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Cybersecurity

NSA Recruiters Already Have Your Number

The blue-blood security royalty — CyLab, CERIAS, and fiber-optic pipelines running straight into Fort Meade. Recruiters from three-letter agencies are already in their DMs, and grads tend to get clearance paperwork before they get a diploma.

# ▲ University Location Degrees Accept SAT Male/Female Intl Earnings ROI Employ
1 Carnegie Mellon
Pittsburgh, PA
Pittsburgh, PA 0 11% — — — 98 — —
2 Purdue
West Lafayette, IN
West Lafayette, IN 176 43% 82% / 18% 10% $94,516 95 — —
3 U. of Maryland, College Park
College Park, MD
College Park, MD 33 45% 30% / 70% 0% $93,979 94 — —
4 U. of Tulsa
Tulsa, OK
Tulsa, OK 32 75% 69% / 31% 0% $100,902 94 — —
5 Northeastern
Boston, MA
Boston, MA 26 22% 46% / 54% 12% $98,543 91 — —
6 Texas A&M University - College Station
College Station, TX
College Station, TX 99 52% 73% / 27% 1% $85,699 89 94% —
7 Rochester Institute of Technology
Rochester, NY
Rochester, NY 117 71% 83% / 17% 3% $133,133 99 100% —
8 U. of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles, CA 102 11% 53% / 47% 4% $87,062 81 — —

Cleared for Top Secret, Not for Small Talk

Defense-contractor feeder schools where "we can neither confirm nor deny" is a personality trait. Tiny Dakota State punches so far above its weight that the NSA keeps it on speed dial; the rest funnel quietly into the Beltway and Wall Street SOCs.

# ▲ University Location Degrees Accept SAT Male/Female Intl Earnings ROI Employ
1 Pennsylvania State
University Park, PA
University Park, PA 295 55% 75% / 25% 7% $111,393 98 96% —
2 George Mason
Fairfax, VA
Fairfax, VA 115 72% 77% / 23% 10% $135,997 100 100% —
3 Dakota State
Madison, SD
Madison, SD 91 85% 84% / 16% 2% $88,909 95 100% —
4 U. of Texas at San Antonio
San Antonio, TX
San Antonio, TX 471 91% 79% / 21% 1% $90,804 95 98% —
5 Syracuse
Syracuse, NY
Syracuse, NY 19 35% 79% / 21% 0% $106,931 96 — —
6 George Washington
Washington, DC
Washington, DC 32 47% 69% / 31% 0% $104,481 94 100% —
7 U. of California, Irvine
Irvine, CA
Irvine, CA 9 29% 89% / 11% 0% $60,540 47 100% —
8 Drexel
Philadelphia, PA
Philadelphia, PA 47 82% 79% / 21% 2% $92,015 87 96% —
9 Stevens Institute of Technology
Hoboken, NJ
Hoboken, NJ 21 51% 86% / 14% 0% $98,853 92 — —

Capture-the-Flag Club President

Regional powerhouses run by the students who actually win the CTFs at 3 a.m. Heavy on digital forensics and reverse engineering — and on explaining to relatives that no, they cannot hack your neighbor's Wi-Fi.

# ▲ University Location Degrees Accept SAT Male/Female Intl Earnings ROI Employ
1 Florida State
Tallahassee, FL
Tallahassee, FL 44 20% 59% / 41% 0% $92,931 97 100% —
2 Iowa State
Ames, IA
Ames, IA 32 85% 81% / 19% 6% $102,152 97 — —
3 U. of Arizona
Tucson, AZ
Tucson, AZ 191 85% 75% / 25% 0% $95,015 94 — —
4 Mississippi State
Mississippi State, MS
Mississippi State, MS 11 84% 73% / 27% 0% $97,550 96 — —
5 Champlain
Burlington, VT
Burlington, VT 167 59% 74% / 26% 0% $88,964 89 96% —
6 Indiana
Bloomington, IN
Bloomington, IN 24 76% 79% / 21% 4% $97,772 95 — —
7 U. of South Florida
Tampa, FL
Tampa, FL 153 41% 79% / 21% 3% $93,290 97 — —
8 Florida International
Miami, FL
Miami, FL 50 42% 86% / 14% 10% $84,265 94 — —