A Lesson in Cybersecurity Higher Ed with JMU's Neil Schloth

The field of cybersecurity higher education is changing as quickly as the threat landscape itself. Neil Schloth has a front-row seat to these shifts as an adjunct professor at James Madison University.

In this episode, Neil joins Adam and Cristian at Fal.Con Las Vegas 2026 to discuss what today’s students are learning — and how different it looks compared to when the three of them were breaking into the field. “Constantly updating the curriculum is key,” he emphasizes. Over time, his curriculum has evolved to span topics including API security, cloud security, risk and asset management, and security engineering and architecture, depending on the class level.

Training the next generation of security practitioners requires educators to stay current not only on what students should learn but how they should learn it. Programs that embrace hands-on experiences are the ones thriving. Students want to be in the weeds, working with their peers and learning from their mentors in person.

Of course, they now must also navigate AI. “It’s keeping educators, especially in this space, on their toes,” as Neil puts it. AI can be productive, but not in a way that limits students’ ability to understand what they’re taught. It’s driving a change away from final papers to final presentations as students learn to understand and communicate information in a compelling way.

Tune in to hear Adam, Cristian, and Neil discuss how cybersecurity education has changed since they got their start and what the future could hold.

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