Grand Canyon University Online Master of Science in Cybersecurity Management

Grand Canyon's Cybersecurity Management master's is worth a look if you're heading toward leading security work. It offers eight-week classes, a modest total price and a final capstone course. Ask for the course list to see how much of it is management.

Grand Canyon University (GCU), in Phoenix, Arizona, is a private for-profit Christian school. Its Master of Science in Cybersecurity Management is a 34-credit online degree that closes with a cybersecurity capstone course.

GCU's other security graduate degree, the Master of Science in Cybersecurity, matches it on length and price but ends in a project where you develop a full cybersecurity program. The management label here points at a different reader: someone moving toward team lead, manager or director roles and not a hands-on analyst seat.

At $610 per credit, the 34-credit degree totals $20,740. The sibling master's carries an identical price tag, so money won't settle which one you choose.

Transfer is the lever you control. GCU takes up to 12 credits, or one-third of the program if that is smaller. A student with relevant graduate work could skip several courses.

Ask admissions to put a full estimate in writing, fees included, before you commit.

34 credits at $610 a credit comes to $20,740 in tuition, before fees.

Who It Fits

• You are an IT professional or team lead who expects to run security work, and you want the credential to say so.
• You work full time and like eight-week terms, which let you concentrate on a couple of classes at once.
• You want a price that is simple to budget: $610 per credit over 34 credits.
• You already hold graduate credits elsewhere, because GCU takes some in transfer.

Who Should Skip It

• You want to build something technical to show employers. The Cybersecurity master's, with its build-a-program capstone, is closer to that.
• You want to see a full course list before applying. Ask admissions for it, since the capstone is the one course GCU names.
• You prefer a public university or a nonprofit. GCU is a private for-profit school.

A cybersecurity capstone course closes the program. For the rest, request the course list from admissions and read it with a management lens.

Here is what a good management-focused list should contain: risk assessment, security policy, compliance, incident response planning and budgeting. If most titles are technical, the degree behaves more like the Cybersecurity master's with a different label.

The cleanest way to choose between GCU's two master's degrees is to line the two course lists up. They share length, price and term format, so the decision comes down to what you want to be doing in three years: leading a team or designing a program.

Eight-week terms mean a heavy course sits in front of you for two months and then it's done. Nearly all of GCU's graduate students (98%, per federal data) are exclusively online, so the registrar, advisers and course shells are used to remote learners.

School-wide federal figures are less rosy: a 43% graduation rate, and 51% of transfer-in students finishing within eight years. They describe GCU overall and not this degree, but they justify asking how the school helps people who fall behind.

Also find out whether sessions meet at set times.

The credential is a Master of Science in Cybersecurity Management. Managers often pair a degree like this with CISSP or CISM. Those exams are separate, so ask which courses cover their topics.

The GRE line reads 300 combined, with a waiver for applicants who meet GCU's conditions. Check whether your degree or work history qualifies.

Federal earnings data lists $93,798 as the median for GCU graduates in this field. It blends all of the school's programs in the field, so read it as background, not a forecast.

Where this degree can lead: Cybersecurity Degree Jobs.

The full rubric is on the methodology page.

• The capstone is the only course GCU names, so you'll need the full list to judge the content.
• GCU is a for-profit school, and federal data shows a 43% graduation rate across the university.
• Only 12 credits, or a third of the program, can come in by transfer.
• Class timing (live or self-paced) is worth confirming before you pay.

• Can I see the full course list for the Cybersecurity Management master's?
• How do the courses differ from those in GCU's Cybersecurity master's?
• What does the cybersecurity capstone course require, and is it a team or individual project?
• Are classes live or self-paced, and how much weekly time should I plan for?
• What are the conditions for the GRE waiver?
• What is the full cost estimate, including every fee, for the whole program?

Christian university in Phoenix, Arizona, with large online programs.

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