The Masters of Science in Information Assurance (InfAs) is a multidisciplinary degree supported by six departments from three Iowa State Colleges.  These are: Computer Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering, Logistics, Operations and Management Information Systems, Mathematics, and Political Science. 

Because the Masters of Science in Information Assurance is a multidisciplinary degree program and not a department, all students in the degree program undertake their studies from a home department.  Any of the six departments that support the Information Assurance program can be home departments.  Applicants should choose a home department that best matches their undergraduate course background and career goals.  At this time, only students choosing Computer Engineering as their home department are able to complete this degree program as an off-campus student.

Admission Requirements

Application and admission requirements can be found on the Graduate College website and on the InfAs Program website .  Students may take up to 9 credits as a non-degree seeking student, so it is possible to begin your studies before formal admittance into the program.

Degree Requirements

The Masters of Science in Information Assurance consists of a total of 30 credit hours.  A typical program of study will consist of 15 credits from the core set of courses, 6 credits of research for a Masters with thesis or 3 credits of creative component for a Masters without thesis.  The remaining credits will be taken from a set of elective courses.  Students typically are allowed to transfer up to 6 credit hours of non-ISU graduate credit into their degree program. Most off-campus students earn a Masters degree without thesis and take the 3 credits of creative component. 

Core/Required Courses (for off-campus students)
         
          InfAs 531:  Computer Security
          InfAs 534:  Ethical and Legal Issues in Computer Security
          InfAs 530:  Advanced Computer Networking   OR   ComS 586:  Computer Network Architectures
          InfAs 533:  Cryptography

More information on the core and elective courses can be found on the InfAs Program website .

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