Advanced Computer Security Certificate - Stanford

Just came across this certificate course from Stanford. Seems Interesting.

Reviews ? Opinions or Comments are welcome.

Cost is roughly 3200$ for 6 Courses including Documentation fee. Completely Online.

Advanced Computer Security Certificate | Stanford University Online

Cheers

Chanakya

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Spaced

I'm not sure how big the Stanford name is outside the US, but here dropping their name on any resume gets attention. I can't comment on the content of the course work since I'm not in the field.

chanakyajupudi

Here the name garners a little respect ! Of course not the online version though !

eansdad

I would wonder if the CEU's could be transferred in to a Master program. Usually CEUs (Continuing Education Units) are not counted as college credit though.

chanakyajupudi

Not too sure about that!

Iristheangel

I've seen this certification before and I'm actually really interested in it when I'm done with all my certifications. I think it would better my resume to have Stanford under "Education." This is the only certification I would probably get for the name recognition more than the actual content of the exams.*Shame*

chanakyajupudi

I am very interested in the Name then the course content too. The price helps makes my case !

ptilsen

The content is interesting and something I would consider upon completion of my bachelor's degree. I'm not sure if the credential justifies the expense, though. I'm not saying it does or doesn't, just that I'm unsure and don't have good way to assess it. It's not listed on job postings and won't be a requirement, but will the knowledge and credential combined be a differentiator that leads to a higher salary or getting a job someone else would otherwise get? I don't know.

If the courses were usable as credit in an advanced degree elsewhere, it might be a clearer picture. I'd do it in a heartbeat if even 1/2 of them could transfer into a master's program. Typically, graduate-level certificate classes do transfer in, and a similar certificate from my current school would transfer partially into the master's program. However, since this is a professional certificate and there don't appear to be enrollment requirements, I'm not inclined to believe the course credits will count for anything but the certificate.

@Iris, I should point out this is a professional certificate delivered by a university, not an industry certification. It would definitely be appropriate to list it under "Education," rather than "Certifications" or some other credential section.

cyberguypr

Ptilsen is correct. This sounded interesting so I checked with Stanford:

Thank you for your email and interest in the Stanford Advanced Computer Security Certificate program! Courses in the ACS program are classified as non-academic. As the program is considered a Professional Education program, any units earned (PDUs or CEUs) are generally not transferable towards an academic degree such as an MBA. However, this qualification will be at the discretion of your academic institution.

chrisone

Eh, course work is not worth it. Standford name is good, but microsoft and cisco are much better names....yes i said it!

Iristheangel

@Ptilsen - I was more of *shaming* myself because I would be going after it just for the university's name, not as much the content if I was going to go for it. Totally calling myself out for being a hypocrite for being tempted for the name instead of the knowledge but I probably won't ever end up going for it anyways.

ptilsen

chrisone wrote: »

Eh, course work is not worth it. Standford name is good, but microsoft and cisco are much better names....yes i said it!

The course work looks good to me, but I wouldn't compare it to MS or Cisco, simply because it isn't comparable. The coursework is more for secure programming. It is really not intended for IT infrastructure professionals. I don't know that there are really any industry certifications that compare, which I would argue is a problem. Outside of a graduate-level focus on software security that will show up on transcripts, there is really very little in the way of a technical skills credential for people in these sorts of professions. This is at least something.

ChooseLife

@OP - it was discussed on TE before. The pros and cons are clear - name recognition with a bit of false advertisement guilt.

And yes, I'm guilt-fully tempted, too

ChooseLife

chrisone wrote: »

Standford name is good, but microsoft and cisco are much better names....

That is really apples to watermelons comparison

chanakyajupudi

Name means a lot in my Country at least. I guess its more aligned towards the development and not the infrastructure so it means a no for me anyway.

Big-JJ

I looked at this a while ago. If I remember correctly...I did some research and found that each course was about 16 or 18 hours or something. And I thought "Of course..". But I am pretty sure it will get some attention from a hiring manager.

colemic

Here's another link. It's currently being reworked and will have a couple of changes in September (add/drop course type stuff.)

