Accelerated Cyber Engineering Immersive

Work-Integrated Career Pathway

Accelerated Cyber Engineering Immersive

Security is the fastest-growing gap in engineering. This program puts you in a paid apprenticeship while you build production-ready cyber skills from the ground up.

$14k

Net Earnings

14 months

Cyber Certificate

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Overview

Program Length

14 months

Study Load

20hrs/week

Work Load

20hrs/week

Delivery Mode

Flexible, on-demand curriculum
Weekly live sessions
Personalized mentor feedback

Faculty Ratio

8:1 Student to Instructor Ratio
1:1 Student to Mentor Ratio

Costs

Tuition: $14,900
Scholarship: $3,000
Earnings: $25,900
Net Monthly Income: $1,000

Skill Level

Early-career Software Engineers

Start Dates

The first Monday of every month

Credential

Cybersecurity Certificate

Why Cybersecurity Engineering

The Rarest Skill in the Room

The most valuable person in the room knows how to build and break things. Organizations don't just need people who can monitor systems. They need engineers who understand how software is built and how it fails under attack. That combination of production engineering experience and security depth is rare and increasingly essential. Graduates pursue security engineering roles with average salaries ranging from $110,000 to $145,000.

Security Engineer

$118,000 avg. salary

Designs and implements secure systems from the ground up, embedding security requirements into architecture and code rather than bolting them on after the fact.

Penetration Tester

$112,000 avg. salary

Simulates real-world attacks against production systems, identifies exploitable vulnerabilities, and translates findings into concrete remediation plans.

Detection Engineer

$115,000 avg. salary

Builds the monitoring systems, alerting logic, and threat detection workflows that identify and contain security incidents before they become breaches.

What You'll Learn

You already know how to build software. This program adds cybersecurity to that foundation. Two phases, 14 months, and an apprenticeship running the entire time.

Not yet a Software Engineer? Check out the full Cyber Engineering Immersive

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Program Outline

14 months

Project-based learning

Flexible, online format

Work-integrated design

Industry mentorship

Instruction from a practitioner

Apply Now

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Phase 1: Cybersecurity

Introduction to Cybersecurity
Build a strong technical foundation covering computer hardware, basic networking, and virtualization. You'll explore core system components, gain hands-on experience in the Linux command line, and finish with a practical assessment that challenges you to locate hidden flags across Windows and Linux virtual machines. Catalog→
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Operating Systems and Networking
‍Learn to secure and troubleshoot computer systems and networks across Linux and Windows environments. You'll build a working understanding of networking concepts, operating system behavior, and common connectivity issues, finishing with an assessment that challenges you to diagnose and resolve real system and network problems. Catalog→
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System Hardening
Strengthen and secure systems against real-world threats across on-premise and cloud environments. You'll deepen your Linux skills, explore Active Directory security, and examine common attack vectors and mitigations, finishing with hands-on experience automating security tasks and monitoring system integrity. Catalog→
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Threat Intelligence
Learn how cyber threat intelligence is collected, analyzed, and applied to real-world security incidents. You'll work with frameworks including MITRE ATT&CK, turn raw security data into actionable insights, and explore how Governance, Risk, and Compliance considerations shape effective cybersecurity strategy. Catalog→
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SIEM and Threat Hunting
Learn to detect, investigate, and respond to security incidents using modern SIEM tools. You'll collect and correlate logs, apply threat intelligence, and practice proactive threat hunting techniques, finishing with a project that uses these methods to investigate and resolve a realistic cybersecurity incident. Catalog→
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Security Architecture and Frameworks
Learn to design and evaluate secure systems using industry frameworks and architectural principles. You'll assess vulnerabilities across networks, applications, and cloud environments and explore zero-trust design and network segmentation, finishing with a project that analyzes an IT architecture and recommends targeted mitigations. Catalog→
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Incident Response
Learn to respond to cybersecurity incidents using digital forensics techniques across Windows and Linux environments. You'll analyze malware, investigate compromised systems, perform memory forensics, and apply Python-based API security methods, finishing with a project that walks through a realistic incident from investigation to containment. Catalog→
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Penetration Testing
Learn the principles and practices of ethical hacking through techniques including reconnaissance, scanning, enumeration, social engineering, and post-exploitation. You'll work with industry-standard tools, including Nmap, Burp Suite, and Metasploit, finishing with a penetration testing project that simulates real-world attack scenarios. Catalog→
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Penetration Testing Applications
Expand your penetration testing skills into web applications, enterprise platforms, and mobile environments. You'll examine secure coding practices, Active Directory attack methods, credential dumping, and emerging topics like AI-driven attacks, finishing with a web application penetration testing project that brings these techniques together. Catalog→
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Phase 2: Capstone

Cyber Engineering Capstone
Bring together everything from the program to assess, respond to, and communicate cybersecurity risk in professional environments. You'll analyze network architectures, investigate vulnerabilities, design incident response strategies, and produce clear documentation suited to both technical and non-technical stakeholders, finishing with a portfolio that reflects how real security teams operate. Catalog→

The Economics

The Apprenticeship

When you enroll in an Accelerated Immersive, you're invited to apply to the Bletchley Fellowship, a nonprofit that works alongside Clarke and employers to enable our work-integrated education model. Fellows receive the Bletchley Scholarship, $3,000 applied directly to their tuition. The Fellowship also handles apprenticeship matching, connecting you with an employer on day one.

