University of Maryland University College

Does anybody know much about UMUC? I came across them while surfing through the NSA website under the Centers of Academic Excellence page. There are 113 schools nationwide that have that title from the NSA and UMUC is one of em. I'm looking to get into Information Assurance/Cyber security

Is UMUC legit? I see on google maps that their campus is literally across the street from UM-College Park (flagship univ)

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veritas_libertas

There are a few folks here that are students of UMUC. I'm considering attending UMUC after I'm done with my bachelor degree.

da_don_non

I currently go to that school. I going for the BA in CyberSecurity. I like the school because it is all online (which i like).

dmoore44

ODNation wrote: »

Does anybody know much about UMUC? I came across them while surfing through the NSA website under the Centers of Academic Excellence page. There are 113 schools nationwide that have that title from the NSA and UMUC is one of em. I'm looking to get into Information Assurance/Cyber security

Is UMUC legit? I see on google maps that their campus is literally across the street from UM-College Park (flagship univ)

I just graduated from UMUC with a BS in Computer Information Technology. Since I was in the military at the time and stationed in DC, I tried to attend as many face to face classes as I could because most of them were held at the College Park campus and instructed by College Park professors - some of the other face to face classes were taught on military bases by associate professors. The online classes were just what you would expect from online education - the amount of knowledge you derive from a class is directly proportionate to the effort you put in to it.

By in large the quality of the professors is pretty good - the ones at College Park anyway. The only professor I had a negative experience with was the one who taught my Cyber-Terrorism class - despite being a retired Naval Intel Officer (and thus knowledgeable about the subject), he was a horrible professor (he seemed nervous and didn't prepare any material to teach with - he stole some slides from a Cyber-Crime class and tried to use those...)

All in all UMUC is a pretty decent school and it looks as though the Cyber Security program would be worth it.

brianeaglesfan

Another NSA CAE school I'm a fan of is Dakota State University, which is a B&M school in SD that charges $343.75 an hour for their MS in IA.

jadenton

Having done time as an adjunct in the UMUC cyber security program I can tell you that under no circumstances should you go anywhere near this bad joke of a program. Even on my worst day, in my first year of teaching, I would not have made the kind of mistakes this program makes in content. Course content modules that are worse then weak, they contain factually impossible nonsense. On purpose. To generate "discussion". Lab assignment questions unrelated to the lab. Poorly worded writing assignments. Solution keys for different questions than what is on the assignment. And an administration that has a policy of giving half the class a B. Never mind the publicly posted grading criteria from the grad school; there is an explicitly secret policy that anything more than 50% As is a firing offense. The webtycho system is 15 years out of date; it has lots of functions to help administrators oversee adjunct, and nothing to let instructors deliver any meaningful content to students. No video. No audio. Not even a good system for posting papers and other documents for the class. The reading list is absurdly long even for full time students, but it doesn't matter because students are mostly not held accountable for it. Their held accountable for the content modules; which are complete garbage. Students coming out of the program can expect only the most basic introduction to the field, on par with a single undergraduate course, and no meaningful practical skills.

jesseou812

"Students coming out of the program can expect only the most basic introduction to the field, on par with a single undergraduate course, and no meaningful practical skills."

It's not about learning. It's about collecting student loan funds and ensuring students become indebted to the machine for the next 20 years.

You get old too soon and get smart too late.

spiderjericho

I got my bachelor's of arts from UMUC. I thought it was a good school. It wasn't perfect (I thought the semesters were too long and the requirements for participation, writing, tests placed on by the school made some classes a little much).

As a military member, it's one of the better distance-learning colleges and is a lot more legitimate than say Univ of Phoenix, Caplan (sp), etc.

Any new program/initiative is going to have its growing pains. Just look at the IT Management/MSISA programs at WGU and the complaints this board has thrown at it.

