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Graduate Degrees

Graduate Degree Programs

Create knowledge. Challenge your mind. Accelerate your career.

Take the next steps toward your graduate degree.

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Our award-winning graduate programs challenge minds, generate groundbreaking knowledge through research, and launch and accelerate technology-related careers in leading organizations, academia, and government. Whether your goal is to advance innovation and problem-solving in the tech industry or become a sought-after scholar, our graduate programs provide the skills and experiences you need to succeed.

5

Degree programs

3

Certificate programs

#6

Best Online Master’s IT (USNWR, 2025)

58

Faculty ready to advise you

1,685

Graduate degrees awarded since 2015

923

Certificates awarded since 2015

5

Median years-to-degree for Ph.D. (4 is possible!)

$79.7M

External research funding granted since 2015

Envision Your Future

Our graduates work at a variety of universities and government agencies, as well as leading global organizations including:

In positions such as:

Network Operation Center Analyst
Software Quality Engineer
Data Scientist
UX Designer
Research Scientist
Assistant Professor
Solution Analyst
Security Engineer
Senior Machine Learning Engineer
Cloud Engineer

"Take advantage of the career services, mentoring programs, and job databases that Penn State and the College of IST offer. These resources provide resume reviews, mock interviews, and access to alumni who can offer guidance and job leads."

Kartik Khurana '24g , Senior Information Security Analyst, NVIDIA

Residential Graduate Degree Programs

M.S. Application Ph.D. Application

M.S., Cybersecurity Analytics and Operations

Deepen cybersecurity insights by blending technology, incident response, strategic planning and crisis management.

M.S., Informatics

Build an understanding of how information and technology impacts and are impacted by people, organizations, and the world community.

Ph.D., Informatics

Learn how to analyze qualitative and quantitative effects in data and to understand, test, and contribute to scientific theory.

Online Graduate Degree Programs

Online (World Campus) Application

M.E.A., Enterprise Architecture and Business Transformation

Improve organizational efficiency, effectiveness, and agility by delivering holistic business-aligned and digitally focused systems.

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M.P.S., Cybersecurity Analytics and Operations

Blend education relating to technology, incident response, strategic planning, and crisis management to better protect digital information from attacks.

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Graduate Certificate, Enterprise Architecture

Incorporate business, strategy, and technology to make strategic decisions and create IT solutions that solve complex business challenges.

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Graduate Certificate, Enterprise Information and Security Technology Architecture

Gain advanced knowledge of enterprise information security technology, gap analysis, migration planning, and network strategy.

Graduate Certificate, Information Systems Cybersecurity

Build your understanding of information systems security, risk management, digital forensics, and more.

Research in IST is transformative.

From cybersecurity to misinformation, human-centered computing to the AI revolution, our collaborative scholars are advancing understanding and driving innovative solutions that are shaping the way we live, work, and connect.

Learn More

Human-Centered Computing and Social Informatics

Creating and evaluating interactive systems and studying the affective aspects of user experience.

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Informatics and Intelligent Systems

Advancing the capacity to model intelligent behavior and harnessing, applying, and integrating the insights of big data to our world.

Privacy and Cybersecurity Informatics

Detecting and removing threats of information misuse, enhancing predictability and trust, and understanding online privacy.

News

More News

<p>The entry deadline for the Nittany AI Challenge is Dec. 11. Now in its 11th year, the competition brings together students from any major to address real-world problems with potential artificial-intelligence solutions.</p>

October 27, 2026

From idea to impact: Inside Penn State’s Nittany AI Challenge

<p>The College of IST recently announced the winners of its inaugural AI in Research Symposium. The event presented an opportunity for students and faculty to explore how AI is reshaping research and discuss how standards and practices might differ across academic communities.</p>

October 06, 2026

College of IST announces winners of first 'AI in Research Symposium'

<p>The Nittany AI Alliance invites undergraduate and graduate students from all disciplines to the workshops, ideation sessions, AI conversations and skill-building events offered throughout October. No technical background or experience is required.</p>

September 30, 2026

Nittany AI Alliance announces October workshops and events

<p>The Penn State Center for Socially Responsible Artificial Intelligence will host Firdaus Ahmed Choudhury, a doctoral student in the College of IST, as part of its Young Achievers Symposium on Sept. 28. Choudhury's talk will discuss an AI-based decision-support system developed to help a nonprofit organization more efficiently distribute saplings to farmers across rural India.</p>

September 21, 2026

Lecture to explore AI’s use in delivering trees to farmers across rural India

Events

More Events

Nov

Storytelling That Sticks: Turn Your Experiences Into Impact presented by Target

Date & Time: November 9, 2026, 4:00 pm–5:00 pm

Location: 223 Thomas Building

DOE WDTS Virtual Internship Fair 2026
Date & Time: November 12, 2026, 1:00 pm–5:00 pm

Location: Virtual
Opportunity Knocks - Acing Your Interview: Best Practices
Date & Time: November 12, 2026, 4:30 pm–6:00 pm

Location: Virtual

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