National Cybersecurity Training & Education (NCyTE) Center

The cybersecurity landscape is rapidly evolving, with increasingly sophisticated threats targeting all 16 critical infrastructure sectors (e.g., agriculture, communications, energy, financial, health, transportation, water). As nation-state threats and emerging technologies, such as generative AI and quantum computing, escalate risks across all sectors, the United States faces a widening gap in cybersecurity talent. Without sustained investment in scalable training, curricular innovation, and development of educators, America's national security, economic stability, and global competitiveness are at stake. The National Cybersecurity Training & Education (NCyTE) Center will expand the skilled workforce, develop and disseminate innovative curricula, and strengthen academia-industry partnerships. The center's strategic efforts will boost U.S. economic competitiveness, public digital resilience, and national defense. The NCyTE Center will pursue five strategic goals to strengthen the cybersecurity workforce: forging industry-education partnerships, empowering educators, expanding career pathways, developing secure AI-integrated curricula, and driving applied research. Key initiatives, including a National Cybersecurity Education Articulation Network, Career Guidance Toolkit, and multimedia outreach, will attract new talent and grow the pool of job-ready technicians. Faculty-focused programs such as mentorship networks, fellowships, and virtual learning communities will equip cyber and non-cyber educators across all critical sectors. Innovations such as a Curriculum GPT, national research consortia, and AI-integrated testbeds will elevate cybersecurity education and build a globally competitive STEM workforce. Like other ATE national centers, the NCyTE Center will support systemic reform, provide replicable models, mentor new projects, strengthen collaborations between two-year institutions and other sectors, promote technician careers, address evolving workforce competencies, and develop plans for sustainability beyond federal funding. This project is funded by the Advanced Technological Education program, which focuses on the education of technicians for the advanced-technology fields that drive the nation's economy. 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.