Teaching Cyber Security for High School Teachers Certificate

Prepare to Teach the Next Generation of Cyber Security Students

Cyber security professionals are essential to protecting critical sectors, including finance, healthcare, and defense. However, there’s currently a shortage of 3.4 million cybersecurity personnel, according to a 2023 report by the National Initiative in Cyber security Education (NICE). This shortage has already resulted in significant financial losses due to security breaches. Efforts to address this gap are looking to college students majoring in cyber security, but extending this area of study to high schools is crucial to spark early interest and support the pipeline of future students and graduates. Still, the lack of qualified teachers in high schools means many students miss out on early exposure to cyber security.

To help address these challenges, particularly the shortage of qualified high school teachers, WPI is offering a graduate certificate in Teaching Cyber Security for High School Teachers.

Curriculum

Admissions Requirements

Applicants must have earned the equivalent of a four-year U.S. bachelor’s degree to be considered for enrollment. This program is expected to enroll high school teachers based on their education, teaching, and/or professional experience.

Curriculum

The students enrolled in this certificate program are required to complete the following six courses, which are expected to primarily be offered online during the summer session:

CS 571 Case Studies in Computer Security
CS 587 Cyber Security Capstone Experience
CS 591 Fundamentals in Cyber Security for Teachers
CS 592 Introduction to Digital Forensics for Teachers
CS 593 Cyber Security Teaching Methods
CS 594 Advanced Digital Forensics and Incident Response for Teachers

Learn More About This Curriculum

Read the full course descriptions for Teaching Cyber Security for High School Teachers:

View Course Catalog >

Meet Our World-Class Faculty

Jun Dai

Associate Professor, Computer Science

Dr. Jun Dai is currently an Associate Professor in Department of Computer Science at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). His research interests mainly lie in the intersections of network and distributed system, AI, and cybersecurity, with recent focus on intrusion detection, vulnerability analysis, secure programming, and cybersecurity education. Dr. Dai has published papers in prestigious academic venues, such as NDSS, ACM SIGMOD, IEEE TIFS, and ACM SIGCSE. He is the Workshop Chair of ACM CCS 2023, and has been a reviewer for top journals like TIFS, TDSC, TVT, and TMC.

Xiaoyan Sun

Associate Professor, Computer Science

Dr. Xiaoyan (Sherry) Sun received her Ph.D. degree in Information Sciences and Technology from the Pennsylvania State University in 2016 with emphasis on cybersecurity. Her advisor is Dr. Peng Liu.