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Requirements, Plans, and Forms - B.S. in Security and Risk Analysis

Options within the Major

Within the Security and Risk Analysis major, students must select from one of two options to further focus their studies:

This option focuses on developing a more thorough knowledge of the strategic and tactical levels of intelligence collection, analysis, and decision-making. This includes examining the foundations of decision analysis, economic theory, statistics, data mining, and knowledge management, as well as the security-specific contexts in which such knowledge is applied.

This option includes a set of courses that provides an understanding of the theories, skills, and technologies associated with network security, cyber threat defense, information warfare, and critical infrastructure protection across multiple venues.

Entrance to Major Requirements

To enter the Security and Risk Analysis major, students must meet the entrance to major requirements below based on the semester that they entered the University. Once all entrance to major requirements have been met, learn how to declare your major by using the Update Academics feature on your LionPath account.

  • Enrolled in the College of IST pre-major (INFST_PMAJ) or Division of Undergraduate Studies (DUS)
  • Minimum 2.70 cumulative GPA
  • Earned between 40-70 cumulative credits at Penn State (excludes transfer/test/other credits)
  • Completed or currently taking entrance to major courses
  • A grade of C or better in each of the following courses:
    • IST 140 or CMPSC 101 or CMPSC 121
    • IST 210
    • SRA 111
    • SRA 211
  • Achieved a minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA. Students who have completed or are in progress with all ETM courses and have a cumulative GPA of 2.7 or higher may be considered for an exception. Please use the link below to request a review of your academic records:
  • Enrolled in the College of IST pre-major (INFST_PMAJ) or Division of Undergraduate Studies (DUS)
  • Minimum 3.00 cumulative GPA
  • Earned between 40-70 cumulative credits at Penn State (excludes transfer/test/other credits)
  • Completed or currently taking entrance to major courses
  • A grade of C or better in each of the following courses:
    • IST 140 or CMPSC 101 or CMPSC 121
    • IST 210
    • SRA 111
    • SRA 211

Suggested Academic Plans and Prerequisite Flowchart

Suggested Academic Plans are based on a student’s semester of entry to Penn State and serve as a guide when scheduling courses. Students should work with their academic adviser and run “Academic Requirements” and “What If” reports in LionPATH to ensure that they are staying on track for graduation.

Prerequisite flowcharts visually represent the major's suggested academic plan including course prerequisites and sequencing. The flowcharts are intended to be used as a planning tool along with the Bulletin Suggested Academic Plan and the LionPath What-If and/or Academic Requirements reports.

Support of Option Courses

Support of option courses are meant to help students acquire knowledge in an application domain and to help them develop supplemental knowledge and competencies related to their chosen option. It is recommended that students choose courses in consultation with an academic adviser or faculty member.

The goal of support of option coursework is to add value to the degree and educational experience by taking courses around a cohesive theme. Areas of focus could include business, manufacturing, health care, hospitality, art, telecommunications, geographic information systems, government, or anywhere else information technology is used.

  • IAM option
    • Select 9 credits if you were admitted to Penn State in spring 2018 or before
    • Select 15 credits if you were admitted to Penn State in summer 2018 or later
    • Three credits or more must be at the 400 level
  • ICS option
    • Select 9 credits if you were admitted to Penn State in spring 2018 or before
    • Select 12 credits if you were admitted to Penn State in summer 2018 or later
    • Three credits or more must be at the 400 level
  • Courses taken as part of a minor may be used to meet the support of option requirement
  • Not all courses are offered every semester
  • Courses with a single asterisk (*) have required prerequisites
  • Courses with a double asterisk (**) indicate that the course cannot be applied to both the General Education GS requirement and the Support of Option requirement
  • In addition to the courses below, students can take any of the following as Support of Option:
    • Any 400-level SRA course not already being used as a major requirement
    • Any 400-level PL SC course
    • Any 400-level PSYCH course
    • Any language sequence 1, 2, 3 if Foreign Language is not a requirement of your major (this is for students that are in the Summer 2018 plan requirement term or later).
    • Any 400-level language for the 400-level Support of Option requirement

Business
ACCTG 211*
ACCTG 403W*
ACCTG 432*
ACCTG 471*
ACCTG 472*
ACCTG 473*
ACCTG 483*
BA 303*
BA 304*
BA 321*
BA 421*
MGMT 100
MGMT 301*
MGMT 326*
MIS 204
MIS 390*
MKTG 301*
MKTG 480*