Stanford Advanced Computer Security - Online Certificate

Each course is 6-8 hours, with one being 11 hours.

I am on the home stretch with my WGU MSISA capstone and I will have just about enough GI Bill funds left for this if I work it right. (complicated because I am on the Montgomery not post-911 version and I will probably have to switch to get them to pay for all the courses up front.) Assuming that the certificate program is approved, but I think it is.

I am very interested in this and will be looking at this in the future.

colemic

Well scratch that. This specific one can only be certified under ch. 31 (disabled), which I am not.

Military Resources | Stanford University Online

Unless I am reading it wrong.

Bummer.

markulous

colemic wrote: »

Here's another link. It's currently being reworked and will have a couple of changes in September (add/drop course type stuff.)

Stanford Advanced Computer Security - Online Certificate

Each course is 6-8 hours, with one being 11 hours.

I am on the home stretch with my WGU MSISA capstone and I will have just about enough GI Bill funds left for this if I work it right. (complicated because I am on the Montgomery not post-911 version and I will probably have to switch to get them to pay for all the courses up front.) Assuming that the certificate program is approved, but I think it is.

I am very interested in this and will be looking at this in the future.

Did you or anyone ever do this? My work offers the classes and cert for free so I'm thinking of doing it. I don't have a security background at the moment, but I've got a couple security related certs and a degree to qualify for it.

markulous

FYI, I got a call from them and I got some more info. It's self-paced and a non-proctored exam that you can take as many times as needed. Since my company is paying for it and it's not a lengthy course, I submitted an application for approval. I'm hoping the name "Stanford" will help my resume a bit. Worst-case, it does nothing, but it's free so why not?

SoCalGuy858

For those that are interested, there is also this new certificate from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT):

https://mitprofessionalx.mit.edu/

I enrolled in the first go-around, and just completed it. Found it pretty interesting - especially with some of the instructors backgrounds (Ron Rivest, etc.). I don't have a programming / coding background, so there was a bit of a knowledge gap, but it wasn't too bad at all. All of the quizzes are open, non-proctored, and you can go back and watch the videos as much as you need to. There are also numerous discussion boards (non-mandatory participation) on a bunch of subject-related topics. Because of the experience of most of the people in the "term" I was in (~200 or so people, I think), I was on the sidelines of most of the discussions, but oh boy... I learned a heck of a lot! For the price (~$545, IIRC), I think it was worth it.

Haven't received the paper cert in the mail, but this is what the PDF copy looks like.

MIT_Cert.jpg

stryder144

Nice, SoCalGuy858! I've seen that one pop up numerous times over the last month or so and the advertisements have piqued my interest.

bigdogz

Looks like I am going to be busy until Christmas!!!

BerkshireHerd

SoCalGuy858 wrote: »

For those that are interested, there is also this new certificate from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT):

https://mitprofessionalx.mit.edu/

I enrolled in the first go-around, and just completed it. Found it pretty interesting - especially with some of the instructors backgrounds (Ron Rivest, etc.). I don't have a programming / coding background, so there was a bit of a knowledge gap, but it wasn't too bad at all. All of the quizzes are open, non-proctored, and you can go back and watch the videos as much as you need to. There are also numerous discussion boards (non-mandatory participation) on a bunch of subject-related topics. Because of the experience of most of the people in the "term" I was in (~200 or so people, I think), I was on the sidelines of most of the discussions, but oh boy... I learned a heck of a lot! For the price (~$545, IIRC), I think it was worth it.

Haven't received the paper cert in the mail, but this is what the PDF copy looks like.

Looks like we were classmates. Course was good but over my head in few areas! Boss saw it was MIT and signed us all up.

SoCalGuy858

BerkshireHerd wrote: »

Looks like we were classmates. Course was good but over my head in few areas! Boss saw it was MIT and signed us all up.

Definitely agree with that! Great content and instructors, but a bit higher-level than I originally thought it would be. Wasn't bad for the price, though!