More community colleges are offering four-year degrees, including in San Diego

While it seems cyberattacks and data breaches are becoming for common, there's some help on the way to stop criminals in their tracks. San Diego City College is one of the first community colleges in our region offering a four-year degree in cybersecurity.

“There's threats all over,” said Theresa Savarese, chair of City College's information technology department. “It's really kind of a scary world in many ways.”

Terrell McClain, a college lab technician, says technology's modernization made it easier to target systems.

"Before, if a person was trying to see some kind of information, they would have to get inside a building, get to where the information was located and then take it," McClain said. "Now, people are sitting behind desks and able to do it from home."

One student says she was once a hacking victim herself when someone got into her email account.

“I noticed history that was not mine,” Julia Aarons-Stridh, a junior, said. “I was able to find they were actually logged in to their school account, so I saw their full name and all the classes they were taking.”

City College is teaching her how to stop even the hackers who won't leave a trail.

"I plan to work for the government, on the blue side," she said.

In case you didn't know, there's a blue side and a red side. The blue side works to defend, as the red side tries to hack its systems. Iron sharpens iron.

Alex Lopez, a junior, doesn't mind if he's team red or blue. He's just happy for the degree.

"It's a bachelor's offered at a community college, meaning it's offered at community college prices," Lopez said.

Three years ago, California Gov. Gavin Newsom allowed community colleges to offer bachelor's degrees. It's been picking up steam since, and it has its perks: students get cheaper tuition, supplies and sometimes smaller class sizes.

All that while still becoming the public's cyber line of defense against attacks.

"We're very happy," Savarese said. “We're very proud, and it's really exciting. And in two years, we'll have our first graduates.”

In two years, City College’s first class in cybersecurity will graduate. Next year, San Diego Miramar College will offer a four-year degree in public safety.