U of Cumberlands vs Wilmington

[johnsonsnowslide]

Hello everyone,  I have applied and got accepted to University of the Cumberlands for their Masters in Information Systems Security and to Wilmington University for their Masters in Cybersecurity.  Between the two schools which one would you recommend?  Wondering if one of the schools is better than the other.  Thank you for your help!

[bjcheung77]

Hmm, did you apply to any others besides the two mentioned? WGU has a free application, so, at least you may want to see if competency based degrees would be an option for you as well. If you have the experience and an undergrad in IT/Cybersecurity/Info Systems, then WGU can also be a choice to add to your list...

In regards to Cumberlands or Wilmington, it all depends on how much of a budget you have, if you want to be done in a year or longer, want a ranked or unranked school, if you have tuition assistance or reimbursement, if you're looking at a specific set of courses that interest you more...

If it was me, Wilmington as it's ranked and can be done in 1 year, but at a cost of $15k or so. Cumberlands may take longer, but it's cheaper at $10K, if you go the WGU route and take a year, it'll be slightly cheaper and be $8K. There are other options you know, I would apply to all the freebies, it'll just cost you the transcript fees...

[johnsonsnowslide]

Thanks for the reply. I am currently in the military so the tuition is pretty much the same for both colleges and TA covers most of it. I have applied to WGU but since my Bachelors is in Psychology I was unable to be accepted. Since you recommended Wilmington I will choose that one unless there are similar colleges that I don't know that I can apply to.

[Life Long Learning]

They seem to be ranked the same as an overall university.

University of the Cumberlands
Williamsburg, KY

• #298-#389 in National Universities
  
• NAIA Sports
  

Wilmington University
New Castle, DE

• #298-#389 in National Universities
  
• NCAA DIV II Sports
  

https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities?schoolName=Wilmington+University

[bjcheung77]

Where did you get your BA Psychology? You're still in the Military eh? If so, there are a whole slew of military friendly schools where you can get the degree anywhere from $9 thousand up to $20 thousand or more... Excelsior has a degree program for $9K, Missouri State Uni, Dakota State Uni, APUS, and more. They even have free applications, just have to pay for transcripts.

I only have a question, do you think you have the prerequisites to get into a Masters in Cybersecurity with a BA Psychology? Did you take at least a couple of Cybersecurity courses? You should at least take some, like the FREE TEEX Cybersecurity ones. You don't really need a BS in IT, but I would highly recommend having some experience under your belt before you begin.

[johnsonsnowslide]

Thanks for the reply. I have applied to DSU but was rejected with my BA degree but was accepted to Cumberlands and Wilmington. Haven't looked into Excelsior or MSU but I'll do that as well.

As for the prerequisite, my job is currently in cybersecurity so I do have some certs (Sec+, CySA+, CISSP soon) and was mostly looking to use up my tuition assistance before I get out of the Air Force.