UI receives $4.46M for cybersecurity student training scholarships

The University of Idaho received $4.46 million for cybersecurity training scholarships, according to a news release sent out Wednesday. UI’s Center for Secure and Dependable Systems acquired the funds through the National Science Foundation’s CyberCorps Scholarship for Service Program.

UI has taken part in the CyberCorps Scholarship for Service Program since 2001, and has garnered $20 million in funding. More than 110 students in the program have graduated with aid from the grant.

Participant’s tuition and degree-related fees will be financed fully by the program until 2026. Undergraduates are awarded an annual stipend of $25,000, and graduate students earn $34,000 annually. Additional funds are available to participants for student health insurance, professional development, books and other costs.

In addition to financial aid, students will receive opportunities in faculty-led research to investigate cybersecurity and cyberdefense issues. In the program, students are led by 15 faculty recognized for excellence in power engineering, information assurance, industrial control systems and transportation.

UI was the first institution in Idaho to offer a cybersecurity bachelor’s degree, and one of the first to offer a master’s program in the field in the Northwest, according to the news release. The university was one of the first five to be awarded this grant, and is one of three schools to receive continual funding.

The institution is a part of the first seven National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense, providing cybersecurity education for more than 30 years. Idaho State Board of Education approved UI’s Center for Secure and Dependable Systems in 1999 as a research entity in the College of Engineering.

Recently, the program was appointed as an academic support center lead in the Department of Defense University Consortium for Cybersecurity. The department was mandated congressionally by the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act to enable communication between institutions and the U.S. Secretary of Defense across the nation.

Since 2015, Idaho’s cybersecurity jobs have increased 160%, according to the news release.

“The SFS program is one important part of U of I’s ongoing role in meeting Idaho’s and the nation’s critical need for cybersecurity professionals,” Terence Soule, professor and chairperson of UI’s Department of Computer Science, stated in the release.