Franklin University Online Bachelor of Science in Cybersecurity

Franklin's bachelor's is built for adults who already have college credit or work history and want to finish a cybersecurity degree without a long runway. You can bring in up to 94 of the 124 credits, start in any of 8 terms a year, and pay $398 per credit with a rate guarantee.

The tradeoff is a short list of named courses, so check the labs and the capstone with admissions before you commit.

Franklin University is a private nonprofit university in Columbus, Ohio, that offers online degrees at three levels. Its Bachelor of Science in Cybersecurity is 124 credits and 100% online, with 6- and 12-week courses and 8 starts per year. Franklin also has an associate and a master's in cybersecurity, so you can stack the credentials in one place, and the school promotes a bachelor's plus master's combined pathway online.

The NSA designated the B.S. as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education program of study in 2019. Students also have a path to hands-on practice: the program includes security exercises in a virtual environment, and Franklin's student-run ACM chapter has a Cybersecurity special interest group that competes in the National Cyber League.

The full rubric is on the methodology page.

Standard tuition is $398 per credit for 2026-2027. Across 124 credits that comes to $49,352 before transfer credit. A $100 resource fee applies each semester. Franklin's Tuition Guarantee locks in your first-term rate, which helps with budgeting over several years.

Current service members pay $250 per credit, and international students pay $526.

The real savings come from transfer. Every credit you bring in is a credit you do not pay $398 for. With up to 94 credits accepted, a student with a lot of prior coursework could pay for only the remaining 30, while a student starting from scratch pays for all 124.

124 credits at $398 a credit comes to $49,352 in tuition, before fees.

Who It Fits

• Adults with an associate degree, military training or earlier college credit who want to put that toward a bachelor's. The school accepts up to 94 transfer credits, which is 76% of the degree.
• Working professionals who need a start date soon. Eight starts per year means you rarely wait long.
• Students who plan to continue to a master's, since Franklin offers a combined bachelor's plus master's pathway online.
• Service members, who pay $250 per credit.

Who Should Skip It

• Students who want a long list of named security electives to browse before applying. Ask admissions for the full course list.
• Students who want certification exam preparation built into the degree. Plan Security+ or similar study on your own time.
• Out-of-country students watching cost. International students pay $526 per credit instead of $398.

Franklin names two courses on the program page. Cybersecurity Fundamentals is where you start. The Cybersecurity Capstone, 4 credits, is where you finish: a small-group project that pulls the major together, and the school says its credit cannot be transferred in. Even if you bring in 94 credits, you still sit the capstone at Franklin.

Between those, the program uses hands-on security exercises in a virtual environment, which is the closest the page gets to describing lab work. Ask admissions for the full course list so you can see how much of the 124 credits is general education and how much is security.

For comparison, Franklin's master's in cybersecurity lists courses such as Information Risk Management, Cryptography, Advanced Network Security and Ethical Hacking. The bachelor's is the foundation, and the master's is where those topics get named.

Courses the School Names

• Cybersecurity Fundamentals
• Cybersecurity Capstone

Standout Features

• Bachelor's plus master's combined pathway online
• Designated by the NSA as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education (B.S. program of study designation, 2019)
• Franklin's student-run ACM chapter includes a Cybersecurity SIG and competes in the National Cyber League
• Hands-on security exercises in a virtual environment

The format is 100% online, with 6- and 12-week courses and 8 starts each year. Shorter courses let you focus on one subject at a time, and frequent starts mean a missed term costs weeks, not months.

Federal data shows 93% of Franklin's undergraduates study exclusively online, so the school's support, scheduling and course design are built around remote students. The capstone is a team project in small groups, so plan for coordination with classmates, not only solo work.

The NSA's 2019 program of study designation is the credential that matters most here. It signals that the program of study met the NSA's cyber defense education standards.

College Scorecard shows median earnings of $102,099 for Franklin graduates at this level in this field. Federal outcome data puts the share of transfer-in students who earn an award within eight years at 55.5%, which is worth keeping in mind. Finishing takes persistence, so ask how advising works for online students.

Where this degree can lead: Cybersecurity Degree Jobs.

• The program page names few courses, so you cannot judge the depth of the security content before talking to admissions.
• At $398 per credit and 124 credits, full tuition is $49,352 if you transfer nothing in, plus the $100 resource fee every semester.
• The capstone cannot be satisfied by transfer, so even an experienced professional with a lot of credit must complete it at Franklin.

• Can I see the full required course list, and which courses include the virtual lab exercises?
• How many of my credits will transfer, and will you give me an evaluation before I enroll?
• How does the combined bachelor's plus master's pathway work, and does it lower the cost of the master's?
• What does the Cybersecurity Capstone project look like, and how are small groups formed for online students?
• Does the curriculum line up with any certification, even if it is not required for the degree?
• How does the Tuition Guarantee work if I take a term off?

Franklin University is a private nonprofit university in Columbus, Ohio that offers online associate, bachelor's and master's cybersecurity degrees.

• Best Online Cybersecurity Degrees Rank 3 of 10, bachelor's
• Best Online Bachelor's Programs Rank 3 of 10, bachelor's
• Best for Military Students Rank 2 of 9, bachelor's
• Best for Working Adults Rank 3 of 10, bachelor's
• Best for Career Changers Rank 1 of 5, bachelor's
• Best Degree Completion Programs Rank 1 of 9, bachelor's
• Best With Multiple Start Dates Rank 2 of 9, bachelor's
• Best 100% Online Programs Rank 3 of 10, bachelor's
• Best Online Programs in Ohio Rank 1 of 2, bachelor's

• Master of Science in Cybersecurity

  M.S., Master's

  Fully Online $690 per credit Score 59.8

• Associate of Science in Cybersecurity

  A.S., Associate

  Fully Online $398 per credit Score 49.9

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

• Wilmington University

  Bachelor of Science in Cybersecurity

  Delaware $439 per credit Score 67.2

• Champlain College

  Bachelor of Science in Cybersecurity

  Vermont $342 per credit Score 72.4

• Norwich University

  Bachelor of Science in Cybersecurity

  Vermont $415 per credit Score 65.3

• Western Governors University

  Bachelor of Science in Cybersecurity and Information Assurance

  Utah Score 74.5