Having said that, I was interested in the Cybersecurity master's but will instead pursue the WGU MSISA and master's from a more traditional school like Strayer, Nova, etc.

petedude

[joke]Don’t do it! It’s a scam!! Run for your life!![/joking]

[/humor]

I have to rib the fellow board members who are attending there.

But seriously, yes, it's one of the best options around for putting a state school on your resume.

jesseou812

I am not going to put labels on any distance learning programs or brick and mortar programs. I can attest that after eight long years of college from the A.A.S level to the professional degree status, I have seen plenty and some of these programs and the faculty have a lot to be desired. I'll just leave it at that.

I can say with 100% certainty that I learned more from military technical schools than any college could ever hope to teach. Of course, you don't get all the superfluous fooey that you get from college but this is not point of military technical training. It's focus is to get you to an apprentice level and turn you out to the field to become a journeyman under the tutelage of other journeyman.

powerfool

I am about to finish my fifth of six courses in the MS in Cybersecurity Policy. I don't think I can recall anything in the content that was of poor quality nor the labs (which there were very few labs, but there are probably more in the MS in Cybersecurity... the programs share 50% of their courses, so there is significant overlap).

My only gripes have been policies, specifically grading policies. They don't offer anything but straight letter grades. In an effort to combat the perception of grade inflation, they make it extremely difficult to get an A, but it is nearly impossible to get less than a B if you complete all of your work... which is the cutoff point for their graduate programs. I have found some students, in my group work, that I was surprised graduated high school, let alone an undergrad program, and have passed four graduate level courses.... these people are likely getting a low B in their work... whereas I know that I produce A quality work, but I walk away from the semester a point or two shy of an A. This semester, I expect an A, and I am on track. The other problem is professor consistency, but that is in all of academia; I was in a course with a tough professor and a colleague was in the same course with an easier professor... I worked much harder and put out better quality work and ended up with a B... my colleague, an A.

That is really it.

With ANY program, you will get out of it what you put in. It is a graduate program which requires research skills. As long as the school is pointing you in the right direction, it is pretty hard to knock them... I think the points of criticism from jadenton are unfounded, at least that has been my experience.

cowill

Ive gone to UMUC on and off for about 12 years. I liked it alot better back then I like it now. The classes are 90% online and 8 week courses. If you have a lot else going on, then think about going to school somewhere else. If you want to get your degree over with asap and dont care about learning and absorbing the material, UMUC is perfect.

spiderjericho

WGU, University of Phoenix and other universities are quicker than UMUC. UMUC changed from 16-weeks to 8-week courses last year (probably due to pressure from competitors). As far as absorbing/retaining, it's up to the student and also if it's something they use in their everyday life at work. I'd imagine retaining remembering would be more of an issue with WGU or University of Phoenix, where classes can go by quicker. The best educational experiences I've had were always in-person/traditional classes, but I think it's more a case of socializing, teacher/student interaction, etc. But let's be honest, part of upper-education is a sham/money burn (not to say there isn't tangible returns but ask me if I remember any history, math, etc). UMUC is a decent school, but if you're just interested in a degree, there are better options.

powerfool

Keep in mind that there are differences between undergrad and grad courses. My courses are 12 weeks in duration, whereas the undergrad courses are shorter.

glenn_33

i know a ton of people who went to UMD college park...none for IT related stuff but they all seem to be doing very well for themselves...

erpadmin

I met a fraternity brother who graduated from UMD-College Park in "the ol' 80s..." The man owns his own social media company and does very *blank*in well.

The UMD system, at least to me, seems to be a very good one; very similar to Rutgers. Of course College Park is going to get the accolades, but if UMD is in the name, then it can't be all that bad. I would have liked to have done UMUC for my undergrad but the tuition is ridiculous. They seem to gear themselves more for the GI Bill/student loan crowd (like everyone else, but them more than normal.)

powerfool

The Cybersecurity programs at UMUC were developed in partnership with Booz Allen Hamilton, one of the premier defense contractors and the oldest consulting company in operation.