Last year, Suffolk University launched an applied cybersecurity certificate program with the SANS Technology Institute, a credential carrying roughly $18,600 in training value with no additional cost to our students. Shortly after, we launched a new interdisciplinary cybersecurity major offered jointly through our College of Arts and Sciences and Sawyer Business School and with coursework at Suffolk Law School, integrating the technical depth of computer science with the organizational, strategic and legal dimensions of the field. We went from concept to launch in months for both.
Under our traditional curriculum development process, those programs would still be working their way through committee review. We acted based on data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which projects a 29 percent increase in demand for information security analysts over the next decade. The opportunity was there, and we moved on it.
That kind of speed shouldn’t be exceptional. The demographic cliff is no longer a projection. Artificial intelligence is remaking the skills employers expect of our graduates. Students are increasingly questioning whether a traditional degree is worth the investment. We cannot wait years to try new programs; we need to launch them quickly, measure what works and wind down what doesn’t.
