MCC Offers New Secure Software Development Computer Science Program

Enrollment is now open for Middlesex Community College’s new Computer Science Transfer, Secure Software Development (SSD) Associate in Science degree program. Fall classes begin Wednesday, Sept. 9, and financial aid is available for those who qualify.

Recently updated and expanded, MCC’s Computer Science Transfer Program now features two tracks. In addition to the original associate in science degree program, the new SSD Concentration opened spring semester.

“It’s no longer good enough to write code,” said Sanaz Rahimi, Professor of Computer Science. “Now, you need to know how to write secure code.”

Intended to prepare students for transfer to a bachelor’s degree program in computer science, the new SSD track focuses on developing secure software that performs only its intended functions without the presence of vulnerabilities that hackers or others with malicious intent can exploit.

“Security of the nation’s computer systems and infrastructure is a critical and rapidly growing field,” said Rahimi. The U.S. Department of Labor projects there will be approximately 43,700 new jobs for computer/software programmers by 2020, she added.

MCC’s new SSD Concentration conforms to the framework for cybersecurity education developed jointly by the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Department of Homeland Security. Program curriculum was developed with guidance from MCC’s Information Technology Advisory Board, which includes cybersecurity professionals from organizations such as Mitre Corp. and MIT Lincoln Labs.

Program development was funded by a grant from BATEC (Broadening Advanced Technological Education Connections), a national center of excellence for computing and information technologies, sponsored by the National Science Foundation.

For more information about MCC’s new Computer Science Transfer, Secure Software Development (SSD) Program, contact Don Brady, Assistant Dean of Health & STEM, at bradyd@middlesex.mass.edu.

Middlesex Community College meets the evolving educational, civic and workforce needs of our local and global communities. As one of the largest, most comprehensive community colleges in the state, we educate more than 13,000 students annually on our campuses in Bedford and Lowell, and online. MCC offers more than 70 degree and certificate programs, plus hundreds of noncredit courses. At Middlesex, everyone teaches, everyone learns.