WGU - Master of Science, Cybersecurity and Information Assurance

TechGuy215

Good morning fellow TE members!

It's been awhile since I've posted, but just wanted to share that I'll be starting my MS:CSIA in February (just completed the enrollment process) and I'm super excited. The BS was a great experience and I was so pumped that I was able to knock out all 42 credits in a single term! I'm looking to do the same with my MS, I was able to transfer my CEH towards one of the classes so that only leaves me 26 CUs to graduate. I'll continuously update this threat with my progress when the term starts in February!

mgeoffriau

Nice, I'm seriously considering this program and will be watching closely. January is probably too soon for me to start, but if I can get my Security+ done in January, I might consider a February or March start date.

shochan

Yup, I am in the middle of admissions myself, but probably cannot start until Fall. Will be working full time, plus studying Linux+ and enrolled for that Cisco CyberOps in June-ish. I am awaiting to see what credit hours and certifications will transfer.

amcnow

Nice!

I'm hoping for a March start date myself. I completed half of the old MSISA program before having to withdraw early last year. I'm now waiting on WGU to determine which of my previously completed courses will transfer.

Dakinggamer87

Awesome welcome to the Master's program!! Good luck on your journey looking forward to seeing your progress along the way

NotHackingYou

Congrats! I am starting 1/1/2017

iBrokeIT

TechGuy215 wrote: »

I was able to transfer my CEH towards one of the classes so that only leaves me 26 CUs to graduate.

Interesting, I thought you couldn't transfer credits for the grad degree program!

amcnow

There's an exception for certifications in your curriculum. For example, the CEH and CHFI certifications are part of the MSCIA curriculum. If you earned them within in the past 5 years, then they will count as credit for their respective courses in the curriculum.

http://www.wgu.edu/admissions/it_certifications

TLeTourneau

Congratulations and good luck! I hope to start the program this spring or summer.

T-RAV

Congrats! I am in the middle of the Bachelor's myself. Then I might move on to the Masters. I Love WGU's format. All it took you was 1 term!? That's Great! I still have the cisco classes to finish along with technical writing. Hope I can buckle down and finish soon. I look forward to your updates.

bermovick

Quite a few of us starting in 2017, it looks like! Good luck to everyone!

shyguyIT

I'll be starting MS:CSIA in February as well!

jcundiff

Just wrapping up my 1st semester on the BS-ITSEC track, should finish it 12/2017 and will most likely start the MSCIA in Jan 2018 Good luck

LaSeeno

TechGuy215 wrote: »

Good morning fellow TE members!

It's been awhile since I've posted, but just wanted to share that I'll be starting my MS:CSIA in February (just completed the enrollment process) and I'm super excited. The BS was a great experience and I was so pumped that I was able to knock out all 42 credits in a single term! I'm looking to do the same with my MS, I was able to transfer my CEH towards one of the classes so that only leaves me 26 CUs to graduate. I'll continuously update this threat with my progress when the term starts in February!

I was looking at sitting for the CEH in a few weeks. Currently waiting for the application to sit to process.

Do you know if any other certs will substitute four classes in the program? I hold a CISSP, and was looking to sit for the CISA in May.

LaSeeno

LaSeeno wrote: »

I was looking at sitting for the CEH in a few weeks. Currently waiting for the application to sit to process.

Do you know if any other certs will substitute four classes in the program? I hold a CISSP, and was looking to sit for the CISA in May.

NM, I found the information from the WGU site. CEH and CHFI will transfer.

Deltrus

What is the tuition cost?

Dakinggamer87

Deltrus wrote: »

What is the tuition cost?

WGU costs about $3,000/per term which is 6 months in length. So around $6,000/year.

Deltrus

Dakinggamer87 wrote: »

WGU costs about $3,000/per term which is 6 months in length. So around $6,000/year.

Thanks. Something for the future maybe.

TechGuy215

Hello TE!

Just realized I haven't been keeping up with logging my progress as I promised...

So here it goes.

My Term started on February 1st, 2017 and so far I've completed the following:

C688 - Cyberwarfare (3 Credits)
JIT2 - Risk Management (2 Credits)
TFT2 - Cyberlaw, Regulations and Compliance (3 Credits)
C700 - Secure Network Design (3 Credits)
C706 - Secure Software Design (2 Credits)
VLT2 - Security Policies and Standards - Best Practices (3 Credits)
C702 - Forensics and Network Intrusion (4 Credits)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

In progress:

FXT2 - Disaster Recovery Planning, Prevention and Response (2 Credits) - I've submitted all 3 Tasks...2 Passed just waiting on Taskstream for the 3rd.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Remaining:

LQT2 - Information Security and Assurance Capstone Project (4 Credits) - I've already completed the prospectus, which I'll be submitting as soon as FXT2 is officially behind me.

Overall, I'm extremely satisfied with my progress. I should have my Master's completed in a single term, which is fully covered by Tuition Reimbursement from my employer....

NetworkNewb

How valuable is the information you learn if you can complete a Master's degree in a couple months? I'm not referring that your not working your a$$ off. But at most colleges the amount of material would make this an impossible feat.

LaSeeno

NetworkNewb wrote: »

How valuable is the information you learn if you can complete a Master's degree in a couple months? I'm not referring that your not working your a$$ off. But at most colleges the amount of material would make this an impossible feat.

