Regents Approve an Evening M.S. in Cybersecurity for Working Professionals

The UW System Board of Regents on Thursday approved a Master of Science in Cybersecurity at UW–Porter Falls, ending a review that began when the College of Computing & Information Sciences submitted its first proposal in 2023. The program will admit its first cohort in fall 2026.

The degree is designed for people who already work in security or IT and do not intend to stop. Every course meets one evening a week in Jarvis Technology Center, with a live online option for students more than an hour away. The capstone is a security assessment carried out at the student’s own employer, with that employer’s permission and under faculty supervision.

Program at a glance:

• 30 credits, typically finished in two years and one summer
• Cohort capped at 20 students a year for the first three years
• Core courses in network defense, threat intelligence, security architecture, governance and risk, and incident response
• Students who have completed the graduate certificate in cybersecurity operations can apply all 12 of its credits toward the degree

The 18-month gap before the first cohort is deliberate. The college will hire two faculty members and expand the cyber range in Jarvis before it admits anyone. It also wants employers to have time to build the degree into tuition-assistance budgets for 2026.

“The people who asked us for this program are already defending hospitals and county networks with whatever training they could get on weekends. We built it around their actual week. If a course can’t be taken by someone who is on call, it isn’t in the program.”

— Dr. Nancy Jorgensen, Dean of the College of Computing & Information Sciences

The program will be housed in the Department of Cybersecurity & Information Technology and will work with the Institute for Applied Cybersecurity on capstone placements. Applications will open in fall 2025. General admission requirements are explained in applying to a Porter graduate program.

Contact: Office of University Communications, news@uwporterfalls.edu