The 33-credit, fully online program is also No. 1 in the Philadelphia region.

La Salle University’s Master of Science in Cybersecurity is ranked No. 1 in the Philadelphia region and among the nation’s top-20 programs of its kind, according to business media outlet Fortune.

Fortune’s inaugural rankings of U.S.-based graduate-degree programs in cybersecurity placed La Salle’s program at No. 18 nationally. No other program located in Philadelphia, the surrounding five-county area, or the tri-state region appears in Fortune’s list.

La Salle’s M.S. in Cybersecurity prepares students for a range of careers in digital security, cybercrime, and threat detection, mitigation, and prevention. The 33-credit, fully online program merges synchronous and asynchronous learning and can be completed in as few as six semesters. La Salle’s program trains students in forensic data analysis, network infrastructure construction and protection, and domestic and global legislation around cybersecurity and data threats.

Upon graduating, La Salle students earn not only an in-demand graduate degree, but also a graduate certificate in either data science or information technology and cybersecurity policy.

Graduates from La Salle’s M.S. in Cybersecurity program have gone on to rewarding careers with financial institutions and insurance companies, and in law enforcement, healthcare, and private security. They have held roles at leading organizations like JPMorgan Chase & Co., Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals, Ally Bank, and Reliance Standard Life Insurance, among others.

“The ranking from Fortune reflects the uniqueness of our program and the professional success our students achieve,” said M.S. in Cybersecurity program director Margaret McCoey, who also serves as an assistant professor of mathematics and computer science at La Salle. “Our program takes the uncommon approach of preparing students both technically and professionally, while allowing them to customize the program to their specific interests. Our students also benefit from our faculty, who are actively engaged professional practitioners that bring tangible experience, hands-on laboratory exercises, and real-world scenarios to the classroom.”

The job market for cybersecurity experts is booming.

Nearly three-quarters of a million cybersecurity jobs were available in the U.S. as of April 2022, a recent study revealed, with only enough qualified workers to fill roughly two-thirds of those positions. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, job growth in cybersecurity through the end of this decade will outpace the national average for other positions.

What’s more, reported cybercrime complaints totaled nearly 850,000 in 2021 and jumped 7% over the previous year, according to the FBI, “with potential losses exceeding $6.9 billion.”

“Cyber breakage can happen anywhere, at any time, and to anyone,” said McCoey. “We provide our students with the tools and training that will enable them to implement policies and procedures, motivate their colleagues across the enterprise, and prioritize cybersecurity as a threat on a daily basis—instead of only as a potential crisis emerges.”

The methodology for Fortune’s rankings of graduate-degree programs in cybersecurity considers three criteria: selectivity score, which accounts for the program’s acceptance rate and the average undergraduate GPA of incoming students; success score, which measures the program’s one-year retention and graduation rates; and demand score, which is linked to the size of the program’s latest graduating class.

Learn more about La Salle University’s Master of Science in Cybersecurity.

—Christopher A. Vito