Graduated from Capitol Colleg...er, I mean Capitol Technology University

puertorico1985

Hello all,

It has been a while since I have been on here, due to my new job and the training that I am going through, but I just wanted to give a quick status update.

I recently graduated from Capitol Technology University (formerly Capitol College), with my MSIA, and couldn't be more excited. As I mentioned earlier, I got a new position doing information security, and I just wanted to thank all of you who helped and encouraged me to work hard.

I want to thank each and every one of you who has had an impact on my educational decisions, and those that have helped me in making some tough career choices over the past few years. I can remember it like yesterday, where I asked for help on selecting a graduate school and program and receiving information from those with knowledge and experience, and perhaps even those who had been in a similar situation. I owe my current success to those that are on this forum, day in and day out, and I give you all my sincerest gratitude.

Thank you once again for all that you do for this community, and keep doing what you do for every one on here looking for a better future.

da_vato

Congrats!!! What's next on your educational bucket list?

I would be interested in a more thorough write-up of you experience at Capitol Tech when/if you could find the time.

Oh! and good luck/congrats on the new job.

puertorico1985

Thank you, da_vato. It has definitely been a hectic few weeks for me, but I will try to get something up here soon.

As far as what's next...I am not entirely sure. I have been in school for the past 5-6 years, I jumped into my MS right after achieving my BS, and think that I will take time off from school at least for now. There are several certifications that I want to achieve, such as CISSP, CEH, GSEC, CCNA, etc. Being in school has stopped any progression completely with getting certs, but I want to focus on that now.

After that, however, I believe that I want to attain one more degree, but I am unsure if I want an MBA, or if I want to get a Doctorate's in Security. Still have time to think about that next step, but that is what I have planned at the moment.

puertorico1985

As promised, here is some information about my experiences with Capitol Technology University.

First some background about myself. I started in the IT industry in 2008, and started working Helpdesk. I was let go from that position due to the downed economy at that time, and my (now) father-in-law helped me get a contracting position as an instructor for soldiers. After about 10 months, the contract did not get renewed and I lost my position there as well. At that time, I only had the CompTIA trio and it was extremely difficult for me to find a good position with no degree, and only some experience. This is where I decided to go to school to get a degree, and where my education first blooms. I went to Troy University for my BS, finished that in March of 2013, and started at Capitol College in April 2013.

Capitol got my attention due to the live weekly (biweekly for some classes) that they offer, and this was sought after due to my undergrad degree being solely online with no option to speak with a professor other than via email. I decided that live classes was something that I wanted and Capitol excelled in that area. Depending on the course, the class would meet on a weekly basis, and assignments were due on a weekly basis. The course selection is definitely one that will challenge any newcomer or seasoned veteran in computer security, but it was a great challenge. At the time, I had no experience in the InfoSec field, and my hope was to use that degree to get my foot in the door.

Not only was I able to gain theoretical knowledge, many of the classes had you do labs, which were used to reinforce the theory that you were learning. The amount of labs was sometimes overwhelming, but they were used to solidify your knowledge in a specific area. The classes with labs included wireless security, perimeter protection, mobile security, and cryptography. Some of the courses also required papers to be turned in, which is to be expected. I do not want to scare anyone away, but a particular class had us do a thesis, in which we applied the knowledge of all courses and began to create a full security policy for a made-up company. Again, not to scare anyone, but my policy was about 60 pages long. It seems like a lot, but after you get up and running, and understand what the professor is looking for, it was much easier that I initially thought.
I do not have any issues with the knowledge of any of the professors, as they were all very knowledgeable in their field, and all had many years of experience in the this arena. The main complaint I had was the amount of time it took to get feedback on assignments that were turned, but that never became a huge issue.

Now, the program has gone through some recent changes, and I believe these changes have made the program much better. You are now able to choose a more specific area to focus in. The instructors have not changed, and I believe that it is great that they are add valuable courses while keeping the same instructor core.

Overall, I can say that I have learned so much from this program, the professors, and the other students (many of which you will work on during the entirety of the program). This school offered exactly what I needed, with the live classes, and the reinforcement learning that came with the many labs in the classes that offered them. Knowing what I know now, I would not hesitate to go to this school once again, and feel that I am better prepared for the information security field. As I have stated before, I started a new position a few months ago in Information Security, and feel that this program allowed me to secure this position, and has given me the knowledge that I need to do well at my course.

I know this is extremely lengthy, and I do apologize for that, but feel free to ask any questions that I may have skipped or not have touched on.


