Federal Cyber Service: Scholarship for Service (SFS) program

[Paco Tomei]

The Federal Cyber Service: Scholarship for Service (SFS) program seeks
to increase the number of qualified students entering the fields of
information assurance and computer security and to increase the
capacity of the United States higher education enterprise to continue
to produce professionals in these fields to meet the needs of our
increasingly technological society. The SFS program is composed of two
tracks:

· The Scholarship Track provides funding to colleges and
universities to award scholarships to students in the information
assurance and computer security fields. Scholarship recipients shall
pursue academic programs in information assurance for the final two
years of undergraduate study, or for two years of master's-level
study, or for the final two years of Ph.D.-level study. These students
will participate as a cohort during their two years of study and
activities, including a summer internship in the Federal Government. A
limited number of students may be placed in National Laboratories and
Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs). This
number shall be set by the program office each year. (See
http://www.firstgov.gov/Agencies.shtml for a list of Federal
organizations, see http://www.science.doe.gov/National_Laboratories/
for a list of National Laboratories, see http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/ffrdc/
for a list of FFRDCs.) The recipients of the scholarships will become
part of the Federal Cyber Service of Information Technology
Specialists whose responsibility is to ensure the protection of the
United States Government's information infrastructure. Upon
graduation, after their two-year scholarships, recipients will be
required to work for two years in the Federal Government. A limited
number of students may be placed in National Laboratories and
Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs). This
number shall be set by the program office each year.

· The Capacity Building Track provides funds to colleges and
universities to improve the quality and increase the production of
information assurance and computer security professionals.
Professional development of information assurance faculty and
development of academic programs can be funded under this track.

http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2010/nsf10505/nsf10505.htm

Proposals may only be submitted by the following:

· For the Scholarship Track, the proposing organization must be
an accredited U.S. university or college that either (1) has been
designated by the National Security Agency and the Department of
Homeland Security as a Center of Academic Excellence in Information
Assurance Education (CAE/IAE or CAE-R) or (2) has an information
assurance program that meets criteria similar to those necessary for
CAE/IAE designation. (See

http://www.nsa.gov/ia/academic_outreach/nat_cae/cae_iae_program_criteria.shtml
for CAE/IAE criteria.)

· For the Capacity Building Track, the proposing organization
may be either an accredited U.S. university or college or a
consortium. The lead institution in a proposing consortium must
either (1) have a CAE/IAE designation or (2) have an information
assurance program that meets criteria similar to those necessary for
CAE/IAE designation. (See

http://www.nsa.gov/ia/academic_outreach/nat_cae/cae_iae_program_criteria.shtm
l for CAE/IAE criteria.)