March 22, 2007 Laurel, Maryland

Capitol College’s Master of Science in information assurance (IA) curriculum is again being recognized for meeting a federal courseware standard.

The National Security Agency has notified Capitol College that its IA curriculum not only meets all of the elements of the National Information Assurance Training Standard For Risk Analysts (CNSSI-4016, November 2005), but does so at the advanced level.

The college will be officially recognized for meeting the 4016 standard at an awards ceremony on June 5 in Boston, MA, during The Colloquium for Information Systems Security Education.

Capitol College joins a handful of colleges and universities that meet the most advanced level of professional competencies specified in all six federal standards for information assurance curricula established by the Committee for National Security Systems (CNSS). Capitol College is one of about 75 institutions designated as National Centers of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education (CAEIAEs) by NSA and the Department of Homeland Security, based on the first five of the six CNSS standards.

The content of Capitol’s graduate-level information assurance courses is “mapped,” or matched, to the requirements of CNSSI/NSTISSI standards 4011, 4012, 4013A, 4014A, 4015 and 4016A, with the suffix A indicating mapping at the advanced level for three of the standards. These standards specify the minimum course content for training of information systems security professionals, senior systems managers, system administrators, information systems security officers, systems certifiers, and risk analysts.

“Capitol College continues to offer a comprehensive IA curriculum that provides relevant knowledge and the practical skills that the federal IT profession requires,” said David Odett, vice president for academic affairs. “We are proud of this recognition of academic excellence and proud of our alumni who work at NSA, DoD, NASA and other organizations, public and private.”

In addition to undergraduate and graduate degrees in information assurance, Capitol College offers non-credit certification exam preparation courses through the Critical Infrastructures and Cyber Protection Center. The master of science in information assurance and exam preparation classes are offered in a live online format.