Skills, Certifications, or Degrees: What Companies Demand for Entry-level Cybersecurity Jobs

Sep 20, 2026

Uploaded by Kurz

People starting cybersecurity careers pursue entry-level qualifications through three main paths: in-demand skills, industry certifications, and college degrees. Financial and time pressures often shape which option candidates prioritize. This paper analyzes 11,938 cybersecurity job postings on Dice.com to identify required and preferred credentials, showing 60% require a related college degree and 29% prefer graduate degrees. Certifications and practical skills also appear frequently, indicating employers value multiple credential types.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages7

Reading Time18 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Literature Review

Skills

Skills, Certifications, or Degrees: What Companies Demand for Entry-level Cybersecurity Jobs Jim Marquardson [jimarqua@nmu.edu](jimarqua@nmu.edu) College of Business Northern Michigan University Marquette, MI 49855, USA Ahmed Elnoshokaty [aelnosho@nmu.edu](aelnosho@nmu.edu) College of Business Northern Michigan University Marquette, MI 49855, USA Abstract People starting cybersecurity careers have three main avenues for achieving entry-level job qualifications: learning in-demand skills, earning industry certifications, and graduating with a college degree. Though people can pursue skills, certificates, and degrees together, financial and time constraints often make people focus their efforts to what they feel would help them most in their careers. Those seeking careers in information systems are reasonably asking themselves if the cost of a college degree is a worthwhile investment. In this paper, we analyze 11,938 entry-level job postings for cybersecurity jobs on [Dice.com](Dice.com) to determine required and desired qualifications. The results show that 7,177 (60%) of entry-level cybersecurity jobs require a college degree in a related field. Of those, 2,851 (24% of jobs) prefer a graduate degree. 3,406 (29% of jobs) require a certification. Structured query language (SQL), testing, Java, Excel, Oracle, consulting, and database skills are listed in 16% of jobs. The most popular certifications are “Certified Information Systems Security Professional CISSP”(listed in 4.8% of jobs),“Information Technology Infrastructure Library ITIL” (listed in 3.9% of jobs),“Security+” (listed in 2.9% of jobs),“Project Management Professional PMP” (listed in 2.8% of jobs) and “Information Assurance Technical IAT”(listed in 2.4% of jobs) . The selected snapshot data show that college degrees are required for 60% of jobs--evidence that college degrees are still in high demand for the field of cybersecurity. However, employers are also looking for certifications and skills. Keywords: skills, certifications, college degrees, employment 1. INTRODUCTION The total cost of graduation with a bachelor’s degree from a four-year institution rose from $26,902 ($52,892 inflation adjusted) in 1989 to $104,480 in 2016 (Maldonado, 2018) . The cost of education relative to earning power requires that many students incur significant debt to finance their educations. In 2019, borrowers in the United States carry $1.5 trillion in student loan debt (Friedman, 2019) . At the same time, education alternatives have emerged that offer instructional content at low or no cost. Sites like Khan Academy offer free courses, but mainly target K-12 education. Coursera offers a broader selection of courses with different ranges of complexity. For example, the Machine Learning course covers topics such as logistic regression, artificial neural networks, and linear algebra (“Machine Learning,” n.d.) . The Machine Learning course can be taken for free which allows the student to access all content except graded assignments, or a $79 fee can be paid which unlocks graded assignments and provides the option to earn a certificate. These massively scalable learning options are constantly adding new courses. Basically, as a potential alternative to the college degree, students can find cheap or free resources to learn skills that are sought in industry. A motivated student can learn online much of what is taught in a college classroom. But the same can be said of public libraries which have also failed to put universities out of business. The university seems to still add value beyond the mere collection and dissemination of ideas and information. Society has traditionally placed value in college degrees beyond the immediate impact to the student on employment prospects. A major goal of universities is to educate a populace that can responsibly participate in the community discourse, produce leaders, and choose political representation. These high-m

FAQs

What three paths can help candidates qualify for entry-level cybersecurity jobs?

Candidates can build qualifications through in-demand skills, earn industry certifications, or graduate with a college degree.

How does the paper analyze employer requirements?

It analyzes 11,938 entry-level cybersecurity job postings on Dice.com to determine required and desired qualifications.

What does the paper find about the role of college degrees?

The results show 60% of entry-level cybersecurity jobs require a college degree in a related field, and 24% of jobs prefer a graduate degree.

Sep 20, 2026

Uploaded by Kurz