EDIT: Let me first apologize to those who have read my post regarding the time it took for me to achieve my degree. I have modified the dates to the correct year. I started at Capitol in April 2013 and finished in December 2014. Again I apologize for any confusion.

alias454

Congrats. did I read that correctly? You obtained your Masters in ~9 months? I recently finished my Bachelor's degree in IT with a concentration in security from Colorado Technical University (September of 2014) and have thought about getting my Master's. I don't know if I can take more skool but I can slog through 9 months without a problem, if that's right.

Pbutter

Congrats! I am also an alum of Capitol (Dec '13), with quite a different experience post-graduation i.e. still seeking employment in IT.
My background: undergrad in environ science-worked as chemist for Fortune 500, moved into IT as second level tech support (position required MCP, Network+, and ITIL cert), at said company for 6 yrs, entire org outsourced to Asia. Went to grad school for healthcare, missed IT-picked up healthcare IT cert, stopped healthcare courses and went to Capitol College. After extensive research, I chose this school due to it being the only (at the time-2011) hands-on, technical graduate program in IA. My previous experience focused on desktop operating system issues and plenty of app support and some networking (LAN/WLAN/VPN), but really wanted to beef up *nix*/command-line/deeper TCP/IP packet knowledge. Capitol offered and delivered on exactly what I needed to move my career into a more technical function. The professors are all either currently or previously employed by the Federal government holding security (technical and managerial) positions. They are incredibly knowledgeable and provide real-world application of the concepts. The live lectures were truly enjoyable to attend and participate in, while the course work was challenging and always pushed me to the next level (at least for me without hard core tech exper.). My peers were also some of the best in the country (IMO), always willing to share anecdotal experiences. I really felt connected to the classroom. As mentioned in the OP, the curriculum has greatly improved since my completion of the program with the addition of unix programming, SCADA\ICS, cloud security, SDLC..all robust stuff that I would love to go back and learn!

The only con associated with this school is most people never heard of it (I am in PA), therefore, you will really need to promote the NSA/DHS CAE designation to potential employers. Employment is like real estate, location, location, location...and sadly I am currently residing in an economically disadvantaged city with very little demand for network security, or graduate level IT positions. Life goes on.....

Cyber_space

I am currently at Cap Tech Uni now. Hopefully I should finish this year... abt 9 credits remaining after this semester. Congrats on completing. Did they help you get placed or did you do it on your own?

zxbane

Congrats!

I am considering where to go for my MS in IA/Cyber Sec. at the moment so this thread is very insightful.

puertorico1985

I have changed the dates on the post where I spoke about my experience with Capitol, and I apologize for any confusion.

Pbutter: I am sorry to hear about not being able to a position relevant to your degree. Unfortunately, not every area will have a high demand for our chosen profession. I am sure that you have thought about it, but is moving not an option for you? There are many pleasant areas that are looking for Security professionals, but again, that would require a move to an area with a need for your skills.

Cyber_space: Luckily, I did not need to use their placement options to find a position. One of the great things about Capitol, at least in my experience, was the ability to meet managers and InfoSec professionals all over the country. Over the past 18 months or so, while at Capitol, I made got to meet and work with professionals in the field, and feel confident that I could use them as contacts to get a position if the moment ever arose. I still speak with old classmates on a regular basis, if nothing more than to network, and always keep my options open.

Kaj4

Congrats on the hard work! I've had several colleagues get MS and ScD degrees, which seemed to have served them well.​

coffeeluvr

Congratulations!!!

joehalford01

Thanks for posting the info up, I'm starting the same program in March. I've been stressing about whether or not its worth the money, so its nice to hear about a good experience.

fuz1on

Congrats!

radarlove

Thanks for the excellent and thorough review. I'm currently in WGU's MBA program, but I am thinking about enrolling in Capitol's MSIA as soon as I finish with WGU. At this point I'm not even sure if I want to work in the Infosec field or not. I was planning on being a sysadmin for life. But I figure an MSIA is not a bad thing to have, and security knowledge may be called on later in my career.

balcobulls

Colorado Tech 2013 grad, Information Technology Security....college is swell, however, it is all about those certs! College just is there to tact on a little extra salary....never a bad thing. To get the job however, certificates are essential.

bstan

Hi puertorico1985--thank you so much for posting about your experience with Capitol. I am a career changer interested in this school for several reasons. I was wondering if there is a way I could possibly contact you somehow to ask a few questions about your experience sometime. I don't seem able to send private message in this forum yet, but would greatly appreciate the opportunity to speak with you or anyone else who is attending Capitol Tech or has matriculated from there.

emerald_octane

currently attending captiol. it's great.