The National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security have jointly announced the designation of 12 institutions as National Centers of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education (CAE/IAE) for the years 2011 through 2016 and the designation of three institutions as National Centers of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Research (CAE-R).
NSA and DHS also announced the completion of the second year of the National Centers of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance 2-year Education (CAE2Y) Program. This effort recognizes institutions that serve as models for two-year schools by providing innovative comprehensive and multidisciplinary education and training in the information assurance/cybersecurity field. Seven community colleges received this designation for the years 2011 through 2016.
The centers - which span 40 states, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico - are recognized leaders in information assurance and cybersecurity. Graduates of the programs often develop into cyber experts who help to protect national-security information systems, commercial networks, and critical information infrastructure in both the private and public sectors - meeting the increasingly urgent needs of the U.S. government, industry, and academia.
The 2011 announcement brings the number of participating institutions to 118 CAE/IAEs; 50 in the research category; and 13 in the two-year program. (Thirty-six institutions are designated as both CAE/IAE and CAE-R.) The complete list of 145 centers and details about the efforts are available here. The 2011 designees are listed in the Fact Sheet that follows this press release.
All of the designations are valid for five academic years, after which the college or university must successfully re-apply. The NSA-DHS partnership was formed in 2004 in response to the 2003 National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace. The CAE-R program was added in 2007 to encourage universities and students to pursue research, development, and innovation in information assurance and cybersecurity. Colleges and universities designated as CAE/IAEs and CAE-Rs are eligible to apply for scholarships and grants through both the federal and Department of Defense Information Assurance Scholarship Programs.
More information about the National Security Agency is available online at NSA.gov.