The National Science Foundation (NSF) plans to invest in eight new CyberCorps Scholarship for Service projects to address the demand for dedicated cybersecurity professionals, particularly in government agencies.
NSF will provide more than $29 million in scholarships to eight universities over the next five years. The investment, according to NSF, will increase the volume and strength of the nation’s cybersecurity workforce by providing full scholarships and stipends to students who agree to work in cybersecurity jobs for Federal, state, local, or tribal governments after graduation.
The CyberCorps Scholarship for Service program is designed to recruit and train the next generation of cybersecurity professionals to meet the increasing demand for cyber professionals. NSF partnered with the Department of Homeland Security and the Office of Personnel Management to provide institutions with funding towards scholarships for cybersecurity-related degree programs at two- and four-year colleges and universities.
To date, more than 3,458 students have received scholarships and committed to working for Federal, state, local or tribal government organizations in positions related to cybersecurity.
“The cybersecurity talent shortage remains a critical issue in the United States, with businesses and government agencies alike struggling to fill critical cybersecurity positions,” NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan said in a press release. “[And] as cyber threats continue to evolve in complexity, so must our approaches to cybersecurity education and our workforce.”
The 2022 awardees join the current 82 universities currently part of the NSF CyberCorps Scholarship for Service program, representing 37 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. The awardees plan to provide critical autonomous systems and artificial intelligence training, develop next-generation cybersecurity engineering, strengthen aviation and aerospace cybersecurity, and shape the cybersecurity workforce.
“These new CyberCorps Scholarship for Service projects engage diverse student populations and provide innovative and high-quality educational experiences that will ensure our nation is prepared to meet future cyber threats with a well-trained workforce,” Panchanathan said.
The 2022 Awardees are:
- Cyber Defense of Intelligent Systems, Oakland University.
- Preparing Future Cybersecurity Professionals with Data Science Expertise, Fordham University.
- Building the Next Generation Cybersecurity Engineering Workforce, Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis.
- Expanding and Strengthening the National Cybersecurity Workforce, the State University of New York at Binghamton.
- Cybersecurity Workforce Preparation in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, Georgia State University.
- Developing the Cybersecurity Workforce in West Tennessee, Mississippi, and Arkansas, University of Memphis.
- Preparing an Interdisciplinary Next-Gen Cybersecurity Workforce, University of Nevada, Reno.
- High-skilled Workforce Development for the Aviation and Aerospace Cybersecurity Domains, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
