• Find a bachelor's degree




    Bachelors Degree Center is an advertising-supported site. Featured or trusted partner programs and all school search, finder, or match results are for schools that compensate us. This compensation does not influence our school rankings, resource guides, or other editorially-independent information published on this site.

Cyber­se­cu­ri­ty itself refers to pre­ven­ta­tive meth­ods used to pro­tect infor­ma­tion from being stolen, com­pro­mised, or attacked. Cyber­se­cu­ri­ty man­age­ment is a career that seems to be sweep­ing the nation. With more peo­ple invad­ing the pri­va­cy of busi­ness­es, gov­ern­ment offices, and indi­vid­u­als, high tech­no­log­i­cal advances are need­ed to pre­vent hack­ers or unau­tho­rized users from infil­trat­ing impor­tant doc­u­ments and infor­ma­tion. An afford­able cyber­se­cu­ri­ty degree can help you get into that field with­out stu­dent loan debt drag­ging you down.

Work­ing adults in the cyber­se­cu­ri­ty field who want to move into man­age­r­i­al posi­tions, or advance in their cyber­se­cu­ri­ty career, often choose an online pro­gram. To inquire a posi­tion in cyber­se­cu­ri­ty man­age­ment, an appli­cant must first earn at least a bachelor’s degree in com­put­er and infor­ma­tion sys­tems, or some form of infor­ma­tion tech­nol­o­gy-relat­ed field. An online pro­gram pro­vides cre­den­tials in a con­ve­nient way so work­ers can keep work­ing while going to school, but that doesn’t come free. It can come at a very afford­able rate, how­ev­er, and that’s why Bachelor’s Degree Cen­ter is guid­ing prospec­tive stu­dents to the most afford­able online cyber secu­ri­ty degree programs.

Methodology: Ranking the Most Affordable Online Cybersecurity Degree Programs.

Since cost is fore­most on the minds of many work­ing adults, the BDC rank­ing of the most afford­able cyber­se­cu­ri­ty online degrees is pre­sent­ed in order of tuition rate (as report­ed to IPEDS), from low­est to high­est. How­ev­er, cheap isn’t nec­es­sar­i­ly good; that’s why only accred­it­ed, rep­utable insti­tu­tions are eli­gi­ble for the rank­ing, so stu­dents know they’re not only get­ting low costs, but quality.

1. Bellevue University

The BS degree in Cyber­se­cu­ri­ty at Belle­vue Uni­ver­si­ty offers both Online and on-Cam­pus options. The afford­able cyber­se­cu­ri­ty degree pro­gram pro­vides 127 cred­its that teach stu­dents in net­work and sys­tem pro­tec­tion, com­muter pro­gram­ming, and how to pre­vent unau­tho­rized users from infil­trat­ing secu­ri­ty sys­tems. Stu­dents will receive knowl­edge of cyber­se­cu­ri­ty con­cepts, the­o­ries, and strate­gies that pre­pares stu­dents for real-world sit­u­a­tions. The BS degree in Cyber­se­cu­ri­ty also stu­dents with com­mu­ni­ca­tion and ana­lyt­i­cal skills that helps them assess prob­lems that may arise in the IT field. Belle­vue Uni­ver­si­ty offers the pro­gram at a low tuition cost for most stu­dents. Some trans­fer cred­its may be applied.

Belle­vue Uni­ver­si­ty, found­ed in 1966, pro­vides degrees to over 50,000 stu­dents. The BS in Cyber­se­cu­ri­ty is accred­it­ed by the NSA and the Depart­ment of Home­land Secu­ri­ty. The col­lege offers one of the cheap­est online cyber secu­ri­ty degree pro­grams in the state of Nebraska.

Degree: BS in Cybersecurity

Click here to learn more about this afford­able cyber­se­cu­ri­ty program.

2. Peirce College

Peirce Col­lege offers the BS in IT Net­work­ing, Admin­is­tra­tion, and Infor­ma­tion Secu­ri­ty to stu­dents ready to expand their knowl­edge of the infor­ma­tion tech­nol­o­gy world. The afford­able cyber­se­cu­ri­ty degree pro­gram is avail­able for stu­dents online or liv­ing on cam­pus. The pro­gram address­es how to design, imple­ment, and inte­grate either hard­ware or soft­ware that is crit­i­cal to the suc­cess and pro­tec­tion of busi­ness­es. The pro­gram is one of the most afford­able cyber­se­cu­ri­ty degrees avail­able to most students.

