Syracuse University Online Bachelor of Professional Studies in Cybersecurity Administration

Syracuse's online B.P.S. in Cybersecurity Administration is a 120-credit bachelor's at $750 per credit with six start dates a year and room to transfer in up to 90 credits. It's built for working adults who already have college credit and want a security management degree validated by the NSA, and it isn't priced for the budget-first shopper.

Syracuse University is a private research university in Syracuse, New York, and this degree comes from its College of Professional Studies, the part of the university designed for adult and online students. A Bachelor of Professional Studies is an applied degree, so the emphasis is on administering security, not engineering it from scratch.

The school says the program is validated by the National Security Agency (NSA). That's a specific outside check on the curriculum, and it's worth asking about. The course list leans toward management, with Enterprise Risk Management, Digital Forensics and Applied Information Security alongside the basics.

You earn a Bachelor of Professional Studies from Syracuse University. The NSA validation is the program-specific credential. Any Security+ or similar exam would be extra study, since the courses aren't tied to one. Ask the advisor which courses overlap with common exam topics.

The university-level numbers are solid. Federal data shows a graduation rate of 84% for the university and an 8-year completion rate of 66.5% for transfer-in students, which is the group most likely to enroll in a degree like this one.

Where this degree can lead: Cybersecurity Degree Jobs.

Who It Fits

• You have an associate degree or earlier college credit. The school lets you transfer up to 90 credits toward the 120-credit degree, so you could have far less left to take than the sticker suggests.
• You want flexibility on when to begin. Courses run 8 weeks and the school offers six start dates a year.
• You're interested in where AI meets security. Securing Artificial Intelligence: Risks, Threats, and Governance (CYB 336) is a named course.
• You want a finishing project. Every B.P.S. student completes a capstone, BPS 411 Senior Seminar.

Who Should Skip It

• You're comparing the lowest per-credit prices. $750 per credit is the part-time rate, and community-college and public pathways cost much less.
• You want to start from zero with no transfer credit. Without transfers, you pay for most of the 120 credits and tuition runs high.

The core starts with Introduction to Information Security and Security in the Networked Environment, which covers how networks work and where they fail. Digital Forensics adds evidence handling and investigation, and Enterprise Risk Management shifts the view to how organizations prioritize threats. Applied Information Security ties the pieces together.

The standout is Securing Artificial Intelligence: Risks, Threats, and Governance. Most online cybersecurity degrees don't list a course on the risks of AI systems, and employers are asking about it now. The degree ends with the BPS 411 Senior Seminar capstone. The school describes learning as a blend of asynchronous and synchronous, so ask which courses meet live.

Courses the School Names

• Introduction to Information Security
• Security in the Networked Environment
• Securing Artificial Intelligence: Risks, Threats, and Governance
• Digital Forensics
• Enterprise Risk Management
• Applied Information Security

Standout Features

• Course on securing artificial intelligence (CYB 336)
• Program is validated by the National Security Agency (NSA)
• Transfer up to 90 credits toward the 120-credit degree

The College of Professional Studies part-time undergraduate rate is $750 per credit for Summer 2026 through Spring 2027. Across 120 credits that's $90,000 in published tuition, but that's the figure for a student who transfers nothing in. Transferring up to 90 credits cuts what you actually pay a great deal.

For comparison, the IPEDS charge for Syracuse is $2,773 per credit, which is a campus rate. The online professional-studies rate is much lower, so use $750. Ask what fees apply, how the transfer evaluation works before you pay a deposit, and whether the rate changes year to year.

120 credits at $750 a credit comes to $90,000 in tuition, before fees.

The program is 100% online. Courses run 8 weeks with six start dates a year, so you rarely wait long to begin and can string terms together or skip one when work gets busy. The mix of asynchronous and synchronous learning means some live participation, which helps if you want contact with instructors and classmates.

One caution. Federal data shows only 2% of Syracuse undergraduates study exclusively online, since the university is overwhelmingly a campus school. You'll be in a smaller online community inside a large institution, so ask how the College of Professional Studies supports online students and how big your classes will be.

The full rubric is on the methodology page.

• Cost is the main one. At $750 per credit, a student with little transfer credit faces a large bill.
• The online student community is small compared with the campus, since only 2% of undergraduates study exclusively online.
• It's an administration degree, so it leans toward management and away from deep technical lab work.
• Certification exam study is on you, since the courses aren't tied to an exam.

• How many of my existing credits will transfer, and when do I find out?
• Which courses meet live and which are asynchronous?
• What does the NSA validation cover, and when was it last renewed?
• What does the BPS 411 Senior Seminar capstone involve?
• Is the $750 rate fixed, and what fees come on top?
• Is CYB 336 offered every term, or only in certain sessions?

Private research university in Syracuse, New York; the online cybersecurity degree is offered by its College of Professional Studies.

• Best With Multiple Start Dates Rank 8 of 9, bachelor's
• Best Online Programs in New York Rank 4 of 7, bachelor's

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