Applicants must meet the general graduate admission requirements of the Graduate School, described in the UMSL Bulletin. Students are considered for admission to the graduate program in Cybersecurity only after they have formally applied for admission through the Graduate School.  Applications are completed on-line.  Additional requirements are listed below.

Applicants must have at least a bachelor’s degree, preferably in cybersecurity, computer science, information systems, or a related area. Applicants with bachelor’s degrees outside of specified areas must demonstrate significant proficiency by showing competence (proving related academic or professional experience, or taking a test) in the following areas. Courses in parentheses are UMSL recommended undergraduate courses that would satisfy the requirements.

  1. Programming skills in C or C++ and Java with at least three college semesters or comparable experience (CMP SCI 1250; CMP SCI 2250 and CMP SCI 2261, or INFSYS 3806 and INF 3816)
  2. Proficiency with computer organization, architecture, or assembly level programming (CMP SCI 2700)
  3. Familiarity with Unix/Linux/OSX and with command-line scripting with tools (CMP SCI 2750)

Students must also have satisfactorily completed mathematics courses equivalent to the following UMSL courses:

  1. One semester of calculus (MATH 1100 or MATH 1800 )
  2. An elementary course in probability or statistics (MATH 1320)
  3. A course in discrete mathematics (MATH 3000)

An applicant missing some of the above requirements may be admitted on restricted status if there is strong supportive evidence in other areas. The student will have to take the missing courses, or otherwise demonstrate proficiency. Special regulations of the Graduate School that apply to students on restricted status are described in the UMSL Bulletin.

Entrance examinations

The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) General Test is required only to apply for an assistantship.

International students are required to document English proficiency by providing scores from an internationally accepted standardized examination before a decision is made on admission.