Found­ed in 1865 in Philadel­phia, Peirce Col­lege offers over a dozen bach­e­lor’s degrees and sev­er­al types of mas­ters and cer­tifi­cates to prospec­tive stu­dents. The col­lege also pro­vides accel­er­at­ed pro­grams, with class­es that can be com­plet­ed in as lit­tle as sev­en to eight weeks. What’s so awe­some about Peirce is that the school may accept up to 102 trans­fer cred­its to go toward the four-year cyber­se­cu­ri­ty degree, allow­ing stu­dents to grad­u­ate at an accel­er­at­ed rate.

Degree: BS in IT Net­work­ing, Admin­is­tra­tion, and Infor­ma­tion Security

Click here to learn more about this afford­able cyber­se­cu­ri­ty program.

3. Western Governor’s University

The BS in Cyber­se­cu­ri­ty and Infor­ma­tion Assur­ance at West­ern Gov­er­nor’s Uni­ver­si­ty is an online cur­ricu­lum that offers stu­dents with knowl­edge of IT foun­da­tions, secu­ri­ty sys­tems, and design, and man­ag­ing web secu­ri­ty. The afford­able cyber­se­cu­ri­ty degree pro­gram also includes gen­er­al cours­es of ethics in tech­nol­o­gy, applied prob­a­bil­i­ty, and dig­i­tal foren­sics. The cyber­se­cu­ri­ty degree makes up of thir­ty-four class­es with a writ­ten project at the end. It is designed specif­i­cal­ly for tech-tal­ent­ed indi­vid­u­als. The BS in Cyber­se­cu­ri­ty at WGU is one of the most afford­able cyber­se­cu­ri­ty degrees in the state.

West­ern Gov­er­nor’s Uni­ver­si­ty, found­ed in 1997 by the intu­ition of Gov­er­nors, is a Non­prof­it, Nation­al Uni­ver­si­ty. The col­lege pro­vides stu­dents going into Cyber­se­cu­ri­ty with Com­pe­ten­cy-based learn­ing that saves time, mon­ey, and offers a con­ve­nient and flex­i­ble sched­ule for online stu­dents as well. “Sage”, the Night Owl, shows stu­dents the impor­tance of hav­ing wis­dom and per­sis­tence to meet their career goals. The col­lege’s mot­to is “Mis­sion-dri­ven. Stu­dent-obsessed. Non­prof­it.” WGU pro­vides cam­pus­es through­out sev­er­al states in the nation. The school also offers instruc­tion for Busi­ness and Health­care professionals.

Degree: BS Cyber­se­cu­ri­ty and Infor­ma­tion Assurance

Click here to learn more about this afford­able cyber­se­cu­ri­ty program.

4. Grantham University

Grantham Uni­ver­si­ty’s BS in Cyber­se­cu­ri­ty offers stu­dents with knowl­edge and skills that will pre­pare them for any cyber secu­ri­ty or infor­ma­tion tech­nol­o­gy posi­tion. The degree pro­gram is avail­able online and is one of the most afford­able cyber­se­cu­ri­ty degree pro­grams offered to prospec­tive stu­dents inter­est­ed in the IT field. The tuition cost is low, and Grantham offers finan­cial dis­counts to Mil­i­tary per­son­nel as well. Cours­es for the cyber­se­cu­ri­ty pro­gram is also aligned to Net­work+, Secu­ri­ty+ and CISSP indus­try-stan­dard certifications.

Found­ed in 1951, Grantham Uni­ver­si­ty offers over fifty degrees with­in all pro­gram lev­els of edu­ca­tion. A big empha­sis is on edu­cat­ing the next gen­er­a­tion of mil­i­tary intel­li­gence. The col­lege also pro­vides edu­ca­tion­al train­ing to first respon­ders, such as EMTs, Fire­fight­ers, and Police officers.

Degree: BS in Cyber­se­cu­ri­ty Online

Click here to learn more about this afford­able cyber­se­cu­ri­ty program.

