CyberCorps Scholarship for Service (Renewal): Cultivating Diverse Cybersecurity Perspectives

Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) will further advance its successful decade-long participation in the CyberCorps ® Scholarship for Service (SFS) program. The goal is to equip the next generation of professionals to join and excel in the government cybersecurity workforce. The SFS program at RIT will develop thirty scholars with dual degrees: a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in Computer Science, Cybersecurity, or Software Engineering, along with an MS degree in Cybersecurity, with a recommended focus on Cyberanalytics. Additionally, three Ph.D. graduates will fulfill the cybersecurity research or teaching needs of the nation, reflecting RIT’s designation as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Research. Armed with crosscutting expertise across cybersecurity, these 33 scholars will be prepared to assume key roles at federal executive agencies, dedicated to serving, securing, safeguarding, and enhancing our nation’s cyber infrastructure. The faculty mentors and scholars of the Scholarship for Service (SFS) program at RIT come from three computing departments – computer science, software engineering, and cybersecurity – in RIT's B. Thomas Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences. The unique focus of each department, along with the diverse expertise of the faculty mentors, enriches the scholars’ educational experiences. This includes their coursework, cohort experiences, research opportunities, and internships, fostering a learning environment that encourages knowledge exchange among scholars themselves. RIT SFS program will build on previous successes in cybersecurity outreach efforts to local schools with minoritized groups in computing and cybersecurity. RIT’s SFS program will continue to broaden the participation of women in cybersecurity by partnering with the college's active Women in Computing group, as well as the annual Women in Cybersecurity (WiCyS) and Grace Hopper Celebration conferences. RIT’s SFS graduates, who come from a variety of backgrounds and possess diverse talents, will dynamically respond to and address national cybersecurity challenges. This project is supported by the CyberCorps® Scholarship for Service (SFS) program, which funds proposals establishing or continuing scholarship programs in cybersecurity and aligns with the U.S. National Cyber Strategy to develop a superior cybersecurity workforce. Following graduation, scholarship recipients are required to work in cybersecurity for a federal, state, local, or tribal Government organization for the same duration as their scholarship support. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.