FAQs

Yes, the program and its courses are accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB).

The Master’s in Cybersecurity degree program requires 33 credits for graduation, which is eleven courses. View the required courses here.

There are four (4) core courses that all students must take.

Students must take seven (7) track courses.

The main differences between the information Systems and Physical Systems tracks are based on the systems in which you will learn how to protect against cyber attacks. The Information Systems track focuses on securing the information systems of a company such as software, cloud-based data, and people. The Physical Systems track focuses on securing the hardware and physical systems of a company such as computers, laptops, email, and items within the internet of things. We invite you to view this page to view more and determine which track would be best for your interests.

No. Please refer to the course calendar to view course offerings and dates.

The average is 15-20 hours of time per week. Eight-week courses generally require more time per week than 16-week courses. Your technical skill level could influence the amount of time you need to spend on some classes.

Students will complete their assignments on a weekly basis. The course syllabus will define what assignments are due per week. Students will get access to the syllabus after they have successfully registered.

Most of the courses will generally be delivered using a combination of voiced-over material supplemented by online labs, assignments, projects, reading materials, quizzes, and exams. Click here for details.

The courses are asynchronous. Students will receive weekly assignments at the beginning of each week and must complete the assignments by a designated time frame – usually one week.

The suggested Master’s in Cybersecurity computer requirements may be found here. Mac users should have Parallel or equivalent solution for allowing Windows OS to run on a Mac.

Please refer to the course description page to see which courses require books and which do not.

Courses in the common core and the Information Systems track are 8 weeks in length, which we call a “mini-semester.” Physical Systems courses are 16 weeks long, coinciding with the traditional university semester. In fall and spring, we schedule two mini-semester courses to fit within one traditional university semester. Summer Cybersecurity courses do not align with the university's course schedule for other programs, which includes 3-week, 5-week and 10-week sessions.

Courses in the common core and the Information Systems track are 8 weeks long, and Physical Systems courses are 16 weeks long. Because courses are not self-paced, they cannot be completed in less than the scheduled amount of time.

Yes. International students may purse the online program from their home country. They will not be granted documents to enter the U.S. and participate in an online program.

The deadline for all students to apply to the MS in Cybersecurity program is three weeks before the class begins. Only completed applications will be reviewed and considered for admittance. Click here to view the deadlines.

No. We accept students from a wide variety of academic and professional backgrounds. Please refer to the Admissions page for details.

Yes. Our program does require that students know Python. Students will be expected to successfully pass a Python skills test before they are able to take any course that has Python as a prerequisite. If students do not successfully pass the Python skills test, they are expected to take additional coursework or complete self-study until they are able to pass the skills test. More here.

Yes. Our program does require that students know probability and statistics. Students will be expected to successfully pass a probability and statistics skills test before they are able to take any course requiring probability and statistics proficiency. If students do not successfully pass the probability and statistics skills test, they are expected to take additional coursework or complete self-study until they are able to pass the skills test. More here.

The amount charged for the online program consists of tuition and UA Bursar fees. View detailed information.

Yes. The coursework is an approved program for VA benefits. Please contact Regina Dowell, the University of Arizona Veterans’ Services Coordinator, at rdowell@email.arizona.edu, to make sure you are all set up by the VA before your apply to the program.

Yes. For information regarding QTR or other state university employee tuition assistance programs, please view the UA Employee Education Benefits website, or your respective university education benefits site.

The TOEFL is required only for international students. However, if you are an international student and have a degree from an accredited U.S. institution that was awarded within two years of the start of your first course in the MS in Cybersecurity program, you do not have to take the TOEFL.

The TOEFL score must be less than two years old at the time your first MS in Cybersecurity course begins. For example, if the course begins on August 24, 2018, and you took the TOEFL test on August 23, 2016, that score would be invalid and you would have to take the test again.

The admission GPA that we use to determine your eligibility may be calculated in one of the following ways:

• Undergraduate GPA is calculated over the last 60 semester units or last 90 quarter hours of the U.S. undergraduate degree. In this situation, only the highest grade of repeated courses is counted.
• If the undergraduate degree was completed outside the U.S., grades are converted to the U.S. grading system and the GPA is calculated using the last two years of coursework.
• If you have completed 12+ semester units or 16 quarter hours of graduate-level coursework for graduate credit in the U.S., the Graduate College will ignore your undergraduate grades and use this GPA for admissions purposes. If you have completed a master's or doctorate degree in the U.S., the Graduate College will admit you based on this GPA. Grades that are excluded from the GPA calculation include S, P, Audit, and grades awarded for professional programs (i.e., law, medicine, etc.).

