A degree from a major university with on-campus residency requirements such as Purdue or Iowa State is always going to win out over the "night-school" type degrees. Look for full-time faculty with terminal degrees (Ph.D., J.D., D.Sci.). Schools with part-time, non-terminal degree faculty are seen to be "training" as opposed to "educating". This may be biased and unfair, but it is how the world works. I'm sure many very good people come out of those programs and have successful careers. But, if you want a high-level position, and you want it soon, it helps to have a "name" degree.

As a very viable option, consider an good MBA program supplemented by a CISSP, CISA, or SABSA CSA certificate. My research shows that this is the big dollar combo.

Keep on learning!

Jim

James A. Nelson, Ph.D.
Chartered Security Architect

________________________________________
From: listbounce (at) securityfocus (dot) com [email concealed] [listbounce (at) securityfocus (dot) com [email concealed]] On Behalf Of Deepak Nuli [dnuli (at) purdue (dot) edu [email concealed]]
Sent: Friday, May 09, 2008 1:55 PM
To: security-basics (at) securityfocus (dot) com [email concealed]
Subject: Re: Masters in Information Security/Assurance

I am currently pursuing my Interdisciplinary Master's in Information
Security from Purdue University. It is similar to the MSIA program in
ISU. Check out the link for more information:
http://www.cerias.purdue.edu/site/education/graduate_program/ . CERIAS,
Purdue is considered to be the best research group in the field in US. (
http://news.uns.purdue.edu/x/2008a/080502SpaffordRanking.html ) . If you
have any specific questions regarding the course let me know and I will
be glad to answer.

Jon Gucinski wrote:
> I received my MSIA from Iowa State University in 2005...as a
> disclaimer, I also did my undergrad there.
>
> One of the unique things about their program is their roll-your-own
> setup. It's an interdisciplinary program, between the business,
> political science, computer science, computer engineering, and
> mathematics departments. Since everyone has their own objectives, it
> allowed students to choose their home department and course of study
> to best suit them, while still getting a core curriculum of general IA
> topics. The faculty were mainly excellent. I do know they offer an
> online certificate (short of a full masters), if travel is an issue.
>
> Before staying at ISU for my grad work, I was also accepted to the
> MSIA program at Northeastern University in Boston. Comparing the two
> programs (at the time), I felt that ISU's had a more developed program
> that I'd gain more from.
>
> In terms of value...that's going to be largely a personal/subjective
> decision. For me, I felt that my undergrad work left me poorly
> prepared for a career in InfoSec. The in-depth work I did going
> straight through to the MSIA definitely fixed that. However, it did
> put me in a bit of a quandary...my education significantly outstripped
> my work experience when looking for a job and I feel that it may have
> scared away some prospective employers. However, it did intrigue a
> few as well, and it landed me an excellent job, well in advance of
> where I thought I'd be at my age.
>
> Hope that at least begins to answer your question. If you've got more
> specific questions, fire away.
>
> -Jon
>

--
Deepak Nuli, Master's Information Security
Center for Education and Research in
Information Assurance and Security (CERIAS)
Purdue University
765-496-6767 (off), 765-631-1416 (cell)
http://www.linkedin.com/in/deepaknuli

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