5. University of Illinois at Springfield

The BS in Infor­ma­tion Sys­tems and Secu­ri­ty at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Illi­nois at Spring­field pro­vides the stu­dent with the option of either Online or on-Cam­pus edu­ca­tion. The 180-cred­it afford­able cyber­se­cu­ri­ty degree pro­gram pro­vides the stu­dent with a foun­da­tion in com­put­er sci­ence and infor­ma­tion tech­nol­o­gy. Stu­dents will hone into skills of prob­lem-solv­ing, crit­i­cal think­ing, and com­mu­ni­ca­tion abil­i­ties. Cours­es include com­put­er design, secu­ri­ty ethics, and secu­ri­ty assess­ment. The pro­gram require­ments for the degree include an under­stand­ing of Cal­cu­lus, Dis­crete or Finite Math, and statistics.

The uni­ver­si­ty holds itself for hav­ing low tuition rates. In fact, it is ranked #4 on the most afford­able cyber­se­cu­ri­ty degrees in 2019. The BS in of Infor­ma­tion sys­tem and secu­ri­ty pro­gram at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Illi­nois is spon­sored by the Nation­al Secu­ri­ty Agency (NSA) and the Depart­ment of Home­land Secu­ri­ty (DHS).

Degree: BS Infor­ma­tion Sys­tems Secu­ri­ty Online or Campus

Click here to learn more about this afford­able cyber­se­cu­ri­ty program.

6. Purdue University Global

BS in Cyber­se­cu­ri­ty Online at Pur­due Uni­ver­si­ty Glob­al pro­vides the stu­dent with an accel­er­at­ed option to fin­ish school in less time than the aver­age cyber­se­cu­ri­ty pro­gram. At Pur­due, the Excel­Track will allow stu­dents to learn the fun­da­men­tals of cyber­se­cu­ri­ty, ana­lyze com­plex com­put­ing sit­u­a­tions, and apply basic secu­ri­ty prin­ci­ples to real-world solu­tions. The pro­gram is 180 cred­its, with the aver­age course being com­plete in ten weeks, with a week­ly ded­i­cat­ed study time of fif­teen to eigh­teen hours.

Pur­due Uni­ver­si­ty was found­ed in 1869, with the first stu­dents enrolled in 1869. Pur­due Uni­ver­si­ty Glob­al, is a pub­lic research uni­ver­si­ty that pre­pares each cyber­se­cu­ri­ty stu­dent with the skills, abil­i­ties, and knowl­edge to advance their career in the IT indus­try. It is one of the cheap­est online cyber secu­ri­ty degree pro­grams in the nation, offer­ing dis­counts to Mil­i­tary pro­fes­sion­als as well. Some trans­fer cred­its are accept­ed to help stu­dents along in their career success.

Degree: BS in Cybersecurity

Click here to learn more about this afford­able cyber­se­cu­ri­ty program.

7. University of Maryland Global Campus

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Mary­land Glob­al Cam­pus (for­mal­ly Uni­ver­si­ty Col­lege) offers online Cyber­se­cu­ri­ty degrees in Bach­e­lors, Mas­ters, and cer­tifi­cate form. The cyber secu­ri­ty stu­dent will gain skills and knowl­edge of the com­put­er infor­ma­tion field. The inno­v­a­tive afford­able cyber­se­cu­ri­ty degree pro­gram offers three con­cen­trat­ed degree options; com­put­er net­works and cyber­se­cu­ri­ty, cyber­se­cu­ri­ty man­age­ment and pol­i­cy, and soft­ware devel­op­ment and secu­ri­ty. The pro­gram of cyber secu­ri­ty is a great choice for stu­dents who are or plan to enter Mil­i­tary intelligence.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Mary­land Glob­al Cam­pus has won award-win­ning achieve­ments in cyber secu­ri­ty from their cyber­se­cu­ri­ty com­pe­ti­tion teams over the past years. The Uni­ver­si­ty of Mary­land Glob­al Cam­pus puts cyber­se­cu­ri­ty ahead of the tech­no­log­i­cal age of the game. UMGC is one of the col­leges offer­ing the cheap­est online cyber secu­ri­ty degree pro­grams nationwide.

Degree: 3 spe­cial­iza­tions Online

Click here to learn more about this afford­able cyber­se­cu­ri­ty program.

