Student Catalog and Handbook 2024-2025

Cybersecurity AAS Degree (IS23)

The Cybersecurity associate degree program is a sequence of courses designed to provide students with an understanding of the concepts, principles, and techniques required in computer information processing. Graduates are to be competent in the general areas of humanities or fine arts, social or behavioral sciences, and natural sciences or mathematics, as well as in the technical areas of computer terminology and concepts, program design and development, and computer networking. Program graduates are qualified for employment as cybersecurity specialists.

NOTE: Program courses in computer information systems require strong aptitudes for math, problem solving, critical thinking, listening, teamwork, and written direction.

Credits for CIST & CISM courses are awarded only for courses that have been completed within the last seven years. Any courses completed over seven years ago may be recommended by the program chair and approved by the Dean of the School of Business/Public Services if the student presents recent, documented, in-field experience or current software certification.

Career Opportunities
Graduates may find entry-level employment as cybersecurity specialists working with networking systems, telecommunications, cryptography, security system design, or risk assessment and contingency planning. 


Credit Required for Completion: Minimum of 72 credit hours

Curriculum

All Associate of Applied Science Degrees require a minimum 15 credit hours of general education courses using the curriculum structure outlined in the beginning of this degree program section. All course prerequisites must be met. Please see Associate Degree General Education Requirement Section for Area I, Area II, Area III, and Area IV requirements.

General Core Courses

Area I requirements (minimum 3 hours; must include ENGL 1101)

Area II requirements (minimum 3 hours)

Area III requirements (minimum 3 hours; must include MATH 1101, MATH 1103, or MATH 1111)

Area IV requirements (minimum 3 hours)

Additional 3 hours from Area I, II, III, or IV

Occupational Courses

CISM 2201: Students who successfully complete COMP 1000 prior to January 2018 may use that course to fulfill the CISM 2201 requirement for graduation.

CISM 2201Foundations of Computer Applications

3

CIST 1001Computer Concepts

4

CIST 1122Hardware Installation and Maintenance

4

CIST 1401Computer Networking Fundamentals

4

CIST 1601Information Security Fundamentals

3

CIST 1602Security Policies and Procedures

3

CIST 2601Implementing Operating Systems Security

4

CIST 2602Network Security

4

CIST 2611Network Defense and Countermeasures

4

CIST 2612Computer Forensics

4

CIST 2613Ethical Hacking and Penetration Testing

4

CIST Guided Electives (16 credits from the list below)


CIST 2411Microsoft Client

4

CIST 2413Cloud and data foundations with Microsoft Azure

4

CIST 2414Maintaining Windows Server

4

CIST 2431UNIX/Linux Introduction

4