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Master of Arts in Strategy, Cybersecurity, and Intelligence

Guard Against Evolving Global Threats

Locations Offered
Washington, D.C.
Time to Completion
One Year
(Full-Time)
Two Years
(Part-Time)
Application Deadline
November 1
(Fall early notification)
January 7
(Fall regular decision)
Credit hours required
40

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Program Info

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Johns Hopkins SAIS Master’s Degrees Ranked #2 Worldwide

Over the past two decades, Foreign Policy magazine has published a reputational ranking of academic programs in international relations. Each time, IR professionals are asked to list the five best programs in the world for students who want to pursue careers similar to theirs.

In the latest ranking released on July 30, 2024, generated with responses from three categories of international relations experts—scholars, policymakers, and think tank staffers, master’s programs offered by the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) are ranked number two by all three groups of responders, up from number three in the last Foreign Policy survey.

A Policy-Minded Master's Degree in Strategy, Cybersecurity, and Intelligence

Develop hands-on expertise and leadership to make sound strategic, operational, and tactical decisions. Earn your master's degree from Johns Hopkins SAIS in 1 year (full time) or 2 years (part time), learning alongside a cohort of like-minded professionals just blocks from the U.S. Capitol.

Learn from the Experts

Study with world-class experts and practitioners renowned for their scholarship, influence, networks, and practical experience.

Thomas Rid
Founding Director, Alperovitch Institute for Cybersecurity Studies; Co-Director, MASCI
Author; expert witness to the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, the German Bundestag, and the UK Parliament; subject-matter expert and global media contributor; former research scholar at policy institutes in Berlin, Paris, Jerusalem, and Washington, DC.
Thomas Mahnken
Co-Director, MASCI
Author; previously served on the National Defense Strategy Commission, the Defense Department’s Office of Net Assessment, and the Gulf War Air Power Survey; served for 24 years as an officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve, to include tours in Iraq and Kosovo.
John E. McLaughlin
Distinguished Practitioner-in-Residence
Former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Acting Director and Deputy Director; three decades of experience at the CIA; expert in counterterrorism, intelligence policy, and proliferation issues.
David Barno
Visiting Professor of Strategic Studies
Lieutenant General, U.S. Army (Ret.); author; repeat expert witness before the U.S. Congress; thirty-year active duty Army career; held positions at various universities and think tanks, including the Atlantic Council, and the Center for a New American Security.
Nora Bensahel
Visiting Professor of Strategic Studies
Expert on the future of warfare and military strategy and operations; contributing editor and columnist for War on the Rocks, co-author; held positions at various universities and think tanks, including the Atlantic Council, the Center for a New American Security, and RAND Corporation.
Melissa K. Griffith
Lecturer in Technology and National Security
Expert on the intersection between technology and national security, specializing in cybersecurity, semiconductors, and 5G networks with a focus on national risk and resilience models.

Sign Up to Learn from the Best

Do You Aspire to be an Expert in Strategy, Cybersecurity, and Intelligence?

Whether you plan to launch, pivot, or advance your career in strategy, cybersecurity, and intelligence, Johns Hopkins SAIS will prepare you to lead. Develop your expertise in national security, disruptive technologies, defense policy, intelligence analysis, and more in Johns Hopkins SAIS' intensive and immersive master's degree program.

Our Master of Arts in Strategy, Cybersecurity, and Intelligence is designed for:

  • Students preparing for a career in national security.
  • Active or former military personnel with interests in national security, international relations, and counter terrorism.
  • Professionals looking for advanced, hands-on leadership preparation.

Master Leadership, Strategy, & Advanced Analytics

The Master of Arts in Strategy, Cybersecurity, and Intelligence is a specialized, cohort-based master's degree that gives you the flexibility to pursue focused interests among the broader SAIS curriculum with up to four elective courses. Through the MASCI degree at Johns Hopkins SAIS, you will:

  • Develop the knowledge to address the intersection between national security strategy and intelligence.
  • Gain expertise in major strategy and intelligence topics such as military theory, disinformation, political warfare, and economic espionage.
  • Build the leadership skills to thrive in national security careers in government as well as related organizations in the U.S. and international public, private, and nonprofit sectors.

Partner with Top Minds in Washington, D.C.

Learn to work with frameworks and data to develop policy and strategy. Your expert professors will share their extensive practical experience in national security, cybersecurity, and strategy. You'll share the classroom with a close-knit cohort of students with a common appreciation for strategy and intelligence.

