In contrast, the course list for the Ethical Hacking and Countermeasures Degree includes just one nontechnical course -- on law -- early in the four-year program. It's neither a well-rounded course of study nor a good trade-school skill foundation, since if somebody just wants to learn a skill, there are plenty of shorter-term courses available that can quickly get students into a genuine business environment, which is, after all, where the real learning takes place.

The first job or serious internship a student holds is infinitely more useful in skill-set acquisition than his whole college career will (or should) be. However, a college curriculum exposes people to a breadth of knowledge to draw from, and a computer science degree is no exception. Foundational computer science courses teach underlying principles that can be applied to any area of computer science. They makes people better practitioners in any specialty that they may choose in the future.

Conversely, a degree program and title that is too specific does a disservice to the student. A degree in ethical hacking and countermeasures, rather than a generic computer science degree, is apt to prove a disadvantage in making lateral movements in the field -- and again, it might also limit students' breadth of knowledge.

While a bachelor's degree might provide much breadth but not much depth, a master's degree generally involves only courses within the specific program of study, though it requires about the same number of semester hours in the chosen major as it takes to get a bachelor's degree. The assumption is that master's-level courses will go into more detail about one specific subject and will involve more in-depth work. Again, though, you are talking about the equivalent of three months of actual business-world experience.

A good master's degree program -- the one I took, for instance -- teaches the student how to expand his thought processes on the subject. My degree program discussed the application of computers to a business environment, which was invaluable -- I admit that it was all theory, but that's in many ways the point of academic study. My classwork broadened my perspective on the hands-on tasks at my job.