Best Public University Online Cybersecurity Degrees (2027)

A public-university degree you can start in almost any month, so a missed deadline costs weeks instead of a semester. The early courses build Linux and virtualization skills, with Cryptography and Cloud Computing Security later, and the Security+ labs let you sit for that exam along the way. Two trade-offs: a $50 per credit hour resource fee sits on top of tuition, and the accreditor is DEAC.

Choose this one if you learn best by practicing against other people. The Virtual Security Lab is where coursework turns into hands-on work, and the award-winning competition team holds tryouts for students who want to test themselves in national events. Courses map to a ladder of exams, starting with Security+ and moving to PenTest+ and CySA+, and the degree closes with a capstone coded CMIT 495.

A technology college's version of the degree, strongest for New York students arriving with an associate degree, since transfers only need a 2.0 GPA. Ethical Hacking and Penetration Testing sits beside a Cybersecurity Body of Knowledge course, and required clusters in data security and network security keep you from narrowing too early. Expect a quieter online cohort, because most of the college's students are on campus.

Pick Dakota State if you want to think like the attacker and aim at government or defense work. Introduction to Cyber leads into Malware Analysis, then offensive and defensive network security courses, with the Madison Cyber Labs as the practice setting. The same school sells a Cyber and Network Security degree with a CCNA path and a leadership degree, so this is the technical operations choice, not the broad one.

Intelligence in the title is earned. After the core you can specialize in penetration testing, forensics and incident response, data analytics, project management or a foreign language, which suits people drawn to analysis as much as defense. Ferris also runs an online master's with three starts a year, so graduate study can stay put. Expect a selective front door: a 3.00 high school GPA, ACT scores, an essay.

Purdue Global offers two routes into one major. The standard route runs 180 quarter credits and about four years, while ExcelTrack is self-paced at a flat $2,500 per term and rewards people who know the material. Python Programming is a course, and a Software Development Using Python concentration suits scripting-minded students. ABET and Higher Learning Commission credentials back it up. ExcelTrack lists no concentrations, so choose it for speed.

For someone who wants to be the security expert inside a business rather than the person in the server room. The degree comes from an AACSB business college, yet the technical sequence still includes Operating Systems Security and Cyber Attack and Defend I. The flat $525 per credit applies to Texans and out-of-staters alike. Budget for lab and material fees, and finish MAT 1053 or higher math before direct admission.

Albany's published price applies to students taking fewer than 12 credits a term, which tells you it is built for part-timers fitting school around a job. The experiential requirement can be met with an internship delivered fully online, so you don't need to live near Albany. If a master's is on your mind, up to 12 credits count toward both degrees. No industry certification is built into the courses.

Radiofrequency Analysis is a rare course title in an online bachelor's, sitting beside Threat Analysis, Malware Analysis and Information Security Management. The program is an NSA CAE-CD program in Cyber Defense, accepts up to 135 transfer credits, and charges $338 per credit across 180 quarter credits.

A large public university's name on a mostly online 120-credit degree, with an IST 495 internship option and the CYBER 440 capstone built in. Up to 12 credits can count toward Penn State's online Master of Professional Studies in Cybersecurity Analytics and Operations. Tuition rises from $644 to $692 per credit after 60 credits.

Public-school prestige is the draw here. Georgia Tech describes this as the only interdisciplinary cybersecurity degree from a U.S. News Top 10 public university that you can earn online, and it carries the on-campus diploma. Qualified veterans may use GI Bill support toward tuition, fees, books and housing, while international students pay $406 a credit. It's part time only, so skip it if you want a fast full-time sprint.

Dakota State's master's sits at the bottom of a full cyber ladder: the same school offers online Ph.D.s in Cyber Defense (72 credits) and Cyber Operations, each with on-campus residencies in Madison. That makes this degree a sensible first step if research or a doctorate might come later. You can also take it on campus. Out-of-state students should budget for the $117.70 delivery fee in computer science courses.

ODU skips the thesis and ends with a capstone course that applies your studies to a real-world cybersecurity problem, a practical fit if you'd rather finish with a project than a research paper. Eight-week courses carry no scheduled meeting times, and a military pathway agreement may grant credit for service training. Read the rate closely: $162 of every in-state credit is mandatory auxiliary tuition on top of $510 standard tuition.

UMGC splits this technology master's into 15 core credits, 12 elective credits and a 3-credit capstone, CTCH 690, so you decide where to go deeper instead of following one fixed path. Up to 12 credits can transfer in, and NSA and DC3 designations back the school's cybersecurity programs. Civilians pay $694 a credit while military students pay $336, so sticker price is the main trade-off.

Thomas Edison State gives you immersive, remotely accessible labs for hands-on practice and blends the technology with human, legal, policy and ethical questions. You can add a graduate certificate in Cybersecurity to your course plan for a second credential. At $695 a credit, 30 credits comes to $20,850, though an $18,000 masters flat rate is also published, so ask which applies. A bachelor's and a 3.0 GPA get you in.

