Sloan-C Names NYU-Poly's Cyber Security Virtual Master's Program as the Nation's 'Outstanding Online Program'

NEW YORK, Nov. 9, 2011  /PRNewswire/ -- The Sloan Consortium (Sloan-C) tomorrow will recognize the cyber security virtual master's degree of Polytechnic Institute of New York University (NYU-Poly) as the nation's "Outstanding Online Program." The award will be conferred at Sloan-C's 17th Annual International Conference on Online Learning in Orlando, Fla.

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Sloan-C is the country's most prominent association of academic institutions championing online higher education.

"Our faculty members have embraced virtual instruction," said Nasir Memon, who leads the school's cyber security program. "Online courses deliver high-quality education, engaging students everywhere in the world, 24/7." Memon, an internationally recognized scholar, is a professor in NYU-Poly's Computer Science and Engineering Department.

One of the earliest schools to introduce a master's degree in cyber security, NYU-Poly was awarded National Security Agency (NSA) approval for the program nearly a decade ago. It is designated both a Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education and a Center of Academic Excellence in Research by the NSA.

Today, more than half of all the students studying for a master's degree in cyber security at NYU-Poly are enrolled in its online programs. These remote-learning students include personnel from Fortune 500 companies such as Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) and Goldman Sachs. Professionals from Microsoft, Google and Alcatel-Lucent, among dozens of other corporations, also study online through NYU-ePoly and the Institute's Enterprise Learning program.

NYU-Poly's online cyber security students enjoy a rare level of access to a virtual research laboratory where they can perform hands-on experimentation to reinforce the concepts they learn in virtual lectures. Students participate in real-time and e-discussions stimulated by chat, texting, forums and other media. A dedicated "success manager" helps students adapt to the online environment, and technical support is available around the clock.

Paralleling students on campus, online cyber security students learn not only basic technical skills and theory, but also how business needs, such as risk management and regulatory requirements, drive network security.

"The Sloan-C award for Outstanding Online Program is a high honor for NYU-Poly because it is bestowed by acknowledged leaders in virtual education," said NYU-Poly President Jerry M. Hultin. "Furthermore, it recognizes innovation in an academic program that is vitally important to society because it addresses in real-time the critical shortage of highly educated experts needed to protect and secure our infrastructure, government and personal digital lives."

About Polytechnic Institute of New York University

Polytechnic Institute of New York University (formerly Polytechnic University), an affiliate of New York University, is a comprehensive school of engineering, applied sciences, technology and research, and is rooted in a 157-year tradition of invention, innovation and entrepreneurship: i-squared-e. The institution, founded in 1854, is the nation's second-oldest private engineering school. In addition to its main campus in New York City at MetroTech Center in downtown Brooklyn, it also offers programs at sites throughout the region and around the globe. Globally, NYU-Poly has programs in Israel, China and is an integral part of NYU's campus in Abu Dhabi. For more information, visit www.poly.edu.

SOURCE Polytechnic Institute of New York University