I wouldn't be so sure. Here's an example. 1.5 hrs of class twice week for a semester is roughly 48 hours. If someone does 20+ hours a week that's a class every two weeks. It appears that WGU lets those who are motivated learn more in a shorter time.

A lot of my classes have been pretty close to a waste of time.

NetworkNewb

Yea, if you don't take into account the course has any coursework or reading involved in it. Maybe they don't I guess, but then I would have to argue my original point about the value of the program. Knowledge wise, I guess.

I kinda feel like WGU is just a school to just get that checkmark filled. I say that without going there, so of course I don't actually know. But just seems that way.

LaSeeno

NetworkNewb wrote: »

Yea, if you don't take into account the course has any coursework or reading involved in it. Maybe they don't I guess, but then I would have to argue my original point about the value of the program. Knowledge wise, I guess

I hear you. I had the same thoughts myself. But knowing WGU has a strong accreditation and is respected enough in the industry I'm not going to complain! I do know that you get out of anything what you put in. I didn't study for more than half of my BA. Just applied my years of experience to cruise through. I would think a MS would be very difficult for anyone not already at that level professionally to knock out in a few months.

atippett

NetworkNewb wrote: »

How valuable is the information you learn if you can complete a Master's degree in a couple months? I'm not referring that your not working your a$$ off. But at most colleges the amount of material would make this an impossible feat.

I agree.. I don't see how someone can retain the information they learned if they passed 7 classes in 5 weeks. If I was an employer I would be VERY cautious to see someone completed a Masters degree in a couple of months. Either the classes aren't very valuable, or you just skim through the classes and just complete the assignments without putting the extra time and effort into learning the material.

TLeTourneau

I would remind people commenting about the retention of information in the WGU model that, generally speaking, in order to be accepted to the program you have to be a professional in the industry or have a CISSP to start with. The people coming in are not novices and have an underlying understanding of the course material to begin with. That is the benefit of a competency based model, you validate you know that material and pass the class. It's not bound to a traditional schedule. As for acceptance of the degree, several tech companies are on the degree advisory panels and the degree is regionally accredited so I don't see a problem. I will admit to a bias as I am a former and current student but until you have experience with the model it's hard to have an informed opinion of the competency based model.

atippett

TLeTourneau wrote: »

I would remind people commenting about the retention of information in the WGU model that, generally speaking, in order to be accepted to the program you have to be a professional in the industry or have a CISSP to start with. The people coming in are not novices and have an underlying understanding of the course material to begin with. That is the benefit of a competency based model, you validate you know that material and pass the class. It's not bound to a traditional schedule. As for acceptance of the degree, several tech companies are on the degree advisory panels and the degree is regionally accredited so I don't see a problem. I will admit to a bias as I am a former and current student but until you have experience with the model it's hard to have an informed opinion of the competency based model.

You just inadvertently contradicted yourself. A Masters degree should NOT test your knowledge you already have of the subject. It should EXPAND your knowledge.

NetworkNewb

So pretty much a program for people who might know most of the material, want to fly through the program, and just get that checkbox filled.

Just another reason why experience matters more than certs and degrees I guess.


Edit: Btw apologize to the OP, I'm gonna shut up on this thread. Went off topic on your thread and shouldn't have. Tempted to delete my posts...

TLeTourneau

atippett wrote: »

You just inadvertently contradicted yourself. A Masters degree should NOT test your knowledge you already have of the subject. It should EXPAND your knowledge.

You're right, I did contradict myself to some extent but each individual is different and for some (I would like to think most) there will be an expansion of understanding. I expect to learn things in from the courses and I would imagine that others have as well. Finishing in one term is the exception, not the rule.

Does it really matter if the person coming in already knows the information and accelerates or is it better they go into a B&M institution already knowing the content and sit through a semester counting days? I would prefer accelerating through the content I am competent in so I can focus on mastering the other content.

As an example, I've been in IT and IT security for some time on the I&O side of things. I expect that I will not have much issue with the Secure Network Design course. I am not a programmer and I expect that the Secure Software Design course will be more challenging.

I may not be articulating this well, I have had a cold most of the week and focus is not my strong point right now.

LaSeeno

atippett wrote: »

You just inadvertently contradicted yourself. A Masters degree should NOT test your knowledge you already have of the subject. It should EXPAND your knowledge.

Are you sure? That sounds like continuing education to me. A MS (any degree really) is a standard measurement of knowledge. It does not matter if you learned in from reading or from real world experience. For those who are tenured, the degree is just reinforcement and filling in gaps. If you want to truly expand your knowledge go to school for a different job duty OR get specialized training, ie, take a SANS class. College requirements are like the CISSP, many domains but limited depth.

p@r0tuXus

Personally, I find it ironic that on a tech certification forum, there happen to be avid commentors that think a competency based approach to a degree, which is just an institutional certificate of higher learning, is not a true measure of something. I watch videos, read books, study in my own time. I'm blessed to be able to do that and learn something and grateful I have people online, like all of you, that I can bounce things off of - but not spending a ton of money on a B&M institution that ***** you on tuition just so you can have that name on a piece of paper and slave you into debt repayment... priceless. I went through that racket with DeVRY. Never again. If I can pull off my masters at WGU, you bet your bottom dollar I will. CISSP level knowledge in a competency verification approach for ~3K... Man, I wish. Kudos to the OP and keep trucking. You give me hope.

p00ki3nb00

I just applied to the Masters Program. Sort of nervous about it, but ready to take it on! Fist, if I get accepted!