The apprenticeship pays approximately $26,000 over the course of the program. When you combine the scholarship and the apprenticeship earnings, most fellows net around $1,000 per month while they're in the program.

Learn More About the Bletchley Fellowship

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Costs

Tuition: $14,900
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Scholarship: $3,000
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Earnings: $25,900
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Net Income: $1,000/mo

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Built for You

The Accelerated Immersive is built for software engineers who are ready to add cybersecurity to their existing foundation. You already know how to build. This program gives you 14 months to build something new on top of that.

This program is a strong fit if you:

●   Are an early-career engineer and want to move into a cyber engineering role

●   Want to earn while you learn rather than pause your career to go back to school

●   Want to enter the job market with real experience, not just an academic credential

Not yet a Software Engineer? Check out the Cyber Engineering Immersive→

"I'd been writing code for four years. This program taught me how easily most of it could be exploited."

Coming in with an engineering background meant I could move fast through the fundamentals and get into the material that actually changed how I think. I write code differently now. I architect systems differently now.

Ryan Callahan

Charlotte, NC

"I didn't want a certification. I wanted to actually understand how attacks work at the systems level."

The penetration testing coursework was unlike anything I'd seen in self-directed learning. We were working against real systems, not contrived lab environments. That's what made it stick.

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Kelsey Morrison

New York, NY

"The apprenticeship running from day one was the part I was most skeptical about. It ended up being the whole point."

Doing real engineering work while studying security created a feedback loop I didn't expect. Every week I was finding things in my apprenticeship work that connected directly to what I was learning. You can't manufacture that in a classroom.

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Brett Lawson

Nashville, TN

"The economics made it possible. The mentorship made it worth it."

I ran the numbers before I applied and the scholarship and apprenticeship earnings made leaving my job feasible. But what I tell other engineers is that the depth of the security content is what separates this from everything else I looked at.

Young man with short hair wearing a green jacket outdoors with leafy background.

Jenna Hartley

Phoenix, AZ

"I'd been writing code for four years. This program taught me how easily most of it could be exploited."

Ryan Callahan

Charlotte, NC

"I didn't want a certification. I wanted to actually understand how attacks work at the systems level."

The penetration testing coursework was unlike anything I'd seen in self-directed learning. We were working against real systems, not contrived lab environments. That's what made it stick.

Kelsey Morrison

New York, NY

"The apprenticeship running from day one was the part I was most skeptical about. It ended up being the whole point."

Brett Lawson

Nashville, TN

"The economics made it possible. The mentorship made it worth it."

Jenna Hartley

Phoenix, AZ

"I'd been writing code for four years. This program taught me how easily most of it could be exploited."

Ryan Callahan

Charlotte, NC

"I didn't want a certification. I wanted to actually understand how attacks work at the systems level."

The penetration testing coursework was unlike anything I'd seen in self-directed learning. We were working against real systems, not contrived lab environments. That's what made it stick.

Kelsey Morrison

New York, NY

"The apprenticeship running from day one was the part I was most skeptical about. It ended up being the whole point."

Brett Lawson

Nashville, TN

"The economics made it possible. The mentorship made it worth it."

Jenna Hartley

Phoenix, AZ

Questions?

We Have Answers

What experience do I need to qualify?

You need a computer science degree or coding bootcamp certificate, and the ability to work in the United States without employer sponsorship. Most accepted students also have professional engineering experience, but it is not a formal requirement. If you write production code and are ready to commit to 40 hours per week, you are likely a strong candidate.

How does the apprenticeship work?

When you enroll, you are invited to apply to the Bletchley Fellowship, a nonprofit that works alongside Clarke to source and match apprenticeship placements. The Fellowship places you with an employer before your program begins. Your apprenticeship runs from week one alongside your coursework, and the earnings are structured to more than offset your tuition. The work is real engineering work, not simulated projects.

How is this different from learning on my own?

Self-directed learning gets you familiarity. This program gives you a structured curriculum, a mentor, applied coursework, and 14 months of work experience in an engineering context. The combination is what makes the difference when you are competing for roles against candidates with production exposure.

What credentials do I earn?

You earn a professional Cyber Engineering certificate from Clarke College upon completion. The credential reflects a full curriculum in cybersecurity and software engineering, not a short course or a participation certificate.

What kind of jobs will I be prepared for?

Graduates pursue roles including Security Engineer, Penetration Tester, and Detection Engineer. Average salaries for these roles range from $110,000 to $145,000.

Is this program open to international students?

Clarke's academic programs are open to students regardless of citizenship or work authorization. However, the Bletchley Fellowship and apprenticeship component require that students be authorized to work in the United States without employer sponsorship. If you are not currently authorized to work in the US, the Cybersecurity Certificate is available to you as an academic-only program without the apprenticeship requirement.

Can I do this program and keep my current job?

No. The program requires approximately 40 hours per week across coursework and apprenticeship work. The apprenticeship alone is 20 hours per week, paid, and structured as a real working commitment to an employer. This is a serious time investment, and the model only works if you are fully in. The good news is that the apprenticeship earnings and the Bletchley Scholarship are designed to make leaving your current job financially viable for the duration of the program.

Ready to Get Started?

Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. Cohorts start the first Monday of every month.

Apply Now

Have Questions? Contact Us

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