Best Online Cybersecurity Degrees for Working Adults (2027)

Associate-degree holders, veterans and alumni pay $297 a credit here instead of $342, and service members pay $250. Seven-week terms let you take one, two or three courses, so you can scale down when work gets heavy. Credit for prior learning and work experience can shorten the 120 credits. The Digital Forensic Practicum is the applied finish. A one-time $150 graduation fee applies.

Start on the 1st of any month, with no cohort to wait for. About 60% of graduates finish within 29 months, and since you pay by the six-month term, an IT worker who clears several courses at once moves faster than that pace suggests. The 37 courses include Python and a networking and security sequence, and ABET accredits the degree. With no live sessions, you set every deadline.

Franklin's students bring an average of 57 transfer credits, which leaves roughly 67 of the 124 credits to take here, with eight start dates a year including Jan. 4, Feb. 15 and Mar. 29 in 2027. Current service members pay $250 a credit. A $100 resource fee applies each semester. A combined bachelor's-plus-master's pathway is available online if you want to keep going.

Wilmington suits someone who wants to climb one rung at a time at one school. The associate degree, which the school calls NSA-validated, feeds this bachelor's, the school says it holds an NSA and DHS Center of Academic Excellence designation, and a 36-credit master's can follow in as little as a year. Starts come every eight weeks. Forensics is an add-on concentration you choose, not the default path.

SNHU lets you test the fit cheaply: the online associate in cybersecurity uses the same eight-week terms and leads into this 40-course bachelor's, which can lead on to a 36-credit master's in as few as 15 months. The New England Commission of Higher Education accredits the school, so the whole ladder sits under one accredited name.

Career changers can start without IT experience, because Excelsior states there are no experience requirements. Courses are asynchronous with a new start every eight weeks, so you log in around your shifts. The degree holds an NSA and DHS Center of Academic Excellence designation, and the school is Middle States accredited. A $28 technology fee per course credit sits on top of the $510 rate.

Five concentrations let you aim the degree at your job: General, Wireless and Mobile Security, Digital Forensics, Privacy and Surveillance, or Critical Infrastructure, which covers ICS and SCADA security. The Senior Seminar in Cybersecurity, ISSC499, closes the degree. Courses last eight weeks and a new one starts every month, though that pace leaves little slack for a missed week.

Out-of-state working adults pay the same as Texas residents for a public-university degree. UT San Antonio holds NSA and DHS designations in cyber education, cyber operations and cyber research, one of only 10 institutions with all three. Labs, projects and research opportunities are built in. Part-time students should plan on 13 terms, while full-time students can finish in as few as eight.

The program now sits under the University of Arizona Global Campus, so expect UAGC on your paperwork. Credit can come from community colleges, military service or job training, which helps if you're stacking earlier learning toward the degree. ABET accredits the program, and WSCUC accredits the university. Plan on about $125 in average books and materials per course on top of tuition.

At $395 per credit, this bachelor's comes from a School of Computing that holds NSA designations in both Cyber Defense and Cyber Research. Courses are asynchronous, so there's no weekly live class to schedule around. If you already hold an applied associate degree, the B.A.S. version accepts up to 47 technical credits, which shortens the road to a bachelor's.

Georgia Tech allows up to six years to finish, so you can slow down when work or family gets heavy. Staying under four credit hours a semester drops the online fee from $531 to $212, which rewards a one-course-at-a-time pace. At $387 a credit, 32 credits come to $12,384. Qualified veterans may be eligible for GI Bill support covering tuition, fees, books and housing.

Credit for prior learning counts work experience, training and military training toward the degree, which helps if you already work in the field. Alumni, service members and veterans pay $500 a credit instead of $608. Taking one course per seven-week term stretches the 10-month plan to fit a busy schedule. Skip it if you want management coursework.

Applicants without a technology degree can qualify with three years of experience, which helps if you moved into security from another field. Military students, active-duty members and their spouses pay a reduced rate per credit. Check that ACCSC accreditation satisfies your employer before you enroll, since the accrediting body is named on your transcript.

No computer science or IT background is required to apply, so you can arrive from another field. The fully online option has no on-site sessions, while an optional hybrid format meets for three hours every other week in St. Petersburg, Florida, which helps if you live nearby. Up to 15 graduate credits earned in the past five years can transfer in, shortening the 30-credit degree.

