Overview

The North Dakota State University Institute for Cyber Security Education and Research, in conjunction with the Department of Computer Science, is a leader in the state and region. It offers high-quality cybersecurity courses and programs. NDSU offers a department recognition in cybersecurity at the undergraduate level. At the graduate level, NDSU offers a graduate certificate in cybersecurity and an option in cybersecurity as part of its M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in both Computer Science and Software Engineering. NDSU’s cybersecurity courses have been mapped to corresponding professional certifications and the CompTIA stackable certifications. Students can earn industry recognized credentials including the EC Council Certified Ethical Hacker, EC Council Certified Hacking Forensic Investigator, CompTIA Security+, CompTIA PenTest+ and CompTIA CySA+ while taking college courses and earning credits towards a degree or certificate. NDSU is a EC Council Academia Partner, a CompTia Authorized Academy Partner, Palo Alto Networks Cybersecurity Academy and a Cisco Networking Academy.

For high school students, NDSU runs a week-long GenCyber camp each summer where students learn the foundations of cybersecurity.

In addition to course offerings, NDSU has a key focus on student-centered research. As North Dakota’s leading research university, NDSU makes key research opportunities available as part of both its graduate and undergraduate curriculum. Graduate and undergraduate students can participate in faculty-mentored research in numerous cybersecurity areas ranging from autonomous warfare and countermeasures to secure software development to intrusion detection methods. Each summer, with funding from the National Science Foundation, NDSU holds a Research Experience for Undergraduates program where students from around the country come to NDSU to participate in leading-edge cybersecurity research related to cyber-physical systems. NDSU has been recognized by the National Security Agency and Department of Homeland Security as a Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Research.