Bachelor of Science in Economics and Cybersecurity

The Bachelor of Science in Economics and Cybersecurity degree is a cross-disciplinary program that provides a technical and security-focused degree with a strong grounding in business. The curriculum combines core economics and business knowledge with an understanding of the conceptual and practical computer science and cybersecurity skills that will enable them to contribute to ensuring the reliability and security of cyberspace. Graduates will be prepared to become cybersecurity and information technology practitioners, investigators, managers, and leaders in one of the fastest growing job sectors.

Stuart School of Business is a global leader in bridging technology and business, offering distinctive education that provides students with the knowledge and skillsets to become outstanding professionals.

Business, economics and technology at Illinois Tech have a prestigious history that dates back to the 1880s, with the establishment of the Armour Institute of Technology in 1890 and the Lewis Institute in 1895. Economics at Illinois Tech began at the Lewis Institute, Stuart’s original home, with some of the nation’s first courses in “Family and Consumer Science” (including “Home Economics” and “Household Management”), and the Institute’s subsequent formation of the university’s Department of Business and Economics in 1926. The merger of the Lewis Institute with the Armour Institute of Technology in 1940 brought business and technology under one entity. The Armour Institute of Technology itself was founded through the pioneering works of Philip D. Armour, a merchant financier, Julia A. Beveridge, a librarian turned public administrator, and Frank W. Gunsaulus, an entrepreneurial preacher. The Department Business and Economics ultimately grew into a separate school at Illinois Institute of Technology – the Stuart School of Business, in 1969, with a gift from Lewis Institute alum and renowned financier Harold Leonard Stuart. Harold L. Stuart himself was a national leader in the field of investment banking in the first half of the 20th century, and his Chicago investment bank played a pivotal role in establishing the city as a global financial hub, as well as financing some incredible engineering feats, including Chicago's elevated train lines.

Over a period of more than 125 years, harnessing curricular innovations by Julia A. Beveridge and George N. Carman, and incredible scholarly works by trailblazing Illinois Tech scholars Herb A. Simon (author of Administrative Behavior, later awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics), Karl Menger (developer of the St. Petersburg paradox in economics) and Abe Sklar (developer of the Copula in financial modeling), the Stuart School of Business has refined business education. A long-standing leader in curricular innovation, in 1990, building on the foundational works of numerous Illinois Tech scholars, and Harold L. Stuart’s own contributions to finance and the broader business community, the Stuart School of Business established quantitative finance as an academic discipline, with a world’s first postgraduate Master’s program in Financial Markets and Trading – a program that highlighted a new model for embedding into a postgraduate academic program the emphases on career readiness and connectedness with the business community, and transformed business school education.

The Bachelor of Science in Economics and Cybersecurity brings together world-class faculty from the College of Computing and the Stuart School of Business, offering students an incredible opportunity to complete a core set of courses in both disciplines, with expanded access to subject matter experts from both colleges. The United States Department of Homeland Security and the National Security Agency have designated Illinois Institute of Technology as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education. The program builds on Stuart's and Computing's prestige and tradition of undergraduate education that prepares students to add value to any organization they may join on day 1 of their roles. The innovative interdisciplinary program requires the successful completion of 126 credit hours.

Required Courses

Required Economics Courses (36)
BUS 100Introduction to Business and Economics3
BUS 102Introduction to Business Analytics3
BUS 221Business Statistics3
BUS 321Analytics for Optimization3
BUS 480Strategic Management and Design Thinking3
ECON 151Microeconomics3
ECON 152Macroeconomics3
ECON 251Introduction to Econometrics3
ECON 311Intermediate Microeconomics3
ECON 312Intermediate Macroeconomics3
ECON/BUS 382Business Economics3
ECON 423Economics of Capital Investments3
Information Technology and Cybersecurity Required Courses (36)
ITM 301Introduction to Contemporary Operating Systems and Hardware I3
ITM 313Introduction to Open Source Application Development 13
ITMD 321Data Modeling and Applications3
ITMO 340Introduction to Data Networks and the Internet3
ITMO 356Introduction to Open Source Operating Systems3
ITMS 418Coding Security 23
ITMS 438Cyber Forensics3
ITMS 443Vulnerability Analysis and Control3
ITMS 448Cyber Security Technologies3
ITMS 458Operating System Security3
ITMS 478Cyber Security Management3
ITMS 483Digital Evidence3
Mathematics Requirement (7)
MATH 180Fundamentals of Discrete Mathematics3
MATH 148Preparation for Calculus4
or MATH 151 Calculus I
or MATH 191 Business Calculus
or MATH 192 Finite Mathematics
Natural Science and Engineering Requirements (10)
See Illinois Tech Core Curriculum, section D10
Humanities and Social Science Requirements (21)
See Illinois Tech Core Curriculum, section B and C21
Interprofessional Projects (IPRO) (6)
See Illinois Tech Core Curriculum, section E6
Free Electives (4)
Select 4 credit hours.4
Total Credit Hours120
1

ITM 313 satisfies Computer Science Requirement

2

Prerequisite ITMD 411--conditional permission to enroll in ITMS 418

Bachelor of Science in Economics and Cybersecurity Curriculum

Year 1
Semester 1Credit HoursSemester 2Credit Hours
BUS 1003BUS 1023
ECON 1513ECON 1523
ITM 3013ITM 31313
Humanities Elective (200 Level)3MATH 1803
MATH 148 or 1514Science Elective4
 16 16
Year 2
Semester 1Credit HoursSemester 2Credit Hours
BUS 3213BUS 2213
ECON 3113ECON 3123
ITMO 3403ITMS 4483
ITMO 3563ITMD 3213
Science Elective3Science Elective3
 15 15
Year 3
Semester 1Credit HoursSemester 2Credit Hours
ECON 2513ECON 3823
ITMS 4433ITMS 41823
ITMS 4783ITMS 4583
Humanities Elective (300+)3Humanities Elective (300+)3
Social Science Elective3IPRO Elective I3
 15 15
Year 4
Semester 1Credit HoursSemester 2Credit Hours
ECON 4233BUS 4803
ITMS 4383ITMS 4833
IPRO Elective II3Humanities or Social Science Elective3
Social Science Elective (300+)3Social Science Elective (300+)3
Free Elective4 
 16 12
Total Credit Hours: 120
1

ITM 313 satisfies Computer Science Requirement

2

Prerequisite ITMD 411 - conditional permission to enroll in ITM 418