MS in Information Security Engineering (MSISE)
A practitioner master's assembled from SANS courses and GIAC certifications, aimed at people already working in information security rather than at new entrants.
Type: Degree & academicWorking practitioners
Offered by SANS Technology Institute (SANS.edu)
The facts
- Cost
- $1,500 per credit across 36 credit hours — SANS.edu publishes a $54,000 total program cost — plus a $100 application fee.Figure read 2026-09-12 from www.sans.edu/cyber-security-programs/masters-degree
- Prerequisites
- A current professional role in information security or a closely related field. This is not an entry-level program.
- Format
- 100% online option available, built from SANS courses with GIAC exams, plus graduate-level research and presentation work.
- Length
- Three to five years part-time alongside full-time work.
- Renewal
- No renewal or recertification requirement is published for this entry.
- Accreditation
- Accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE). Also designated an NSA Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense.
- Who it suits
- A working security professional whose employer will fund a master's and who wants GIAC certifications to come with it.
- Audience
- Working practitioners
- Official page
- www.sans.edu/cyber-security-programs/masters-degree
Strengths
- You finish with an accredited master's and a stack of GIAC certifications from one body of work, rather than paying for each separately.
- Explicitly designed around people who are already employed, so the schedule assumes a job.
- MSCHE accreditation means it counts where a degree is a hard requirement.
Limitations
- Note the name: it is information security engineering, not digital forensics. Forensics appears as elective coverage, not as the spine of the program.
- $54,000 and three to five years is a large commitment for a credential whose certification component can be bought piecemeal.
- Requires a current security role, which excludes exactly the career changers who most want a master's.
- More expensive than most public-university MS programs in digital forensics specifically.
Sources
Costs, prerequisites and exam formats in this field change often, and several providers price by region, cohort or employer agreement. Every figure on this page carries the date it was read and a link to the page it was read from. Confirm current terms with the provider before you spend anything.