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Major · Military Technologies & Applied Sciences

Cyber warfare, defense, and electronic operations — the largest military-tech major on the board

Cyber/Electronic Operations and Warfare combines computer and network security, cryptography, forensics, and wireless systems with military doctrine around cyber attack, defense, and electronic warfare. It is the biggest major in this concentration after Intelligence, General — 485 completions across 28 colleges, including service academies and major state universities. Median five-year earnings run about $77,758.

Schools offering
28
Annual completions
485
Typical degree level
Associate's + Bachelor's
Median earnings (5yr)
$78k

About this major

Cyber/Electronic Operations and Warfare focuses on the technological and operational aspects of information warfare — both cyber attack and cyber defense. The curriculum combines a strong technical foundation (computer and network security, cryptography, computer forensics, systems security engineering, wireless networks and satellite communications) with doctrine and policy material (tactical and strategic planning, legal and ethical issues, cyber warfare systems development and acquisition). CIP examples include Cyberspace Operations, Electronic Warfare, and Information Warfare. In practice, it is a cybersecurity major with a deliberate DoD and intelligence-community frame — the same technical core as a civilian cybersecurity degree, layered with offensive-operations and military-command thinking that a civilian program typically omits.

Institutional variety is meaningful here. The top programs by completions are University of Arizona (135 bachelor's annually), Maryville University of Saint Louis (61), and the United States Naval Academy (54), with Iowa State, University of Advancing Technology, Indiana University-Bloomington, and others rounding out the 28-college list. That spread lets students access the major through a service academy, a large public university, or a specialist private institution — and the career outcome mix shifts accordingly. Service-academy graduates commission directly into military cyber career fields; public-university graduates more often enter civilian cybersecurity or defense contracting.

The occupational data in the packet is thin (no direct SOC match), but the practical career landscape is well-defined: civilian cybersecurity roles, military cyber specialties, NSA/CIA intelligence positions, and defense-contractor work. Median five-year earnings run about $77,758 across all completers, with the associate/bachelor split tight ($75,493 vs $78,211) — meaning the bachelor's premium in this field is narrow compared to most engineering majors. Security clearance eligibility, which this degree and its military-pathway enrollment often facilitate, is a significant unreported factor in long-term earnings.

Section 3 · Careers

Where this major leads

Occupations most often associated with this major, from the federal BLS+O*NET crosswalk. Job-growth projections and median wages are national.

No federal crosswalk data available for this major yet.

Section 4 · Earnings

Earnings at a glance

Median graduate earnings from the federal College Scorecard, 5 and 10 years out.

Median 5-year earnings

$78k

Associate's vs Bachelor's — early-career earnings

Associate's

$75k

Bachelor's

$78k

Who this major is for

You may thrive here if you want to work in cybersecurity within a national-security rather than purely commercial context, if you are considering military service and want a degree that maps directly to cyber career fields at NSA, Cyber Command, or service-branch cyber units, if you find both the offensive and defensive sides of cyber operations interesting and want doctrine as well as technical depth, if you are comfortable pursuing roles that typically require security clearance and the scrutiny that involves, or if a service-academy appointment or ROTC pathway is already part of your plan.

Think twice if your career target is commercial-sector cybersecurity without any military or clearance component — a straightforward cybersecurity or computer science degree typically offers more program choice, easier employer recognition in civilian hiring, and no assumption that you'll be clearance-eligible. Think twice also if you are uncertain about the ethical and legal weight of offensive cyber operations; this major is explicit that it covers attack as well as defense, and that framing is part of the curriculum rather than an optional specialization. With 485 annual completions across 28 colleges, the program exists at real scale — the decision is about whether the military-operations framing is what you want, not whether enough seats exist.

Section 6 · Where to study

Top colleges for Cyber/Electronic Operations and Warfare

Ranked by annual completions at the associate's or bachelor's level — a proxy for program scale.

