Security

St. Louis U Slips into Online Security Degrees

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 11/04/14

St. Louis University is launching a new online security degree and certification program starting in January. Students may choose to work towards a bachelor's degree, a minor or a certificate with a concentration in one of four areas: business continuity, strategic intelligence, global corporate security or law enforcement administration.

Jobs in these fields are expected to grow 22 percent by 2020, according to projections by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Much of that growth will be at federal agencies.

The new Security & Strategic Intelligence (SSI) program is being offered through the university's School for Professional Studies. The curriculum for the new programs are based on recommendations made by the United States Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and industry, with representation from Time Warner, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, Boeing, Amazon and the St. Louis Cardinals, among others.

For a bachelor's degree, students will need to earn a total of 120 credit hours: 48 credit hours in general studies, 33 credit hours in required courses that are the same across each area and 12 credit hours that are unique to the concentration. The required courses include classes such as:

• Threat and risk assessment;
• Analytics in security and intelligence;
• Computing in society;
• Database analysis and design; and
• Fundamentals of computer forensics.

The classes in each track are specific to that topic. Global corporate security, for example, requires courses in:

• Global security management;
• Tangible asset security;
• Cyber security and governance of data; and
• Financial & regulatory considerations in risk planning.

Tuition is $610 per credit hour, $400 for military personnel and veterans, totaling $40,000 to $73,200 for a bachelor's degree, not including fees and books.

"This new program gives students the opportunity to study emerging topics that are relevant in today's security industry while gaining critical skills that will be attractive to employers," said Roland Corvington, SSI advisory board member and director of global security services at financial advisor Edward Jones. "There are no other programs offered like this in St. Louis, and I'm pleased to lend my expertise to create such an innovative program."