A scholarship-for-service program will help master's degree students develop the cybersecurity skills they need to protect the critical infrastructure we all use. Larger photo. Photo courtesy of the College of Engineering.
AMES, Iowa – Iowa State University will again work with the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) to build America's CyberCorps.
The NSF recently announced $15 million in grants to four universities, including Iowa State, to support the CyberCorps Scholarship for Service program. The scholarships support students studying cybersecurity and committing to work in cybersecurity for federal, state, local or tribal governments, or other qualifying entities.
At Iowa State, the scholarships will provide $3.7 million over five years to support 24 students working toward a master's degree in cybersecurity. The scholarships will be worth about $50,000 per year for each student, covering full tuition plus a stipend.
"For nearly 25 years, the Scholarship for Service program has been addressing the nation's critical shortage of cybersecurity professionals in the field," said NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan, in a statement. "This next cohort, focusing on cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligence, autonomous systems security, next-generation wireless, cybersecurity for smart manufacturing and more, is posed to make significant contributions to our national and economic security."
Doug Jacobson – a University Professor, the Sunil and Sujata Gaitonde Professor in Cybersecurity and director of Iowa State's Center for Cybersecurity Innovation and Outreach – will lead the program at Iowa State. Project co-leaders include Manimaran Govindarasu, an Anson Marston Distinguished Professor in Engineering and the Murray J. and Ruth M. Harpole Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Berk Gulmezoglu, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering.
Jacobson said Iowa State was part of the scholarship for service program for about 20 years but stepped away several years ago to focus on developing an undergraduate major in cyber security engineering.
Now that the undergraduate program is enrolling about 180 students a year, Jacobson said the scholarship for service program will relaunch in the fall of 2025 as "CyberCorps Scholarship for Service: Training Iowa's Cyber Talents to Protect the Nation's Critical Infrastructure."
Iowa State's program will "address the national need for a well-trained cybersecurity workforce, particularly in critical infrastructure protection. This initiative will prepare students to secure essential systems, such as energy grids and telecommunications networks, that underpin the nation's safety and economy," according to a summary.
"This is a competitive program," Jacobson said. "To get funding again says quite a bit about our program. In the first 20 years we were part of it, we produced more than 80 students who worked for the federal government."
Now, he said, the undergraduate program can help feed graduate students into the rebooted scholarship program.