Murray State admits unconditionally with a 3.00 undergraduate GPA from any accredited degree, and the program lists other admission paths, so non-engineers have a real way in. Information Systems Security opens the sequence and Information Security Program Management comes later. The university's Center for Cybersecurity and Network Management is recognized by the NSA as a CAE-CD, which helps if federal contractors are on your radar.

About a quarter of Boise State's online students have a military affiliation, and a Veteran Services Center and Military Programs office back them up, so service members won't be the odd ones out. Courses run seven weeks at $550 a credit with no in-person requirement. Technical and non-technical tracks let you pick your depth. Ask an advisor for the full bill.

Residents, non-residents and international students all pay $722 per credit, so living elsewhere costs nothing extra at this Wisconsin public university. Choose Cyber Resilience or Security Engineering for the 30 credits. Coursework aligns with the NSA's Centers of Academic Excellence program, and starts come three times a year.

Applied work leads here: Applied Cryptography, Wireless Network and Security, Cybersecurity Risk Management and Assessment and Biometrics build toward PSM 7990, a six-credit internship. Pennsylvania residents pay $557 per credit and others $568. A computing bachelor's with a 3.00 GPA is expected, and fees add to those rates.

The school describes the degree as recognized by the Department of Homeland Security and the National Security Agency as a Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education. Simulation exercises with public and private partners aim at defending real-world attacks. Only fall and spring starts are offered, and part-time students need 4 years.

Fox Valley fits an IT worker already doing help-desk or server duty, because the college may grant credit for career knowledge you've already mastered. Per-credit tuition is $157.45, and the $11,000 estimate adds fees. The work is practical: fraud detection, risk assessment and technical reporting point toward audit-style security roles. Choose it for the part-time pace, not for a published lab or capstone.

Albany rewards a heavy load: tuition is $107 per credit and stops rising once you reach 15 credit hours in a semester. Graduates of its shorter 58-credit diploma are described as qualified to work as Information Security Specialists. The price of the faster route is a crowded schedule across 72 credits, so it suits someone who can study nearly full time.

Required fees of $450 a term sit on top of the $107 Georgia-resident credit price, so budget for both across the 60 credits. Out-of-state students are billed $214 a credit, so this is a Georgia pick. Network Defense and Countermeasures and Implementing Operating Systems Security give the second year a defender's focus, and some labs may require a campus visit.

Fees carry a large share of the bill here: the advertised $579 per three-credit course is well above what the $120 Arkansas tuition line suggests, so ask for a full-degree estimate before you enroll. What you get is a hands-on option, with Cyber Range simulations plus coursework toward Security+, Network+ and Linux administration. It fits an Arkansas resident who learns by doing.

Baltimore County residents pay $124 a credit, half the rate other Maryland residents pay, and the work is laid out course by course: the four-credit Advanced Linux Administration and four-credit CCNA I sit beside Introduction to Information Security and Firewalls. Students after evidence work should know the college runs a separate Digital Forensics A.A.S. Seven-week sessions move fast, so expect a steady, compressed pace.

Budget $13,206 in tuition and fees plus about $750 for books. Of the 60 credits, 45 are technical training in cloud security, device hardening and firewalls. If you would rather work with evidence, the college offers a sister Cyber and Information Security degree that adds forensics, criminology and courtroom testimony. This one is for the future network or systems administrator, aligned to Microsoft, CompTIA and Cisco certifications.

Three consecutive four-credit courses, Network Defense and Countermeasures, Computer Forensics, and Ethical Hacking and Penetration Testing, make up the lab core, but only four online courses (CIST 1122, 2451, 2452 and 2453) end with an in-person lab final. A proctor at another location is acceptable if the instructor approves. That keeps the campus burden light for a self-directed Georgia, Alabama or Tennessee student, though 72 credits is a long program.

This associate degree is the first rung of a ladder: St. Petersburg College also offers an online Bachelor of Applied Science in Cybersecurity, validated by the NSA through 2031, at $122.70 a credit for Floridians. Its local employer ties include KnowBe4, Raymond James and Honeywell. Plan for one catch: associate holders may need 15 to 21 more general education credits before the bachelor's, so confirm what transfers.

Cyber Information Security I is a five-quarter-hour course with virtual labs you run from home, and the plan builds toward coding through Principles of Computer Programming I and Data Structures I. The college estimates $8,640 a year at 45 quarter hours, textbooks included. It's a sound pick if you want a bachelor's later, but remember quarter hours convert to fewer semester credits.

Western Iowa Tech leans toward the crime side of security: coursework names identity theft, incident response, exploitation and social engineering, so it suits someone aiming at investigations or fraud response. Check the bill carefully, because online credits are $234 plus $31 in fees, and a $99 resource fee applies each semester. Across 66 credits, that can run past the $14,520 the program page estimates.

A public South Dakota campus gives you a doctorate with three paths to aim your dissertation at: data privacy, management, or technical fields. Pick it if you already hold a cyber or computer science master's and want a research track you can pace around a job. Plan on a trip to Madison for the research seminars each year, and note the 72 credits come with fall or spring entry.