ABOVE PHOTO: Glendali Rodriguez, provost and vice chancellor for Academic Affairs
Cybersecurity has become an issue of personal, national and international concern, with internet attacks harming individuals, businesses, government institutions and drawing scrutiny in U.S. elections.
Americans lost $6.9 billion in cyber crime in 2021, according to the FBI.
Graduates from a new program at University of Wisconsin-Stout will be ready to help. A Bachelor of Science program in cybersecurity approved April 7 by the UW System Board of Regents will train graduates to help meet high demand for professionals in the field.
Students can take the program on campus or online beginning in fall 2022. Enrollment is open.
“This program will allow UW-Stout to continue providing leadership and innovation to produce qualified cybersecurity professionals and meet both current and future business and government needs,” said Glendali Rodriguez, provost and vice chancellor for Academic Affairs.
The program will complement well-established computer and information technologies programs at UW-Stout that already have components of cybersecurity, meaning the instructors, curriculum and facilities infrastructure already exist to offer the program. About 280 students are enrolled in the related programs.
UW-Stout also offers a minor, two certificates and two concentrations related to cybersecurity.
In addition, UW-Stout has a Cybersecurity Research and Outreach Center, which was established in 2017 when the university was designated a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense by the National Security Agency and Department of Homeland Security. UW-Stout was the first four-year institution in Wisconsin to receive the designation.
As a result, UW-Stout students are:
- Prepared to take cybersecurity certifications and Department of Defense mandated certifications
- Eligible for the Department of Defense Cyber Scholarship Program.
