Degree Requirements

The Masters of Science in Cybersecurity Engineering requires completion of 46-49 credits of graduate level coursework from the Computing & Software System Program. Part-time students should plan on enrolling in 5 credits per quarter; full-time students should plan on taking 10 credits per quarter. All students are required to complete degree requirements within six years of first enrolling.

The 46-49 credit degree requirements breakdown as follows:

Core Coursework (16 credits total; must have a grade of 2.7 or higher):

CSS 517: Information Assurance and Cybersecurity (5 cr)
CSS 537: Network and Systems Security (5 cr)
CSS 577: Secure Software Development (5 cr)
CSS 599: Faculty Research Seminar (1 cr)

Writing Courses (1-3 credits total):

Based on Writing Assessment results, students may be required to take one or both classes

CSSSKL 511: Technical Writing (1 cr)
CSSSKL 594: Scientific Writing for Thesis/Project (2 cr)

Electives: 20cr required, including 10cr from CSE coursework (see below)

Cybersecurity Elective Coursework: 10 cr minimum from the following list* (must have a grade of 2.7 or higher):

CSS 518 Human Factors in Cybersecurity (5cr)
CSS 519 Incident Response and Risk Management (5cr)
CSS 527 Cryptography and Information Assurance (5cr)
CSS 538 Security in Emerging Wireless and Mobile Networks (5cr)
CSS 539 Cybersecurity in Emerging Environments (5cr)
CSS 578 Ethical Penetration Testing (5cr)
CSS 579 Malware and Attack Reverse Engineering (5cr)

*Okay to take all 20cr of electives from the above list

Computer Science Elective Coursework: up to 10cr may be taken from the following options (must have a grade of 2.7 or higher):

CSS 500-level courses EXCEPT 514, 501, 502, 503, 506, 507, & 508. Approved 400-level CSS courses, max 5cr of CSS 590, max 6 credits of CSS 600, unless additional CSS 600 is approved, max 6cr of non-CSS approved coursework (transfer credit)

Project or Thesis (10 cr minimum):

CSS 595: Master’s Project OR
CSS 700: Master’s Thesis

Administrative notes:

  • Pending BOTH CSS Division and UW Graduate School approval, students may include up to 6 credits of graduate-level transfer credits from an accredited outside institution; a minimum grade of 3.0 in each transfer course is required. Transfer credit is only approved upon petition to the CSS Division Faculty, and petitions will only be reviewed upon acceptance of an admission offer and enrollment to the students desired degree program.
  • No more than 12 UW graduate non-matriculated credits may be counted (courses in the Masters Preparation Sequence/Graduate Certificate in Software Design & Development cannot be counted towards any Cyber Security degree requirements.)
  • No more than 12 credits derived from any combination of UW graduate non-matriculated credits and transfer credits can be applied.
  • Minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 required to graduate.
  • Minimum grade of 2.7 in each course required to count towards degree requirements. S/NS grades will not count towards degree requirements unless approved by special petition.

Effective Autumn Quarter 2021

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