8. Oklahoma State University

The online Bach­e­lor of Tech­nol­o­gy in Infor­ma­tion Tech­nolo­gies and Cyber­se­cu­ri­ty & Dig­i­tal Foren­sics at Okla­homa State Uni­ver­si­ty offers stu­dents skills in dig­i­tal com­put­ing tech­niques and how to deter­mine threats to the IT sys­tem; such as hack­ers, virus­es, and cyber­at­tacks. The cyber secu­ri­ty pro­grams also pro­vide accred­i­ta­tion from the NSA and Home­land Secu­ri­ty. Com­mon cours­es for the pro­gram include Prin­ci­ples of Infor­ma­tion tech­nol­o­gy, Web Devel­op­ment, and net­work and Sys­tem Secu­ri­ty. OSU ranks as hav­ing one of the cheap­est online cyber secu­ri­ty degree options as well.

OSU’s main cam­pus, locat­ed in Okmul­gee, offers the IT stu­dent with many study areas and recre­ation places to rewind. Part of the Insti­tute of Tech­nol­o­gy, OSU also offers BT degrees in applied tech­ni­cal lead­er­ship, net­work infra­struc­ture, and soft­ware devel­op­ment. Each degree pro­gram takes approx­i­mate­ly two to three years to com­plete with 121 cred­its of course information.

Degree: Bach­e­lor of Tech­nol­o­gy in Infor­ma­tion Tech­nolo­gies — Cyber­se­cu­ri­ty & Dig­i­tal Foren­sics Online

9. Wilmington University

Wilm­ing­ton Uni­ver­si­ty’s BS in Com­put­er and Net­work Secu­ri­ty is avail­able to the stu­dent online or for on-Cam­pus edu­ca­tion. The course includes stud­ies in net­works and telecom­mu­ni­ca­tions, data­base foun­da­tions, and an intro­duc­tion in Lin­ux. The BS cyber­se­cu­ri­ty degree at Wilm­ing­ton Uni­ver­si­ty is a 120-cred­it pro­gram. Trans­ferred cred­its are accept­ed for those eli­gi­ble. The pro­grams at WU are some of the cheap­est cyber secu­ri­ty degree pro­grams in the nation.

Wilm­ing­ton Uni­ver­si­ty, found­ed in New Cas­tle, Delaware, with 194 stu­dents in 1968, has one of the diverse stu­dent body cam­pus­es. It pro­vides cours­es in fif­teen or sev­en-week incre­ments. The cam­pus is a short dis­tance from the Fort Dix/Lakehurst Naval Air Sta­tion. There is no on-cam­pus liv­ing; how­ev­er, the school offers infor­ma­tion of local rental apart­ments to prospec­tive students.

Degree: BS Com­put­er and Net­work Secu­ri­ty Online or Campus

Click here to learn more about this afford­able cyber­se­cu­ri­ty program.

10. Old Dominion University

With the infor­ma­tion tech­nol­o­gy job mar­ket expand­ing, receiv­ing a BS in Cyber­se­cu­ri­ty at Old Domin­ion Uni­ver­si­ty is a great start in the IT career field. The degree pro­vides an online option to stu­dents that need a flex­i­ble sched­ule, mak­ing it a good option for work­ing adults. The cours­es will dis­cuss inter­dis­ci­pli­nary core sub­jects on com­put­er engi­neer­ing, com­put­er sci­ence, crim­i­nal jus­tice, engi­neer­ing man­age­ment; just to name a few. The Uni­ver­si­ty also ranks at #10 as one of the most afford­able cyber­se­cu­ri­ty degrees through­out the nation, accord­ing to valuecolleges.com.

The Old Domin­ion Uni­ver­si­ty start­ed in 1994, begin­ning with a satel­lite deliv­ery pro­gram called TELETECHNET. The BS in Cyber­se­cu­ri­ty degree at Old Domin­ion is a 120-cred­it pro­gram, with thir­ty cred­its required at the col­lege. The pro­gram at Old Domin­ion Uni­ver­si­ty may accept up to nine­ty trans­fer cred­its. The col­lege has a 96 per­cent sat­is­fac­tion rate and opens doors for active Mil­i­tary per­son­nel to be eli­gi­ble for a dis­count­ed tuition cost through Old Dominion.

Degree: BS in Cyber­se­cu­ri­ty Online — trans­fer 90 credits

Click here to learn more about this afford­able cyber­se­cu­ri­ty program.

What is Cybersecurity Management?

