For many people who change careers, an advanced degree is a necessary step in breaking into another sector. At Fordham, several new graduate programs—and many long-standing options—offer the training and experience that can set grads on a path toward meaningful new work.
The stories below highlight cybersecurity, health administration, and social work—just a few of the Fordham programs preparing students to enter high-demand fields to address societal challenges. You can use our Graduate Degree Finder to learn about Fordham’s 130-plus graduate and advanced certificate programs, many of which reflect the growth of new industries.
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Shaping the Future of Health Care
Fordham offers several programs in the booming fields of health and medicine. The Master of Science in health administration, launched in 2018, is a one-year accelerated program that trains students in finance, communication and negotiation, operations, electronic medical records, regulatory issues, and ethics.
The program features bimonthly weekend classes at the Lincoln Center campus, and the cohort model brings together students with and without health care experience.
One student new to the field was Manny Linares, who graduated in 2019, one year after earning a bachelor’s degree in organizational leadership from Fordham while working as a groundsperson on the Rose Hill campus. He’s now an administrator at Bridge View Nursing Home in Queens. “I loved the fact that Fordham doesn’t just focus on equipping students at a high level to tackle the world’s challenges,” he says, “but asks ‘How will you serve people with this knowledge?’”
The program is designed to develop nimble, confident leaders, says program director Caroline Pogge, who has a doctorate in public health. “We want students to be able to say, ‘I know how to dig into a problem regardless of what that problem is.’”
Read more about Linares and other health administration graduates.
How to Become a Cybersecurity Engineer
For more than a decade, Fordham has been preparing students for careers in cybersecurity, a rapidly growing sector that needs well-trained people to fill an estimated 750,000 jobs in government, nonprofits, and industry in the U.S. alone.
Indhira Jaquez-Torres was working as a New York City public school teacher several years ago when she started Fordham’s master’s degree program in cybersecurity. Soon, she launched her second career on the strength of her studies and an IT security internship at Quest Diagnostics. Today, she’s an information security engineer at Mastercard, where she combines her teaching and cybersecurity skills to build a curriculum for the developers on her team.
“You’re never too old to do anything, and it’s going to give you life perspective,” Jaquez-Torres says of her decision to switch careers. “People say it’s harder to learn new things as an adult, but I feel like, because you have more pressure, you’re more equipped to learn things faster. There are more consequences and there’s a reason for why you’re doing things.”
Read more about Jaquez-Torres’s career journey.
Finding Purpose in the ‘Helping Professions’
Many professionals choose teaching, social work, and other time-honored “helping professions” for their second careers.
Christine Igarta was working as an assistant events coordinator at Google in 2013 when she realized she was more passionate about mentoring new colleagues than coordinating events. Listening to people’s stories and workplace struggles gave her a new sense of purpose.
She decided to apply to several master’s-level social work programs in New York City. “The vibe at Fordham was different,” she says. “They were very progressive, forward-thinking, and creative. I loved the energy.”
She graduated in 2015 and began her second career as a school social worker. She currently supports high-needs students at Peck Slip School in Manhattan. “Being in my 10th year and seeing where my graduate school classmates ended up and what they’ve become in their careers is still inspiring,” Igarta says. “It’s irreplaceable.”
Read more about Igarta’s transition to social work.
Military Veteran Launches Social Work Career
Ask John Brutzman and he’ll tell you that military veterans like him make good social workers. Especially, he says, when working with populations put in intense situations, like the student-athletes he has counseled as a social work intern with Fordham’s Department of Athletics.
“There’s a significant amount of pressure to perform, and we want to [provide]holistic care for them in the best way possible,” says Brutzman, who earned a Master of Social Work degree from Fordham’s Graduate School of Social Service in May. “What they’re going through, I find that it’s really comparable to the military experience.”
Brutzman served in the Vermont National Guard’s heavy weapons unit for six years, including with its psychological health department during his final year. Looking ahead, he hopes to continue the kind of work he did at Fordham in a position with a professional or college sports team.
Brutzman says Fordham’s Veterans Center was pivotal to his success as a grad student. Through the Yellow Ribbon Program, Fordham covers 100% of tuition and fees for eligible Post-9/11 GI Bill veterans and their dependents, with no cap on enrollment—one of many reasons Military Times ranked the University the top college in New York state for veterans.
Brutzman says he also felt at home on campus because he’s the 15th member of his extended family to attend the University—although the first to get an M.S.W. “Every Fordham reunion is kind of like a family reunion,” he jokes.
