As new privacy regulations require companies to improve how they handle user privacy, more and more working professionals are seeking formal training in privacy engineering.

"While we've offered a full-time master's degree program in privacy engineering since 2013, until now we haven't had an option for those seeking privacy engineering training while continuing to work," said CyLab's Lorrie Cranor, co-director of CMU's Privacy Engineering Program and a professor in the Institute for Software Research (ISR) and the Engineering and Public Policy Department.

Now, CMU has two flexible options for privacy engineering education and training. The first will allow working professionals to pursue the Master of Science in Information Technology — Privacy Engineering (MSIT-PE) part-time and remotely. Depending on the number of courses taken per semester, the program can be completed in two to four years.

"Working professionals no longer need to quit their jobs and move to Pittsburgh to pursue this degree and receive the training they need," said CyLab's Norman Sadeh, co-director of the Privacy Engineering Program and a professor in the ISR.

For working professionals who can't commit to a part-time master's program, CMU will also offer a privacy engineering certificate that can be obtained remotely. The program comprises a combination of mini-tutorials, class discussions and hands-on exercises aimed at delivering the fundamentals of privacy engineering.

"The idea behind the privacy engineering certificate is that working professionals can learn the key concepts in privacy engineering on the weekend over the course of just two months," Sadeh said.

The certificate program is available to individual students as well as cohorts of 15-25 students from a single organization.

According to the International Association of Privacy Professionals, privacy engineers in the U.S. earn an average salary of $136,000. Those with a privacy technologist certification earn more than $170,000.

"Graduates from our privacy engineering programs will be well equipped to compete in this emerging, fast-growing job market," Cranor said.