UMUC, it's programs and which one to take & certs?

ITguy85 · November 2014

I'm currently in the military (as an IT doing SysAdmin and Help desk stuff) I have A+ and Sec+ working on my CCNA.
So I'm looking at enrolling at UMUC and taking their BS in Cyber Security or Computer Networking and Security program. And what i was wondering if anyones knows if this college and these programs are worth my time and money, I will more then likely follow the program untill i have my MS.
Also as a side question, what do you think holds more weight college or certs??
I know i want to get my CISSP and Ethical Hacking.

Danielm7 · November 2014

I can't help you with the UMUC question but the debate between college and certs has raged on forever and likely will never end. I feel that longer term the college is more worth it. College doesn't expire. High level certs are great, they can get you interviews and jobs too, but unless you maintain them a lot of them go away after a few years. Also, some companies will filter applicants by whether they have a BS or not as their first wave of picking candidates, no point in giving them a reason to rule you out. For example, my last interview, the IT director told me he didn't have any certs because they didn't matter in his role so he didn't really care about them but was impressed that I had recently completed my degree. One of the other guys interviewing asked me a bunch of questions about my certs, you never really know what a company will value.

In the end.. both.

g33k247 · November 2014

UMUC is a fine school. They're a leader with their cybersecurity programs, and their networking program is pretty good, too. In fact, their cyber competition team (made up of active students) just took the world championship. UMUC caters to the military and the flexibility of their online learning environment, coupled with 8-week sessions probably fits your job/life demands.