75.1

• Master of Science in Cybersecurity Operations

  M.S., Master's

  Fully Online $608 per credit Score 70.7

• Master of Science in Cybersecurity Analytics

  M.S., Master's

  Fully Online $608 per credit Score 70.5

• Master of Science in Digital Forensic Analytics

  M.S., Master's

  Fully Online $608 per credit Score 70.3

Also at Champlain College, but not counted here because they are not fully online: Bachelor of Science in Computer Science (bachelor's, on campus).

• University of the Cumberlands

  Master of Science in Information Systems Security (Online)

  Kentucky $355 per credit Score 67.4

• Hallmark University

  Master of Science in Cybersecurity

  Texas $595 per credit Score 67.1

• Dakota State University

  Cyber Defense, MS

  South Dakota $495.70 per credit Score 65.8

• Excelsior University

  Master of Science in Cybersecurity

  New York $715 per credit Score 65.4