Dear UNLV Lifelong Learning Cybersecurity Student,
We are reaching out in response to your concerns about the recent sudden and unexpected disruptions to your IronCircle/QuickStart Cybersecurity program offered through UNLV Lifelong Learning. We are very sorry for the inconvenience and stress this situation may have caused you. As noted in our previous messages, we were as taken aback and surprised by this unfortunate development as you and we’ve been working hard to identify options to make this right for you and our other students. As of today, UNLV has identified pathways to allow Iron Circle/QuickStart Cybersecurity students at UNLV to move forward with your educational and career goals. These two options are similar to your former cybersecurity program and geared toward helping you achieve your cybersecurity certification.
Option one: We are providing you the opportunity to transition into a cybersecurity program taught, delivered, supported, and administered exclusively by UNLV and UNLV employees. This non-credit, credential-based program will be offered through UNLV Lifelong Learning, and it will be based on portions of UNLV’s well recognized and highly effective credit bearing Interdisciplinary Cybersecurity B.S. Degree Program. This new non-credit program is not yet ready for enrollment, but students who were formerly enrolled in the IronCircle/QuickStart cybersecurity program through UNLV Lifelong Learning are invited to express your intent to register for the new Lifelong Learning program using the survey link below for our planning purposes.
The new UNLV non-credit bearing cybersecurity certificate program will begin sometime this fall, likely in October. UNLV plans to offer eligible students free access to the program for those who were enrolled in the IronCircle cybersecurity program through UNLV Lifelong Learning, and had active access remaining when the IronCircle platform became unavailable. Students who qualify will be able to complete a curriculum that is approximately equivalent to the one in which they were previously enrolled through IronCircle, although since we do not have access to your previous curriculum we cannot guarantee exact parity. We are, however, confident that our program will be as professional and robust, or far better than, the program you were previously enrolled in through IronCircle/QuickStart.
As part of our new program through UNLV Lifelong Learning, we will make every reasonable effort to help you build on the progress you made in the previous IronCircle program. While we cannot guarantee that every student will be able to resume at exactly the same point or that some review or repetition will not be necessary, our goal is to minimize any duplication whenever possible. Students in our new program will work with a UNLV Cybersecurity Program Transition Advisor to review your prior coursework and identify the most appropriate starting point within our new curriculum to align your engagement with our new credentialing program with your current knowledge, skills, and experience in the prior program.
Option Two: You have an opportunity to continue your cybersecurity education through QuickStart. As part of a January 2026 agreement, QuickStart agreed to support a teach-out process for eligible students who were actively enrolled in programs previously offered through IronCircle. Please note, UNLV is not partnered with QuickStart and any credential that they issue will not be co-branded with UNLV. However, we believe that our students should be aware of this option, as it may be available in the very near future and could provide continuity with your previous IronCircle training.
QuickStart has stated, “students who had active access remaining when the IronCircle Platform became unavailable may be eligible for placement into a comparable QuickStart [cybersecurity] educational offering.” Any former IronCircle student who wishes to be considered for the new QuickStart cybersecurity program should contact transition@quickstart.com or call (512) 559-7736 to speak with the Transition Support Line. QuickStart has additional helpful information on their transition process and answers to other questions that you may have on their IronCircle FAQ webpage.
QuickStart’s IronCircle FAQ webpage contains information on refunds for the money paid to IronCircle. They encourage students to direct all refund related questions to the party responsible for the original enrollment agreement. Students may contact: HUILiquidation@
Regardless of which option you choose, you may also be interested in continuing your cybersecurity studies and professional development by pursuing a credit-bearing cybersecurity degree at UNLV. UNLV currently offers two different cybersecurity degree programs, a four-year Bachelors Degree and a two-year Masters Degree. Both of these degrees are interdisciplinary, meaning that they’re offered jointly by the UNLV’s Howard R. Hughes College of Engineering and Lee Business School. Both are also taught in an online format.
UNLV’s four-year Bachelors of Science (BS) in Cybersecurity Degree is designed for students who have successfully completed high school, earned a GED, completed some college coursework without earning a bachelor's degree, or earned an associate degree. The two-year Masters of Science (MS) in Cybersecurity Degree is appropriate for students who have earned an undergraduate Bachelors Degree from a regionally accredited university. Both are traditional UNLV degree programs that follow a prescribed curriculum and require payment of standard university tuition and fees. Students enrolled in either program may be eligible for federal financial aid. For more information on either of UNLV’s cybersecurity degree programs, please email Dr. Greg Moody, Professor and Director of Cybersecurity Programs at gregory.moody@unlv.edu. In order to join either program, students must meet all UNLV admission criteria and be fully admitted to UNLV as a degree seeking student. You can apply for admission to UNLV here.
UNLV is committed to supporting you throughout this process. In order to understand enrollment demand and other factors, we ask that you complete this very short survey indicating which option you are interested in pursuing. Your answers to this survey are not binding, we are using the survey to generally gauge interest in each option.
UNLV is here for you. If you have any questions or concerns, please call Lifelong Learning at 702-895-3394 or contact Dr. Nicole Hudson, the Executive Director of UNLV Lifelong Learning, at nicole.hudson@unlv.edu. We will continue to provide regular updates as new information becomes available, and we will work through this challenge together. Thank you for your patience and perseverance.
Sincerely,
Nicole Hudson
Executive Director of Lifelong Learning, UNLV
Dr. Jake Thompson
Associate Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education and High Impact Practices, UNLV
Dr. Kate Korgan
Senior Vice Provost, UNLV