How to Choose Between a Cybersecurity Bootcamp vs. a Degree
Written by:
University of Tulsa
• Dec 22, 2025
The cybersecurity industry is growing rapidly, with the World Economic Forum’s Global Cybersecurity Outlook for 2025 highlighting key reasons why there’s an increasing need for more people capable of combating cybersecurity threats. The cybersecurity skills gap is widening due to increasing geopolitical tensions, a greater reliance on complex supply chains, and the rapid adoption of new AI technologies.
Between 2024 and 2025, the gap grew by 8 percent, and two of every three organizations report a moderate or even critical skill shortage, leaving them open to cyber attacks. Only 14 percent of organizations are confident that they have the skilled people necessary to address threats and attacks.
Prospective cybersecurity professionals must hone their talents and abilities to protect their organizations’ data and infrastructure effectively. To do so, they can choose a cybersecurity bootcamp to hone specific skills or an advanced cybersecurity degree to increase a wide array of skills. Comparing a cybersecurity bootcamp vs. a degree highlights some similarities, as well as some key differences.
What Is a Cybersecurity Bootcamp?
A cybersecurity bootcamp offers an alternative pathway to traditional higher education paths. These short, typically intensive programs teach students essential technical skills in cybersecurity. They may also cover a specific area of cybersecurity, such as network security or ethical hacking. Bootcamps provide hands-on learning experiences and offer career advice to guide students as they transition into entry-level careers.
Bootcamps teach students the fundamentals of cybersecurity, and students build professional portfolios to showcase to prospective employers. These programs prioritize career readiness, empowering students to launch new careers or transition from their current roles.
What Is a Cybersecurity Degree?
A cybersecurity degree is another avenue that students can take to begin or grow their cybersecurity career. Cybersecurity degrees cover topics such as protecting computer systems and networks from digital attacks, monitoring an organization’s data and technology to prevent threats before they occur, and developing digital defense strategies.
Degree programs teach cybersecurity at a more holistic level and cover a broader set of topics. These include how legal and economic issues impact cybersecurity and ethical considerations in cybersecurity structures.
Cybersecurity Bootcamp vs. Degree
While both cybersecurity bootcamps and degrees are valid options for making a career transition into cybersecurity, one may better suit students based on their career goals. Before picking a path, students should consider their location and time flexibility, what they hope to achieve in their desired role, and their long-term goals.
Key Similarities
Both bootcamps and degrees cover the fundamentals of cybersecurity. Both programs offer hands-on learning that helps students gain a solid foundation of technical skills that they can build on in their careers.
Bootcamps and degrees both offer options for online and in person study, meeting the needs of students with different priorities and circumstances.
Important Differences
While there are some similarities between cybersecurity bootcamps and degree programs, they are more different from each other than they are alike.
Career Outcomes
Bootcamps and degrees prepare students for different career paths. While the cybersecurity sector is growing quickly, many employers for these careers prefer or even require a degree in cybersecurity or a related field.
For instance, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports that a career as an information security analyst can be highly lucrative, with a median annual salary of $124,910 in 2024. The career is also growing significantly faster than the national average for all roles, with an expected increase of 33 percent in open positions between 2023 and 2033. Typically, these professionals need at least a bachelor’s degree in a computer science field, such as cybersecurity.
Scope of Curriculum
Bootcamps also usually focus on specific aspects of cybersecurity, and particularly on technical skills. This may be a good fit for a technical role in cybersecurity. However, many degree programs offer more holistic skills, particularly when working toward a master’s degree. Students hone additional skills, like leadership abilities, to achieve a managerial or director-level role that oversees those in more technical positions.
Time Commitment
Bootcamps are expedited, which is why they typically run for between six and 28 weeks. Cybersecurity degree programs are more comprehensive and teach a wider range of skills and general education, which is why they usually take 20 months or more.
Prepare for Your New Career with a Cybersecurity Degree Program
Students should consider their futures when deciding between a cybersecurity bootcamp and a degree program. While a cybersecurity bootcamp can teach the fundamentals, a degree program can help students go beyond the basics, particularly if they aspire to a managerial, directorial, or executive-level position. Even in the case of some entry-level positions, some employers prefer to hire individuals with a bachelor’s degree or higher, rather than a bootcamp certification.
With The University of Tulsa’s online M.S. in Cyber Security, students can earn a master’s degree in cybersecurity in as few as 20 months and develop the skills to protect the systems that people rely on every day. Available in both a technical and a leadership track, the program teaches the cybersecurity fundamentals alongside non-technical considerations in cyber attacks, like human, legal, and ethical factors. Students complete the degree at their own pace, fully online.
Prepare for your new career or level up in the cybersecurity field with the University of Tulsa.
Recommended Readings
Is a Master’s in Cybersecurity Worth It?
Sources:
Cybercrime Magazine, “Cybersecurity Jobs Report: 3.5 Million Unfilled Positions in 2025”
Indeed, “Coding Boot Camps: What Are They and Should You Hire Grads?”
Indeed, “How Many Jobs Are Available in Cybersecurity? (With Job List)”
Indeed, “What Is a Cybersecurity Degree? (With Courses and Benefits)”
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Information Security Analysts
