CYBERSECURITY EDUCATION$3.5 Million NSF Grant to Fund Cybersecurity Scholarships

Published 28 January 2022

A $3.5 million grant will fund new scholarships at Binghamton University over the next five years for two dozen students who plan to join the workforce as cybersecurity professionals. The NSF’s CyberCorps Scholarship for Service program trains the next generation of information technology experts and security managers.

A $3.5 million grant will fund new scholarships at Binghamton University over the next five years for two dozen students who plan to join the workforce as cybersecurity professionals.

The National Science Foundation’s CyberCorps Scholarship for Service (SFS) program is designed to recruit and train the next generation of information technology experts and security managers to meet the needs of federal, state, local and tribal governments. In return for their scholarships, recipients agree to work after graduation in government cybersecurity positions for a period equal to the length of their scholarships.

At Binghamton, the SFS program will be overseen by faculty members from the Department of Computer Science and the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Thomas J. Watson College of Engineering and Applied Science. If it is deemed a success, the NSF could award further funding.

There were about 465,000 open positions in cybersecurity nationwide in 2021, according to the tech job-tracking database CyberSeek. The SFS program seeks to help fill the gap, with a special emphasis on attracting people of diverse backgrounds to the profession.

Binghamton University President Harvey Stenger sees the CyberCorps program as one that takes advantage of several of the campus’ core strengths.

“We know there’s a huge need in this field for highly trained experts,” he said. “Binghamton has a longstanding commitment to first-generation students and scholars from underrepresented minorities. We also have a robust set of course offerings and scholarship related to cybersecurity. It’s exciting to know that Binghamton will play a part in diversifying this essential workforce.”

Bahgat Sammakia, vice president for research, said Binghamton’s faculty members understand that research and teaching reinforce each other.

“This dynamic program will provide exceptional professional preparation for our students while also advancing Binghamton’s research related to information security,” he said. “I see in my own work how student contributions enable exciting discoveries and how strong mentorship can set up students to succeed in college and far beyond.”

In 2020, the National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security named Binghamton a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Research (CAE-R) through 2025. The designation recognizes the work at the Center for Information Assurance and Cybersecurity (CIAC), led by computer science Associate Professor Ping Yang.