There’s a shortage of people trained in computer-information security and the lack of course offerings in the field at Northern Colorado universities isn’t helping.

Like other higher-education institutions throughout the country, Colorado State University and the University of Northern Colorado offer few courses dedicated to information security. Neither offers a degree program in the specialty.

Outside of public universities, more expensive options exist. Colorado Technical University offers bachelor’s degree programs in information security in Denver, Colorado Springs and Pueblo, as well as online. But students at CTU pay a range of $35,000 to $39,000 for a degree. By comparison, Colorado State resident undergraduates pay about $32,000 for tuition while UNC students pay $26,500.

Meanwhile, with demand high, unemployment in IT security remains low. In 2008, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said it expected employment of computer and information systems managers to have grown 17 percent by 2018, which is faster than average for all other occupations.

Dan Holt, general manager of HEIT, an information-security company in Fort Collins owned by Paducah, Ky.,-based Computer Services Inc.,