Worldwide Expands Relationship With Microsoft to Open Doors for Veterans to High-Demand Cybersecurity Jobs After Military Service
In an effort to fill the need for highly skilled professionals in the anticipated more than half-million tech jobs in the next few years, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Worldwide Campus has announced the next phase of its partnership with Microsoft Corp. to include a new specialization for active-duty service members and veterans in Cybersecurity Administration.
Starting May 29, 2017, Embry-Riddle Worldwide will launch Microsoft Software & Systems Academy (MSSA), at its campus in San Antonio, Texas, followed by a July 1 launch at the Oceanside campus near Camp Pendleton, Calif. With the goal of providing flexible schedule degree program incentives and certified training opportunities for transitioning service members and veterans, the intensive two-term, 18-week course will cover topics such as access controls; risk identification, monitoring and analysis; incident response and recovery; cryptology; and network and communications security. Additional locations will be announced in the coming months.
“We’re excited to continue to expand our partnership with Microsoft to deliver a new MSSA Cybersecurity Administrator learning path,” said Embry-Riddle Worldwide Campus Chancellor Dr. John R. Watret. “As a long-time leader and provider of flexible, quality education to our service members and veterans, we are confident this new specialization will provide the essential opportunities for our graduates to be employed in the IT industry.”
While earning up to 18 college credit hours toward a degree at Embry-Riddle Worldwide, students also will receive additional benefits including the opportunity to prepare for the industry-recognized Systems Security Certified Practitioner (SSCP) certification test, practical exercises, resume writing, interview training, interaction with IT industry leaders and a job interview with Microsoft or one of its partner companies upon graduation.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of cybersecurity administration jobs is growing much faster than comparable IT job markets and is expected to increase by 18 percent between 2014 and 2020. The Cybersecurity Administration offering will prepare graduates for security administrator careers that offer a starting salary of approximately $70,000 or more.
“We are strongly committed to training and hiring those who’ve served our country,” said Chris Cortez, vice president of Military Affairs at Microsoft. “The increased demand for cybersecurity professionals presents a great opportunity for military personnel to train for a long-term, meaningful career that will benefit both them and the tech industry.”
Embry-Riddle Worldwide is a National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance and Cyber Defense with the Department of Homeland Security. Embry-Riddle Worldwide also recently was named 2017’s No. 1 best online bachelor’s degrees for the second straight year by U.S. News and World Report, serving more than 23,000 students online and at 125 campuses in the United States and globally including 17,000 active-duty and student veterans. The university’s tradition of educating service members began in 1970 at Fort Rucker in Alabama and has grown to include base locations in Europe, the Middle East, Japan and South Korea.
For more information, go to worldwide.erau.edu/Microsoft.