A stu­dent tak­ing cours­es in Cyber­se­cu­ri­ty man­age­ment will learn how to man­age secu­ri­ty impli­ca­tions with­in cor­po­ra­tions and orga­ni­za­tions, apply tech­niques for detect­ing intru­sions with either a host or net­work-based sys­tem, and col­lect and main­tain data need­ed to meet require­ments on sys­tem cyber­se­cu­ri­ty reports. The com­put­er sys­tem job posi­tion will require skills in how a secu­ri­ty sys­tem works, cre­at­ing secu­ri­ty poli­cies and pro­ce­dures that coin­cide with sys­tem objec­tives, and how to detect cyber threats and vul­ner­a­bil­i­ties. Both Ana­lyt­i­cal and Com­mu­ni­ca­tion skills are a must. Strate­gic plan­ning and Man­age­ment skills are also nec­es­sary for a Cyber secu­ri­ty man­age­ment posi­tion in most busi­ness­es and organizations.

How Do I Get a Job in Cybersecurity Management?

The first step in obtain­ing a cyber­se­cu­ri­ty job or career path towards cyber­se­cu­ri­ty is get­ting the right expe­ri­ence with the right edu­ca­tion. Many pub­lic and nation­al four-year col­leges and uni­ver­si­ties offer the Cyber­se­cu­ri­ty degree. How­ev­er, there are some two-year train­ing pro­grams, or com­mu­ni­ty insti­tu­tions that may pro­vide a career start in the field as well. On the oth­er hand, high­er man­age­ment posi­tions will require a master’s degree in the field. Schools that pro­vide the pro­gram will help stu­dents with knowl­edge of com­put­er pro­gram­ming, soft­ware devel­op­ment and Math­e­mat­ics are pro­vid­ed in most cyber­se­cu­ri­ty degree cur­ricu­lum. Busi­ness Admin­is­tra­tion cours­es may also be help­ful for the Cyber­se­cu­ri­ty Man­age­ment degree program.

Work-relat­ed expe­ri­ence is imper­a­tive to move up the cyber secu­ri­ty man­age­ment lad­der. Most employ­ers may ask for two to three years of on the job expe­ri­ence for entry-lev­el posi­tions; how­ev­er, those who desire high­er man­age­ment oppor­tu­ni­ties, five years or more may be required for employ­ment. Com­mon tasks of the Cyber­se­cu­ri­ty posi­tion is installing Anti-virus/an­ti-mal­ware soft­ware, Soft­ware patch­es, and fire­wall pro­tec­tion. Knowl­edge of Encryp­tion is also need­ed. Cyber­se­cu­ri­ty experts work to pre­vent secu­ri­ty breach­es and ward off cyber attacks to your oper­a­tional sys­tems. Many cyber­se­cu­ri­ty employ­ees of com­pa­nies have knowl­edge of high­ly sen­si­tive infor­ma­tion, where secret key­pads or pass­words are extreme­ly protected.

How Much Can I Make with a Cybersecurity Degree?

Cyber secu­ri­ty can be a lucra­tive career path for com­put­er sci­ence and IT stu­dents enter­ing the infor­ma­tion sys­tem field. Many of the top indus­tries in com­put­er tech­nol­o­gy will pay a sub­stan­tial salary to appli­cants and can­di­dates look­ing for work as a cyber­se­cu­ri­ty man­ag­er or even tech­ni­cian. The salary can be based on whether an appli­cant or can­di­date for the posi­tion wants to work in the pri­vate sec­tor or gov­ern­ment-run organizations.

Accord­ing to the Bureau of Labor and Sta­tis­tics, the aver­age salary of a stu­dent that has a cyber­se­cu­ri­ty degree is $162,530 annu­al. Most entry-lev­el posi­tions start at $85,000 a year; with the advanced career paths offer­ing as much as $200,000 annu­al­ly. The work­load is found in main­ly com­put­er and infor­ma­tion sys­tems areas, while oth­er job prospects work with­in the oper­a­tional spe­cial­ties of the job. Job titles of Cyber­se­cu­ri­ty seek­ers are Com­put­er pro­gram­mers, Data­base admin­is­tra­tors, Soft­ware devel­op­ers, and Research Sci­en­tists. Most require a bach­e­lor’s degree in the field; how­ev­er, cer­tain posi­tions require an edu­ca­tion­al lev­el of a mas­ter’s as well. The salary range for most occu­pa­tions in cyber­se­cu­ri­ty is $69,000 to 120,000 per year.

Relat­ed Rankings: 

25 Best Bach­e­lor’s in Cyber Secu­ri­ty Degree Programs

15 Best Online Bach­e­lor’s in Cyber Security

10 Fastest Online Bach­e­lor’s in Cyber Security