Communications
AMST 106
AMST 106N/COMM 100N
COMM 100
COMM 110
COMM 180
COMM 208N*
COMM 370*
COMM 401
COMM/STS 408*
COMM 411*
COMM 479*
COMM 484*
COMM 489
COMM 489W*
COMM 490*

Computer Science
CMPSC 131 (if not used for a major requirement)
CMPSC 132 (if not used for a major requirement)

Crime/Criminology
ANTH/JST/PLSC/SOC 60
ANTH/JST/PLSC/SOC 60N
BBH 203
BBH 260
CRIM 012/SOC 12
CRIM 406*
CRIM 412*
CRIM 425*
CRIM/CRIMJ 100
CRIM 113/CRIMJ 113
CRIM/CRIMJ/SOC 406*
CRIM/CRIMJ/SOC 413*
CRIMJ/PLCS 439*
CRIMJ 455*
CRIMJ 462*
CRIMJ 465*
CRIMJ/HIST 469*
PSYCH 100**
PSYCH 221*
PSYCH 256*
PSYCH 260
PSYCH 270*
SOC 1
SOC 119
SOC 119N
SOC 208N*
SOC 405*
SOC 409*
SOC 416*
SOC 419*
SOC 422*
SOC 423*
SOC 424*
SOC 440*
SOC 457*
SOC 461*
SOC/CRIM/CRIMJ 467*
SOC 470*

Cybersecurity
CYBER 100
CYBER 262*
CYBER 362*
CYBER 366*
CYBER 440*

Data Science
DS 200
DS 220*
DS 300*
DS 402*
DS 435*

Economics
ECON 102
ECON 104
ECON 302*
ECON 304*
ECON 470*
ECON 474*

Enterprise Technology Integration
ETI 300W*
ETI 435*
ETI 461*
ETI 463*

Ethics
PHIL 10
PHIL 103*
PHIL 105
PHIL 119
PHIL 12
PHIL 125
PHIL/STS 407*
PHIL 418*
PHIL/STS 233
PHIL/STS 233Z

Geography
GEOG 10
GEOG 123
GEOG 160
GEOG 210
GEOG 260
GEOG 361*
GEOG 362*
GEOG 363*

Global Security
PLSC 3
PL SC 7
PL SC 7N
PLSC 17
PLSC 17N
PLSC 140

Information Sciences and Technology
IST 220 (IAM only)
IST 230*
IST 240*
IST 242*
IST 250
IST 256*
IST 261*
IST 301*
IST 302*
IST 311*
IST 331*
IST 361*
IST 389*
IST 402*
IST 411*
IST 412*
IST 413*
IST 420*
IST 421*
IST 423*
IST 425*
IST 442*
IST 451 (IAM only)
IST 452* (ICS only)
IST 453*
IST 454 (IAM only)
IST 456 (IAM only)
SRA 268* (ICS only)

International Relations/Political Science
HIST 20
HIST 21
HIST 452*
PL SC 1**
PL SC 2*
PL SC 14**

Middle Eastern Studies
ANTH 9
ANTH 9N
HIST 165
HIST/J ST 181
HIST 473
J ST 118

Military Studies
AIR 151
AIR 152
AIR 251
AIR 252
AIR 351
AIR 352
AIR 451
AIR 452
ARMY 101
ARMY 102
ARMY 203
ARMY 204
ARMY 301
ARMY 302
ARMY 401
ARMY 402
ARMY 496
NAVSC 101
NAVSC 102
NAVSC 103
NAVSC 201
NAVSC 202
NAVSC 204
NAVSC 301
NAVSC 302
NAVSC 311
NAVSC 313
NAVSC 322
NAVSC 401
NAVSC 402
NAVSC 411

Required Internship

All undergraduate students in the College of IST are required to complete at least one internship before graduation. Please review provided resources and plan early.

For specific information and resources related to the internship requirement, which includes enrolling in the 1-credit IST 495 course, contact the Office of Career Solutions and Corporate Engagement. The Career Resources webpages provide information to assist you in determining your major and career goals. The Discovering Your IST Career Path and Past Student Internships pages may be especially helpful in exploring your major.

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Office of Undergraduate Academic Advising

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University Park, PA 16802

Make an Appointment

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(814) 865-8947