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Masters in Information Security and Assurance
Degree Requirements

Completion of the MS program requires a minimum of 30 approved graduate credits (10 courses). The coursework is divided into a breadth requirement of 12 hours of core courses and a depth requirement of 12 hours of emphasis courses, and 6 hours of elective courses.

  • Four core courses (12 credits) are required of all ISA graduates:

    To provide a common background in the fundamentals of information systems
    • CS 571 Operating Systems
    • CS 555 Computer Communications and Networking

    To provide the fundamentals of information systems security and assurance
    • ISA 562 Information Security Theory and Practice
    • ISA 656 Network Security
  • Emphasis Courses (12 credits). To provide breadth and depth of knowledge in information security and assurance, the degree program requires 4 elective courses to be taken from courses chosen from ISA 564, and courses at the ISA 600- and 700-level, but excluding ISA 697, ISA 796, ISA 797, and ISA 798.
  • Elective Courses (6 credits). The remaining two courses may be chosen from any combination of
    • Courses at the ISA 600- and 700-level, including
      1. ISA 697   Topics in Information Security
      2. ISA 796   Directed Readings in Information Security
      3. ISA 797   Advanced Topics in Information Security
      4. ISA 798   Research Project
    • Courses at the CS 500-, 600-, and 700-level
    • A list of pre-approved qualified electives
    A thesis option is available whereby a student may elect to complete a thesis for up to 6 elective credits.

For Further Information

Additional information on the program is available from the MSIS Student Advisor (iseadvsr@gmu.edu)

Financial aid information is available at the GMU Office of Financial Aid