uwtacomacybersecurityCybersecurity is a pressing issue these days and the University of Washington is doing something about it.

The UW-Tacoma branch is introducing a new graduate program designed to help professionals learn how to navigate the cybersecurity space and eventually become leaders in the industry.

Starting this summer, the school will offer a Master’s in Cybersecurity and Leadership. The degree came about after a demand from the Washington National Guard cybersecurity unit at Camp Murray, which is a 20-minute drive from campus. 

There are a number of cybersecurity degree programs that have been launched recently in the region. UW-Bothell just introduced a master of science in cybersecurity engineering, Northeastern’s new Seattle campus offers an information assurance graduate degree, and a number of community colleges offer 2-year degrees.

But the program at UW-Tacoma is different because it combines cybersecurity education with leadership training — UW Tacoma’s Institute of Technology for the technical elements and UW Tacoma’s Milgard School of Business for the leadership aspect.

Cybersecurity is such a big issue right now that President Barack Obama told ABC News last week that U.S. authorities are looking into the matter.

“We should not be surprised that if we’ve got hackers that want to dig in and have a lot of resources, that they can access this information,” Obama told ABC News. “Again, not sure how accurate but … you’ve got websites out there that tell people’s credit card info. That’s how sophisticated they are.”

The UW-Tacoma branch campus was established in 1990 and is one of three campuses of the UW, along with the main Seattle campus and the UW-Bothell school.

This news comes just after the Bothell branch introduced a new School of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) school last week. It’s the first school in the state to combine all of the STEM fields into one academic unit.

The application deadline for the UW-Tacoma degree is April 30.

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