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Bachelor of Science
Protecting valuable data and critical infrastructure assets has become a significant problem for companies and government agencies in South Carolina and throughout the U.S. A significant problem for these employers is the lack of personnel with cybersecurity training. Winthrop University's Bachelor of Science in Cybersecurity degree (CYBR) draws on the university's existing strength in Computer Science and its values of Service, Excellence, Diversity, Community and Leadership. The CYBR degree addresses pressing cybersecurity needs by providing students with specialized knowledge in forensics, ethical hacking, enterprise security and more. Students gain hands-on experience with these concepts and prepare to actively contribute to ensuring the successful security posture of computing systems.
Learn moreSome of the graduates of this program have gone on to work for:
Graduates of this program have gone on to become:
Many of the graduates of this program find themselves working in:
The program leverages coursework from Winthrop's successful Computer Science degree with a core of seven specialized cybersecurity courses, including Cyber Forensics, Cloud Computing, Enterprise Security, and Ethical Hacking. Students complete several computer science courses such as Programming 1 and 2, Computer Architecture, Database Processing, and Networks. CYBR students also complete three math courses and the university's general education program.
Curriculum
Many of our seniors have multiple job offers months before graduation, and nearly 100 percent of our graduates accept a full-time position within three months of starting their job search.
Join the ACM or STARS computing club, participate in contests ranging from local hack-a-thons to regional intercollegiate programming competitions, and learn from nationally known speakers and alumni at events.
Winthrop's computer science professors are award-winning experts in their fields, whose primary responsibility is teaching, not research funding. And with class sizes ranging from 12-30 students, they'll get to know you and your career goals.
Graduates of Winthrop’s cybersecurity degree will have many career opportunities and should expect excellent salaries. Graduates from the B.S. in cybersecurity degree will be qualified for many careers, including:
- security administrator
- information security engineer
- incident responder
- security auditor
- penetration tester
- vulnerability analyst
There is a shortage of information security talent in both industry and government. In 2017, IT-oLogy in cooperation with the SC Coordinating Council on Workforce Development and the SC Department of Commerce, issued a report on the state of South Carolina's IT workforce challenges and opportunities. In it, they discuss the major concerns related to the supply of workers for the field. In the cybersecurity field alone, they point to a Forbes statistic of over 200,000 unfilled cybersecurity jobs nationwide and a Cisco statistic puts it at 1 million globally. The output of this survey, which included 117 South Carolina companies, identified several gaps, including the:
- limited supply of candidates in IT
- lack of enough students currently in training
- lack of diversity
- the demand for cybersecurity accelerating at a rate three times the rate of other IT jobs
In addition, these jobs are well paid. A 2019 workforce study by the SC Chamber of Commerce found an average salary of $97,760/year for Other Information Services within the Business and IT Services sector. It also showed a projected 10 year growth of 48.4 percent.