MS in Cybersecurity and Digital Forensics
A 36-credit fully online master's with no additional fees, NSA CAE in Cyber Defense designation, and an admissions route open to applicants from unrelated degrees.
Type: Degree & academicWorking practitionersCareer changers
Offered by Stevenson University
The facts
- Cost
- $719 per credit with no fees, over 36 credits. Stevenson publishes the per-credit rate; the academic year it applies to was not labelled on the page we read, so confirm currency.Figure read 2026-09-12 from www.stevenson.edu/online/academics/online-graduate-programs/cybersecurity-digital-forensics
- Prerequisites
- A bachelor's from a regionally accredited institution in a related field, or an unrelated field plus IT, cybersecurity or forensics coursework or professional experience. Cumulative 3.0 GPA, and a personal statement on forensic-tools and evidence-handling experience. International transcripts need a NACES evaluation.
- Format
- 100% online, 36 credits.
- Length
- Two years or less, per the programme page.
- Renewal
- No renewal or recertification requirement is published for this entry.
- Accreditation
- Stevenson is an NSA Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense (CAE-CD), and the programme page states it is validated by the NSA.
- Who it suits
- Someone who wants an NSA-designated online master's and values the designation enough to pay a premium over UCF or UMGC.
- Audience
- Working practitioners · Career changers
Strengths
- NSA CAE-CD designation, which is a checkable federal signal and relevant to government and defence-adjacent hiring.
- $0 fees on top of tuition, which is rarer than it sounds and makes the cost genuinely predictable.
- Admissions explicitly accommodate applicants from unrelated degrees who have relevant coursework or experience.
- The personal statement asks about forensic tools and evidence handling, which suggests the programme is pitched at people who will actually do the work.
Limitations
- $719 per credit across 36 credits is the most expensive verified route in this group, and it is six more credits than UCF's or UMGC's 30.
- The academic year for the published rate was not labelled, so the figure needs confirming.
- Cybersecurity and digital forensics combined means less forensics depth than a dedicated forensics degree.
- A 3.0 GPA floor and a NACES evaluation for international transcripts are real admission barriers.
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.