You pay $4,925 per six-month term no matter how many courses you finish, so fast learners pay less overall. Competency-based assessments replace weekly deadlines, and the 11 courses cover penetration testing, cloud security and AI governance. Five certifications, including Security+ and CySA+, are included. It rewards self-starters who already know much of the material, and it suits slow, procrastinating learners poorly.

There is no thesis, and the degree finishes with a capstone that applies your education to a real-world cybersecurity problem. Courses have no scheduled meeting times, and a military pathway agreement may grant credit for training and experience. Thirty credits at $662 out of state come to $19,860, and Virginia residents pay $672 a credit.

Engineering is the angle: Cyber-Engineering Access Control, Network System Engineering, Robotics System Engineering and Artificial Intelligence sit beside forensics. The 31 credits cost $11,005 at $355 per credit, a light bill for working adults. IT graduates need a 16-week bridge first, and eight-week terms move quickly.

The capstone, CYS 680, has you work with industry partners on a cybersecurity program proposal, which doubles as an interview piece you can build from your own workplace. Coursework in Cybersecurity Program Governance, Risk and Compliance suits adults heading toward management, and the STEM-designated degree is built for professionals studying alongside a job.

Sixteen months, 36 credits at $690 each, no thesis and no entrance exam. Courses run 6 or 12 weeks in any order, so a busy quarter does not break the sequence. Certifications such as CEH, CISSP, CRISC and CSSLP earn 4 credit hours toward specific courses. Programming and networking background is expected first.

Any academic background gets in at $550 per credit. Courses last seven weeks with six starts a year, so a heavy work season can mean taking just one. Choose a technical or non-technical track, and about 25 percent of students have a military affiliation, with a Veteran Services Center on hand.

Core classes include Introduction to Firewalls and Introduction to Intrusion Detection/Prevention Systems. Faculty teaching the information security and Linux courses will walk you through Security+ and Linux+ registration. Pick it if you work in or near Baltimore and want a program the NSA recognizes for cyber defense, with small classes and campus-grade labs.

Working adults with certifications or job experience can sit challenge exams and skip material they already know, which matters across 64 credits of five-week courses. Classes are live online with industry instructors, and later courses cover Azure administration and AWS Foundations. It's a general IT degree, not security-only, and a tech fee plus lab fees come on top, so choose it for breadth.

Think of this as a starting block into SNHU's NSA-designated cyber defense school, where the bachelor's adds optional concentrations in data analytics, generative AI or project management. Eight-week terms give you regular points to pause or push on around shifts. Best for adults who already expect to finish a bachelor's and want the associate to count toward it without losing credits.

Wilmington, in New Castle, Delaware, builds its schedule around working adults. The 60 credits are half of the 120-credit bachelor's, which later adds technical labs led by practicing security staff and prep toward CISA and CISSP. Associate coursework points at A+, Network+, Linux+, Security+ and Certified Ethical Hacker, so you can collect credentials while you study.

Phoenix pairs ethical hacking, Linux fundamentals and network defense across 63 credits, taught in five- to six-week courses with the online classroom open around the clock. That round-the-clock access helps if you study after night shifts. Its bachelor's courses line up with EC-Council exams such as Certified Ethical Hacker. The catch is a $170 resource fee on every course, so it adds up beyond tuition.

If you've already collected credits from past college work or training, this is the one to run numbers on. Up to 45 of the 60 credits can transfer, leaving as few as 15 to take at Franklin, and the capstone must be one of them since its credit can't be moved in. Six- and twelve-week courses let you choose your pace, and eight yearly starts keep the door open.

You can take every class online, sit in a classroom, or mix both, which suits people living near EICC campuses who still need flexibility. As an EC-Council academic partner, the college offers practice exams and testing centers, so Ethical Hacking Associate or Linux+ attempts happen close to home. The finish is an internship or personalized project. The diploma reads Information Technology with a cybersecurity focus.

Courses begin with Scripting Languages for the Administrator and Networking Concepts, then reach Cryptography Concepts and Red and Blue Team Security, where you practice both attacking and defending. Ebooks are free, which trims a cost adults often forget. The capstone is a portfolio you can show an employer.

The early plan leans technical, with Introduction to Programming, Data and Information I and Cybersecurity Fundamentals. The program sits in Immaculata's adult professional studies unit, which serves working students, and a partnership with Fortalice Solutions supports workforce development.