College Location Assoc. Bach. Total
University of Arizona Tucson, AZ 0 135 135
Maryville University of Saint Louis Saint Louis, MO 0 61 61
United States Naval Academy Annapolis, MD 0 54 54
Iowa State University Ames, IA 0 42 42
University of Advancing Technology Tempe, AZ 17 23 40
Northern Michigan University Marquette, MI 3 19 22
Indiana University-Bloomington Bloomington, IN 0 19 19
Community College of Rhode Island Warwick, RI 17 0 17
Tiffin University Tiffin, OH 0 15 15
Indiana Wesleyan University-National & Global Marion, IN 0 14 14
Section 7 · Explore sideways

Related majors to explore

Intelligence, General

1,676 completions/yr

Intelligence, Command Control and Information Operations, Other

65 completions/yr

Strategic Intelligence

41 completions/yr

Signal/Geospatial Intelligence

5 completions/yr
Section 9 · Frequently asked

Common questions

What do Cyber/Electronic Operations and Warfare majors actually study?
The curriculum covers computer and network security, cryptography, computer forensics, systems security engineering, software applications, threat and vulnerability assessment, and wireless and satellite communications — the same technical core as a civilian cybersecurity degree. The distinction is the military doctrine layer: tactical and strategic planning, cyber warfare systems development and acquisition, and the legal and ethical issues of offensive cyber operations. Examples listed in the CIP include Cyberspace Operations, Electronic Warfare, and Information Warfare tracks.
Is this different from a regular cybersecurity or computer science major?
Technically the foundations overlap heavily, but the framing and career targeting differ. A computer science or cybersecurity degree prepares you for private-sector software or security roles first. This major frames the same material through a DoD and intelligence-community lens — offensive cyber operations, military command-and-control, warfare acquisition — which aligns with careers at NSA, Cyber Command, intelligence agencies, and defense contractors. Civilian cybersecurity jobs are still accessible with this degree, but the curriculum assumes a military-operations orientation that may be a deliberate fit or an unwanted constraint depending on your goals.
What jobs do graduates typically get?
The packet lacks a direct SOC occupation match, but graduates typically land in civilian cybersecurity positions (information security analysts, security engineers), military cyber career fields (Air Force 17S/1D7X, Army 17C, Navy CWT), intelligence community roles at NSA and CIA, and defense-contractor positions at firms like Booz Allen, Raytheon, and Lockheed Martin. Security clearance eligibility is a major career multiplier here — many of the highest-paying roles require Top Secret/SCI clearances that military and service-academy pathways make easier to obtain.
What are the top colleges for this major?
The top completer is the University of Arizona (135 bachelor's annually), followed by Maryville University of Saint Louis (61), the United States Naval Academy (54), Iowa State (42), and the University of Advancing Technology (40). The presence of Naval Academy and service-academy-adjacent programs alongside large state universities and specialist schools means there's real institutional variety — you can access this major through a full-ride service academy, a traditional public university, or an online-friendly private school, and the career outcomes differ accordingly.
How competitive is the job market?
The civilian cybersecurity market in which many graduates compete is strong — BLS projects roughly 32% growth for information security analysts, well above average. This CIP's 485 annual completions represent only a small fraction of total cyber-degree supply (civilian cybersecurity and computer science programs produce tens of thousands annually), so the military-framing subset is a differentiator rather than a commodity oversupply problem. Security clearance eligibility and military service records are major competitive edges that this major is positioned to produce.
What's a reasonable next step after this degree?
Most graduates pursue one of three paths: active military service in cyber career fields (with the degree serving as commissioning preparation, particularly for service-academy graduates), civilian-sector cybersecurity roles requiring clearance, or defense-contractor positions combining both. Common credential add-ons include CISSP, Security+, CEH, and GIAC certifications. Some graduates continue to master's work in cybersecurity, computer science, or national security studies, and a subset move into policy roles with legal or public-administration graduate work.