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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% — — — 97 — —
2 Purdue
West Lafayette, IN
West Lafayette, IN 144 43% 78% / 22% 11% $92,915 95 — —
3 U. of Maryland, College Park
College Park, MD
College Park, MD 28 45% 29% / 71% 0% $101,776 97 — —
4 U. of Tulsa
Tulsa, OK
Tulsa, OK 21 75% 86% / 14% 0% $95,747 92 — —
5 Northeastern
Boston, MA
Boston, MA 22 24% 64% / 36% 9% $103,415 95 — —
6 Texas A&M University - College Station
College Station, TX
College Station, TX 92 52% 75% / 25% 0% $82,337 87 94% —
7 Rochester Institute of Technology
Rochester, NY
Rochester, NY 119 71% 86% / 14% 3% $136,339 99 100% —
8 U. of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles, CA 98 12% 47% / 53% 6% $95,174 89 — —

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 272 55% 80% / 20% 2% $108,251 98 96% —
2 George Mason
Fairfax, VA
Fairfax, VA 114 72% 78% / 22% 15% $141,093 100 100% —
3 Dakota State
Madison, SD
Madison, SD 82 85% 87% / 13% 1% $82,915 93 100% —
4 U. of Texas at San Antonio
San Antonio, TX
San Antonio, TX 405 91% 77% / 23% 0% $87,709 95 98% —
5 Syracuse
Syracuse, NY
Syracuse, NY 6 35% 67% / 33% 0% $104,722 95 — —
6 George Washington
Washington, DC
Washington, DC 30 47% 70% / 30% 0% $109,426 96 100% —
7 U. of California, Irvine
Irvine, CA
Irvine, CA 46 29% 83% / 17% 13% $68,581 68 100% —
8 Drexel
Philadelphia, PA
Philadelphia, PA 76 83% 70% / 30% 1% $93,002 89 96% —
9 Stevens Institute of Technology
Hoboken, NJ
Hoboken, NJ 27 51% 81% / 19% 0% $100,194 93 — —

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 52 20% 60% / 40% 0% $91,964 97 100% —
2 Iowa State
Ames, IA
Ames, IA 42 85% 86% / 14% 2% $87,530 92 — —
3 U. of Arizona
Tucson, AZ
Tucson, AZ 135 85% 80% / 20% 0% $87,377 91 — —
4 Mississippi State
Mississippi State, MS
Mississippi State, MS 7 60% 100% / 0% 0% $83,031 90 — —
5 Champlain
Burlington, VT
Burlington, VT 189 62% 73% / 27% 0% $88,318 89 96% —
6 Indiana
Bloomington, IN
Bloomington, IN 19 76% 84% / 16% 0% $86,311 89 — —
7 U. of South Florida
Tampa, FL
Tampa, FL 124 35% 91% / 9% 0% $89,186 96 — —
8 Florida International
Miami, FL
Miami, FL 38 42% 74% / 26% 5% $82,208 93 — —