Admissions: Transfer of Credit

Previous SANS/GIAC Work

Note: STI no longer requires an applicant to have a GIAC Certification and GIAC Gold Certification as an Admission Prerequisite. But when the person is admitted, please note that most of the courses require a GIAC Certification and GIAC Gold Certification (or Written Assignment if GIAC Gold is not available).

The following policies apply to the transfer of credit from previous SANS/GIAC work

• Can I start taking SANS courses and GIAC Certifications BEFORE I am in STI? Yes.
• Will they transfer into STI if I am later admitted to the college? Yes, if the certification is related to the curriculum; is current; with a score of 80 or higher, or average of 80 if there were two parts to the exam.
• What is a Gold? It is the paper students write after they pass the GIAC exam. Almost all courses in the curriculum require Gold papers (or if Gold is not available, then the college provides a Written Assignment). For interesting reading, see the SANS information security reading room and click on the "Last 25 Papers." Many of those papers were written by STI students.
• Will STI accept transfers of credit from institutions other than SANS/GIAC? Not at this time since SANS courses are based on original research, and not generally available sources, so STI does not accept coursework from other higher education institutions.
  Exceptions are noted below:
  • A current CISA can be used as a substitute for the AUD 507 course in the MSISM (Management) Program. A Gold (or written assignment if Gold is not available) is required.
  • A current PMP can be used in place of MGT 525-GIAC GCPM. A Gold (or written assignment if Gold is not available) is required.
  
  Also, if a student is admitted to a curriculum version on or after May 1, 2012, the following exceptions apply:
  • In the MSISE Program, it is recommended that student take SEC 401, but a current CISSP Certification may be substituted for taking SEC 401 as follows.
    Student still must pass the GSEC certification exam, and pass the GIAC GSEC Gold paper. Student will receive a Supplemental Study package for a charge in an amount equal to a 1 credit hour charge that will cover hard copies only, GIAC exam registration, and Gold paper registration.
  • In the MSISM Program, it is recommended that student take MGT 512, but a current CISSP Certification may be substituted for taking MGT 512 as follows.
    Student still must pass the GIAC GSLC certification exam, and pass the GSLC Gold paper. Student will receive a Supplemental Study package for a charge in an amount equal to a 1 credit hour charge that will cover hard copies only, GIAC exam registration, and Gold paper registration.
  • A current PMP can be used in place of MGT 525-GIAC GCPM.
• Do I have to have a GIAC Cert or GIAC Gold Cert in order to apply? We no longer require that as an Admission Prerequisite. But once a person is admitted to the Program, most courses require a GIAC Cert and GIAC Gold Cert. (If they are not available, a Written Assignment/substitute is provided by STI).
• Is there a charge to transfer in an existing GIAC Cert or GIAC Gold Cert? Not at this time. You do not have to pay for those credit hours when they are transferred in. As a general rule, you do will not need to renew those cert exams if your certs are current upon admittance with the appropriate score, except that you may need to keep some certs renewed as prerequisites for the MSISE GSE capstone or the MSISE capstone.