Yes. All parts of your online application, including receipt of your letters of recommendation, must be completed by the deadline. You will be able to upload many of your required documents and postal mail the rest. Application requirements and documents required may be found here.

You may submit your application at any time during the year. We review the applications throughout the year; however, only completed applications will be reviewed.

Send sealed transcripts to:

Department of MIS, Online Admission

The University of Arizona
McClelland Hall 430
P.O. Box 210108
Tucson, AZ 85721-0108

As a rule, we will not provide applicants notices of application completeness. We suggest that you double-check any packages that you send to us (to ensure that they are complete), and obtain a delivery confirmation receipt directly from the mail service.

Student IDs (SID) and PINs are issued by the University of Arizona Graduate College upon admission into the college. If you have been admitted into the Graduate College and have not received your SID and PIN, contact the Graduate College. These are permanently assigned numbers. They do not change from semester to semester. Please store them in a safe place – you'll need them to access various student services.

Your UA NetID (with password) is your personal identification for using UA online resources. A UA NetID is required of everyone associated with the University of Arizona who plans on using online central administrative programs and computing services. Your computing services include interfaces used to access:

• Email and UITS Computing Accounts (email.arizona.edu, u.arizona.edu (U-System), etc.)
• Web applications (UAccess Student, Form Link, etc.)
• University site-licensed software, etc.

You will need your student ID and student PIN to create your UA NetID. To create a UA NetID go to http://netid.arizona.edu and click on "Create UA NetID." Follow the steps to set up your UA NetID. This will create a username and password for you. Additional information about NetID can be found at http://uits.arizona.edu/faq/netid-and-passwords.

Students at the University of Arizona are automatically given a CatMail email account when creating their NetID: “netid @ email.arizona.edu.” (If you prefer, you can also send and receive email using netid @ catmail.arizona.edu. It will access the same account.) This email address is the official means of communication between the university and students. CatMail service is outsourced to Google Apps Education Edition, which also provides Google applications such as calendaring, IM and video chat, collaborative word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, website building, and more. Additional information on CatMail may be found at http://uits.arizona.edu/services/catmail-student-email. If you have technical problems with your email, call the 24/7 IT Support Center at 520.626.TECH (8324) or fill out a form at http://uits.arizona.edu/departments/the247.

UAccess is a password-protected service that allows students to access personal and academic information and transact university business via the web. A UA NetID and password are required for login. It may be accessed at https://uaccess.arizona.edu/.

Students will be able to register for classes through their UAccess account.

Students must take three credits every traditional fall and spring university semester to be considered “active” in the program. If you did not maintain consecutive enrollment in the program you were “discontinued.” If you are not able to take a course in either the fall or spring traditional university semester, before the term is over, fill out a “Leave of Absence” form. Access the Leave of Absence form at the bottom of the Graduate College Leave of Absence site.

MS in Cybersecurity instructors use D2L (Desire to Learn) as their means of delivering the course material to you. Log in to D2L here. D2L enables instructors to provide students with a course syllabus, instructor information, course materials, discussion boards, online assessments, and more.

The University of Arizona does not mail grade reports. The final grades are posted by the Office of Curriculum and Registration in UAccess. To get your final grades:

1. Go to UAccess at https://uaccess.arizona.edu/.
2. Click on "UAccess Student Center."
3. Log in using your NetID and password to get access to your student records.
4. Within My Academics, click on "Grades" in the dropdown list.
5. Choose the semester you are interested in and click on "View."

A report can be printed for various uses such as submitting to employers for tuition reimbursement. When printing for official use, make sure the display option is turned on, showing your name and student ID. To activate the display option to print out a copy with your name and SID on it, follow these steps:

1. If the Print View is open, click on “Close.”
2. On the lower navy blue navigation bar, click on "Preferences"
3. Click on "Display Settings."
4. In the box "Show Display Name" check the box (“Click this box to display the student name and SID on all PrintViews.”).
5. Click "Update."
6. A message will say “Successfully updated user preference.”
7. Click on “Academic.”
8. Click on “Grades.”
9. Use the drop-down menu to get to the semester you’re interested in. Click on “View.”
10. On the upper navigation bar, click on “Print View.”
11. Click on “Print.”
12. Close the Print View window after you’ve printed the report.