UMBC redesignated a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense

UMBC has been redesignated as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense (CAE-CD) through the academic year 2028.

The CAE-CD designation indicates that UMBC is helping reduce threats to our national infrastructure by promoting higher education and research in cyber defense and providing the nation with a pipeline of qualified cybersecurity professionals. UMBC is also designated as a Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Research (CAE-R), which signifies that UMBC increases the understanding of robust cyber defense technology, policy, and practices that will enable our Nation to prevent and respond to a catastrophic event.

The National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity (NCAE-C) program is managed by the National Cryptologic School at the National Security Agency. Federal Partners include the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)/National Initiative on Cybersecurity Education (NICE), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Defense Office of the Chief Information Officer (DoD-CIO), and US Cyber Command (CYBERCOM).

The NCAE-C program’s mission is to create and manage a collaborative cybersecurity educational program with community colleges, colleges, and universities that

  • Establishes standards for cybersecurity curriculum and academic excellence,
  • Includes competency development among students and faculty,
  • Values community outreach and leadership in professional development, 
  • Integrates cybersecurity practice within the institution across academic disciplines,
  • Actively engages in solutions to challenges facing cybersecurity education.

UMBC offers courses, a track, and concentrations focused on cybersecurity in its Computer Science and Information Systems programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels. In addition, UMBC has several major cybersecurity-oriented scholarship programs to prepare the next generation of cybersecurity professionals in an increasingly digital age, focusing on increasing the participation of women and other underrepresented groups in this fast-growing field. These include the UMBC Cyber Scholars program, CyberCorps: Scholarships For Service (SFS) program, and DOD Cyber Scholarship Program (CySP). Applications for SFS cybersecurity scholarships to begin in Fall 2022 are due via Scholarship Retriever by 12noon November 15, 2021.

UMBC also has professional cybersecurity programs that include certificate programs as well as a Master’s of Professional Studies (MPS) degree at its campuses in Catonsville (UMBC main campus) and Rockville (UMBC at the Universities at Shady Grove). UMBC Training Centers offers cybersecurity courses for both individuals and organizations.

Cybersecurity research at UMBC occurs in many of its laboratories and in the UMBC Center for Cybersecurity (UCYBR), which recently merged with UMBC’s original cybersecurity center, the UMBC Center for Information Security and Assurance (CISA).