How Secure Is Education in Information Technology? - A Method for Evaluating Security Education in IT

Sep 4, 2026

Uploaded by Sarah

As Information Technology programs expand across universities, curriculum decisions and accreditation expectations become increasingly complex, especially for interdisciplinary or non-traditional programs. With the rapid growth in demand for information security professionals, IT majors will be expected to perform security roles. The paper evaluates IT program curricula with a security focus by examining curriculum guidelines, comparing them against professional standards, and reviewing how multiple universities implement these requirements.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages16

Reading Time40 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

The Need for Information Security

Literature Review

Security in Education

How secure is education in Information Technology? A method for evaluating security education in IT Mark Grover [mjgrover@us.ibm.com](mjgrover@us.ibm.com) Technical Enablement Specialist, Watson University IBM Watson Group Durham, NC Bryan Reinicke [breinicke@saunders.rit.edu](breinicke@saunders.rit.edu) Department of MIS, Marketing and Digital Business Rochester Institute of Technology Rochester, NJ 14623 Jeff Cummings [cummingsj@uncw.edu](cummingsj@uncw.edu) Information Systems and Operations Management Dept. University of North Carolina Wilmington Wilmington, NC 28403 Abstract As the popularity of Information Technology programs has expanded at many universities, there are a number of questions to be answered from a curriculum standpoint. As many of these programs are either interdisciplinary, or at least exist outside of the usual Computer Science and Information Systems programs, questions of what is appropriate for the curriculum and accreditation have arisen. More specifically, as the demand for information security professionals has expanded enormously, IT majors will increasingly be asked to fill these roles. This paper seeks to examine the curriculum for IT programs with a special focus on security. Security has become an increasingly important topic, and one that IT graduates will likely be dealing with professionally. We answer this question by examining the curriculum guidelines for IT programs, and comparing these to both professional standards and IT program curriculums at several universities. Keywords: IT Education; Curriculum; Accreditation; Security; Certification. | 1. INTRODUCTION
The Need for Information Security
The demand for Information Security professionals is at an all-time high, yet there is no readily available research outlining specific education deliverables within an Information Technology curricula to prepare students. A study found that the demand for cybersecurity professionals over the past five years grew 3.5 times faster than for other IT jobs (Vijayan, 2013) . The Bureau of Labor and Statistics predict information security analyst jobs to grow 22% from 2010 to 2020 (U.S. Department of Labor, 2013) . Not only is the demand increasing but salaries for security professionals are typically higher than others in IT. Robert Half Technology’s 2015 Salary Survey shows a network security administrator can expect to earn between $99,250 and $138,500 and a data security analyst can expect to earn between $106,250 and $149,000 annually (Robert Half Technology, 2015) .
In May 2009, President Barack Obama identified cybersecurity as “one of the most serious economic and national security challenges we face as a nation” (Obama, 2009) . Since then many schools and universities have begun to offer varying degree programs that focus on Information Security; however, the education delivered at each is quite different. Unlike a math or accounting degree, where there is an acceptable standard by which to measure one school to another, there is no set standard for information security.
Since starting this research in 2013, multiple groups have met to discuss the learning outcomes for Cyber-related educational offerings. One provider of curricula
recommendations is the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) . ACM regularly publishes curricula recommendations for Computer Science and Information Technology programs. As of this writing, the most recent Information Technology curriculum guideline for undergraduate programs was published in November 2008 (Association for Computing Machinery, 2015) .
Other groups such as the Cyber Education Project (CEP) have formed to develop curriculum guidelines for a “Cyber Science” degree track (Cyber Education Project, 2015) . What these groups have in common is the desire to create curricula that meets accreditation standards. However, curricula at various universities need to be explored to understand if these progr

FAQs

Why does the paper focus on information security within IT education curricula?

The demand for information security professionals is rapidly increasing, yet there is no readily available research describing specific education deliverables within IT curricula. As a result, IT graduates may be asked to fill security roles without consistent security-focused preparation.

How does the paper evaluate IT programs for security education?

It examines curriculum guidelines for IT programs, compares them to professional standards, and reviews IT program curricula at several universities to see whether security education aligns with the field’s expectations.

What role do professional standards and recommendations play in the curriculum comparison?

The paper references curriculum guideline efforts such as ACM’s recommendations and other cyber-education initiatives that aim to satisfy accreditation standards, then uses them to assess whether universities’ programs meet those guidelines and related employer qualification measures (e.g., certifications).

Sep 4, 2026

Uploaded by Sarah