State’s first CyberCorps scholarship program to be created at The Citadel

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The Citadel will use a new $2.8 million National Science Foundation grant to create the state’s first CyberCorps Scholarship for Service program.

The grant is the largest the school has been awarded to date, according to a news release.

The CyberCorps Scholarship for Service program will help The Citadel recruit and train cybersecurity professionals to meet the needs of government organizations. The program is linked with the national CyberCorps program offered by the National Science Foundation and co-sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies.

“This grant recognizes the value of The Citadel’s singularity — a 24/7 senior military college where the mission of developing principled leaders is blended with a multidisciplinary cybersecurity education,” said Darin Zimmerman, dean of the Swain School of Science and Mathematics at The Citadel.

Scholarships will be given to undergraduate students pursuing majors in computer science, cyber operations, intelligence, and security studies or criminal justice with a minor in cybersecurity. The scholarship recipients will be required to pursue employment with a government entity in a cybersecurity-related position, the release said.

“CyberCorps SFS at The Citadel will provide a steady supply of highly trained cybersecurity graduates for government positions over the next several years”, said professor Shankar Banik, head of the Department of Cyber and Computer Sciences at The Citadel.

Banik, who is also the principal investigator for The Citadel’s CyberCorps Scholarship for Service program, said participating cadets and students will also benefit from relationships between the college and federal and state entities such as the Naval Information Warfare Center Atlantic, CIA, Department of Defense, FBI and National Security Agency.