The National Security Agency/Central Security Service (NSA/CSS) and the National Cyber Security Division (NCSD) of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) today announced an agreement to expand the NSA Centers of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education, Program. The Program has been renamed the National Centers of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education. The partnership will strengthe n information assurance higher education programs to meet America's growing requirements for professional cyber security skills.
Established in May of 1998, the NSA Centers of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education Program is an education and outreach initiative intended to reduce vulnerabilities in the national information infrastructure by promoting higher education in information assurance and producing a growing number of professionals with information assurance expertise in various disciplines. To date, the Program has designated 50 universities in 26 states as Centers of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education. Universities designated as Centers are eligible to apply for scholarships and grants through both the Federal and Department of Defense Information Assurance Scholarship Programs.
Priority III of the President's National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace directs the federal government to foster training and education programs to support the nation's cyber security needs and to increase the efficiency of existing federal cyber security programs. The NSA/DHS agreement directly responds to these tasks by amplifying an existing, successful program and enhancing cooperation between the agencies.
"America is already reaping benefits from the current Centers. Graduates steeped in information assurance education are now entering the federal and greater American workforce. Those graduates, and graduates to come, are forming the cornerstone for America, taking cyber security to the very edges of the National Information Infrastructure and the Global Information Grid," said Daniel G. Wolf, Director, Information Assurance Directorate, National Security Agency. "This partnership with DHS fosters an even stronger relationship and resolve between our organizations to share programs and resources to better protect our fellow Americans."