Cybersecurity and Information Assurance MS

Admission is granted on the basis of applicants' academic aptitude and potential which will be evaluated through academic record, test scores, and/or work experience. To be admitted to the program, 

• a student must have an undergraduate degree in computer science or a related discipline. Applicants who have degrees in some non-computing fields will also be considered for admission provided they have completed at least one programming course and one data structures course with a grade of B or better.
• a student must have a minimum undergraduate grade point average (GPA) of 2.8.
• applicants must complete the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) with a minimum combined score of 291 in Verbal and Quantitative reasoning. Applicants must submit official GRE test scores by Educational Testing Services (ETS) directly to the University of Central Missouri. The ETS institution code for sending GREscores to UCM is 6090; program code is 0402. Applicants with exceptional undergraduate performance may be considered with a lower GRE score. 

The GRE test requirement can be waived if any one of the following conditions is satisfied: 

• the student is a graduate of a regionally accredited college or university with a degree in Computer Science/Information Technology/Information Systems and a GPA of 3.5 or more
• the student has earned an M.S. or more advanced degree in a closely related discipline 

International students whose native language is not English and do not have a US degree are required to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). A minimum TOEFL score of 550 (paper based) or 213 (computer-based) or 79 (Internet based) is required. IELTS score is also accepted at UCM. Regular graduate students should have a band score of 6.0 in IELTS. The English requirement is waived for applicants who have completed a minimum of 60 semester credit hours or have earned a bachelor or graduate degree from an accredited college or university in the USA. Submission of a Statement of Purpose and 3 letters of recommendation is OPTIONAL for admission. They may, however, be required if the student applies for Graduate Assistantship or Student Worker positions. Applicants who do not meet one of the above minimum admission requirements may be admitted on a provisional basis.

Numerous scholarships are available specifically for Computer Science majors. In addition, there are paid opportunities to work as a graduate assistant. For a full list of scholarships, visit ucmo.edu/scholarshipfinder.

Explore Cybersecurity outside the classroom by joining a Cybersecurity student organization. These include:

• Upsilon Pi Epsilon, an honor society for Computing and Information disciplines
• a student chapter of the Association of Computing Machinery, and
• Cyber Mules, a cybersecurity student club that is chapter of the National Cybersecurity Student Association (NCSA)

By participating in these organizations, you will learn from guest speakers, attend regional and national conferences, and participate in state and/or national Cybersecurity competitions.