  • Get a first-hand introduction to course topics in a pre-term Boot Camp that includes an Intelligence Walk around Washington, D.C.
  • Develop leadership and teamwork skills as you work closely with fellow students from around the globe.
  • Hear from expert policymakers, heads of state, and subject matter scholars in guest lectures and presentations.

Build Your Expertise in 1 Year (full-time)

Pre-Term | 1 Week
  • Boot Camp/Orientation | Credits: non-credit, mandatory

Fall | 15 Weeks
  • Strategy I: Policy, Strategy & War (CORE) | Credits: 4
  • Intelligence I: Role, Practice and Impact of American Intelligence (CORE) | Credits: 4
  • Elective | Credits: 4
  • Elective | Credits: 4

January Intersession | 1 Week
  • Capstone Research Seminar | Credits: 2

Spring | 15 Weeks
  • Capstone Prospectus | Credits: 2
  • Strategy II: U.S. National Security Policy and the
    Future of Conflict (CORE) | Credits: 4
  • Intelligence II: Signals & Cyber (CORE) | Credits: 4
  • Elective | Credits: 4
  • Elective | Credits: 4

Summer | 6 Weeks
  • Capstone | Credits: 4

Sample Electives
  • Cyber Operations
  • Disinformation
  • Economic Sanctions and Statecraft
  • Intelligence, Counterintelligence, and Covert Action
  • Net Assessment
  • Russian National Security Policy
  • Space Security
  • Technology and International Competition

Build Your Expertise in 2 Years (part-time)

Pre-Term | 1 Week
  • Boot Camp/Orientation | Credits: non-credit, mandatory

Fall Term 1 | 15 Weeks
  • Strategy I: Policy, Strategy & War (CORE) | Credits: 4
  • Elective | Credits: 4

January Intersession 1 | 1 Week
  • Capstone Research Seminar | Credits: 2

Spring Term 1 | 15 Weeks
  • Strategy II: U.S. National Security Policy and the
    Future of Conflict (CORE) | Credits: 4
  • Elective | Credits: 4

Summer Term 1 | ---
  • TBD

Fall Term 2 | 15 Weeks
  • Intelligence I: Role, Practice and Impact of American Intelligence (CORE) | Credits: 4
  • Elective | Credits: 4

January Intersession 2 | ---
  • TBD

Spring Term 2 | 15 Weeks
  • Capstone Prospectus | Credits: 2
  • Intelligence II: Signals & Cyber (CORE) | Credits: 4
  • Elective | Credits: 4

Summer Term 2 | 6 Weeks
  • Capstone | Credits: 4

Sample Electives
  • Cyber Operations
  • Disinformation
  • Economic Sanctions and Statecraft
  • Intelligence, Counterintelligence, and Covert Action
  • Net Assessment
  • Russian National Security Policy
  • Space Security
  • Technology and International Competition

Get a Sample Schedule

Advance Your Career in Washington, D.C.

Enjoy unrivaled access to professional opportunities at leading global organizations and unmatched career outcomes supported by our extensive alumni network. Launch your career in Washington, D.C. — the epicenter for intelligence and national security professionals.

Join a Global Community at SAIS

With the world-renowned reputation of the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, you'll join 24,000+ SAIS alumni who influence policy that affects the globe. What impact will you make?

Graduate Prepared to Make a Difference

With campuses on three continents, SAIS truly has a global footprint. Benefit from our Global Career Services team and our expansive alumni network to connect with incredible opportunities.

Take Advantage of Exceptional Career Opportunities

See What Our Students Have to Say

Completing a degree with MASCI was the ideal move for me. I was looking for a graduate program that allowed me to specialize, to dig deeper into all the defense, security and strategy topics that I felt weren’t covered enough by other post-graduate programs. MASCI gave me all of that and more. In a single year, I was equipped with the ability to understand complex strategic concepts, apply them to the U.S. national security sector writ large, and build on what I learned at SAIS in my career. Professionally, my strategic background has been in high demand: employers are looking for exactly the type of young professional that MASCI has shaped me into.

- Magda Baranowska, MASCI ‘22

I am deeply thankful that I had the privilege of being a member of the inaugural MASCI cohort. During my year at SAIS, I was able to make lifelong professional and personal connections with my peers, instructors, and SAIS faculty and staff. Even more than the invaluable coursework and fascinating research opportunities, of which there are many, it is these relationships that I cherish the most. Thanks to these connections, I feel prepared to enter the often-impenetrable natsec world with a support system of mentors and friends I could have only dreamed of one year ago.

- Grayson Rosenfeld, MASCI ‘22