Best Online Information Assurance Degrees (2027)

Georgia Tech awards the same diploma, curriculum and faculty as its campus degree, so you pick it for the name on the credential. The Policy track gives non-engineers a way in, while Cyber-Physical Systems fits people who work near industrial equipment. Tuition runs $373 per credit across 32 credits, but a $531 online fee applies each semester you carry four or more credits.

Choose this if you want a 30-credit governance degree with a hybrid escape hatch. The fully online path has no campus time, while the optional hybrid format meets for a three-hour session every other week in St. Petersburg, Florida. The all-inclusive $715 per credit comes to $21,450 before course materials, and learning is aligned to NSA and DHS academic requirements.

WGU builds the degree around Penetration Testing, Cloud Security, Secure Software Design and Cybersecurity Architecture and Engineering, then adds a course on governance and risk in the age of artificial intelligence. Five industry certifications are included, with Security+ and CySA+ among the exam targets. A real-world capstone closes it out. Tuition is $4,925 per six-month term, and nobody sets your deadlines but you.

Six focus areas, including Industrial Control Systems, Cloud Security, Penetration Testing and Incident Response, let working defenders deepen one specialty. The degree is 36 credits at $1,500 each, so about $54,000, and that covers textbooks and GIAC exams. It is DoD 8140 approved. Applications close on four dates a year, and each elective runs three months.

Strategic Cyber Intelligence, Legal Issues in Cybersecurity, Cyber Psychology and Offensive and Defensive Strategies make this a broad, people-aware curriculum rather than a tool-heavy one. Pick Cybersecurity Strategy, Cyber Intelligence or Information Assurance, then finish with the CYBR 660 capstone. A 2.0 GPA gets direct entry, up to nine credits can transfer, and five terms is the fastest path.

Coursework reaches into Digital Forensics and Incident Response, Penetration Testing and Vulnerability Assessment, and Governance, Risk and Compliance, so you can sample both sides of the field. Concentrations add Business Intelligence and Incident Response. Ferris carries the NSA and DHS Cyber Defense designation and starts students in fall, spring and summer. A GMAT score of 500 is required unless you have a 3.50 bachelor's GPA or another master's.

Davenport lets work experience and earned certificates reduce the classes you need, which can trim a bill that otherwise reaches about $35,588 for 31 credits at $1,148 each. Case studies run in high-tech labs, coursework points toward CISSP, and you present a thesis at the end. The school is an NSA and DHS cyber defense education center, and no GRE is needed.

This Professional Science Master's leans toward risk rather than hacking. Information Warfare, Researching and Analyzing Information Security Risks, Reporting Information Security Risks and Information Risk Management feed a four-credit internship, CIS 697. The 30 credits cost $847 each for Minnesota residents, $1,103 for others, plus fees. Skip it if you want a hands-on technical lab degree.

Dearborn is for technically trained people, since entry asks for a STEM bachelor's with a B average plus prior probability and statistics, programming and calculus II. In return you choose Network and System Security, Data and Application Security or Software Security, and finish through coursework, a project or a thesis. Classes meet late afternoons or evenings, so expect set times.

Seven-week sessions and a start in any semester or session let you begin when your life allows, and the fastest path takes 11 months. Pick Cybersecurity Strategy, Cyber Operations, Management or Healthcare Administration; the 33-credit Management route adds a foundations course without an AACSB business degree. Tuition is $14,880 to $16,368 with no out-of-state rate, and faculty answer through Canvas, Slack, Discord and Zoom.

Pick this if the assurance side of security, meaning policy, networks and controls, is your target and you want certificates stacked into the degree. Sixteen industry certifications are included in tuition, with CompTIA Security+, Network+ and A+ among the exam prep, and the program holds ABET accreditation. Six-month terms mean you finish courses as fast as you can pass them. Nobody sets deadlines, so it suits self-starters.

Choose Ferris for an assurance degree that government and defense employers recognize by name. Ferris says it is an NSA-designated Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense and a digital forensics excellence center. Tuition is $534 per credit for freshmen and sophomores and $582 for juniors and seniors. You can also switch to HyFlex or on-campus classes, which helps if your plans change. Expect a selective admissions screen.

Liberty frames assurance as information systems management rather than pure technical defense, with Network Security, Information Security Planning and Cybersecurity courses and a real-world capstone project. At $410 per credit across 120 credits, the sticker price works out to $49,200 before transfers, and you can bring in up to 75% of the degree. Eight-week courses keep you moving, and military students pay $250 per credit. Skip it for deep programming.

Davenport suits students who want hands-on assurance practice and a concentration in either Information Assurance or Health Care Information Assurance. Coursework includes Windows Digital Forensics, Linux Server Administration and Python Scripting, with labs and simulated environments, a required internship or field experience, and a capstone. Out-of-state students pay a net $716 per credit, about $85,920 across 120 credits. Michigan residents pay $1,059, which is steep.

This is a small-school option with a Cyber Range simulation environment, so you practice attacks and defenses instead of only reading about them. Three concentrations let you tilt toward Information Assurance, Cyber Forensics or Network Security Analyst work. A required internship, arranged through a faculty coordinator, gives you real placement experience. Some courses mix live and video sessions with online work, so check the schedule first.

Keiser breaks the degree into 4-week terms, so you take one focused block at a time instead of juggling a full load. The Information Assurance concentration covers governance, risk and compliance, identity access management and privacy, while Digital Defense adds network forensics and ethical hacking. Entry needs a Wonderlic score of 18 or above, and only 12 transfer credits count, so it fits students starting nearly from scratch.

This associate degree is for people drawn to the investigative side of assurance, since criminology and computer crime courses sit alongside Introduction to Digital Forensics and Electronic Devices Forensics. You learn evidence handling and how to testify in court, which suits future analysts and examiners. The college estimates about $12,534 in tuition and fees for all 60 credits, plus roughly $460 for books. It is not a pure networking track.

This one carries ABET accreditation and an NSA Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense designation, which is unusual at the associate level. An industry advisory board with DC3, Collins Aerospace, Broadcom and PowerTrain keeps courses tied to local employers. Choose the Security, Networking or Digital Forensics concentration, and the coursework also points to CCNA. Maryland residents outside Anne Arundel County pay $317 per credit across at least 61 credits.

Coursework here is defensive and hands-on: Firewalls and Network Security Design, Network Defense and Countermeasures, and Security Assessment and Auditing. A three-credit internship lets you try the work in a real setting. A 45-credit Level II certificate stacks into the degree, so you can stop with a credential after the first stretch and finish the AAS later. It's built for people heading into network defense roles.