CyberCorps Scholarship for Service (Renewal): Strengthening the Cybersecurity Workforce through an Emphasis on Diversity, Mentoring, and Career Success

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This project continues the CyberCorps® Scholarship for Service (SFS) program at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). During its lifetime the SFS program has increased the number of cybersecurity graduates entering the workforce and those working for the government. UTSA, a Hispanic-majority institution, will expand on these successes for a workforce segment historically underrepresented in the field: women, persons with disabilities, first-generation students, and persons from minority groups whose participation in cybersecurity is below their proportion in the overall population. This project enhances the infrastructure for the education and research of students in science, engineering, and information technology directly by supporting SFS scholars, and indirectly by attracting more students to the cybersecurity and artificial intelligence (AI) fields. The project's educational and career development activities will prepare a diverse group of future cybersecurity professionals to meet critical shortages in the government cybersecurity workforce. UTSA offers high-quality, multi-factored learning experiences in cybersecurity. Multiple degree options in cybersecurity are available through three different colleges (Sciences, Engineering, and Business). The SFS scholars will be mentored for academic and career success, offered experiential learning through real cybersecurity projects with organizations and communities, and encouraged to participate in hackathons and cybersecurity competitions or pursue research with faculty for learning beyond the classroom. Moreover, outreach activities will aim to increase awareness of the opportunities in cybersecurity and AI among high school, community college, four-year degree, and graduate students in the San Antonio region and throughout Texas. The project activities will lead to a more diverse set of cybersecurity graduates with a well-rounded education and confidence to pursue careers in government. This, in turn, will improve national security in two ways: (a) there will be more students working in government from groups who are underrepresented in the cybersecurity field, and (b) these well-trained students are likely to be productive quickly and be able to adapt to rapidly changing challenges in cybersecurity.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.