MIS Graduates Receive 100% Acceptance to Carnegie Mellon

Success is great, but perfect is something else, and perfect describes the rate of Weber State University applicants who were recently accepted to Carnegie Mellon University’s graduate program for information security and information management.

Five WSU graduates started CMU’s master’s program this fall, and nine participated in the Summer Security Intensive Information Technology Lab to get a look at the rigors of the master’s program and complete three cybersecurity courses. After finishing the summer program, students typically join the master’s program.

CMU has an average acceptance rate of less than 20 percent. The rate of WSU students accepted speaks to the strength of the university’s management information systems program.

Randy Boyle, cybersecurity expert and management information systems professor, collaborated with industry leaders to develop the program, which incorporates advanced applied skills to every class to meet industry demand. Students not only learn the applications and systems, but they practice them hundreds of times in real-life scenarios.

Over the past 15 years, the frequency and size of data breaches has increased exponentially, and the subsequent demand for well-trained cybersecurity professionals has gone up.

“The recent COVID-19 lockdown has forced companies to put nearly everything online, which has exacerbated the problem,” Boyle explained. “Businesses must provide remote access to everyone, and hackers know it.”

In 2018, Weber State was selected as a CMU National Education Partner, allowing admitted WSU students to receive scholarships equal to at least 30 percent of tuition per semester with additional scholarships based on the strength of their applications.

In the past four years, 20 Weber State students have been admitted to the CMU graduate programs and 22 to the summer program.