Virginia Tech proposes to create the CyberCorps(R): Scholarship for Service (SFS) program targeting undergraduate students entering their third year of study and majoring in Computer Engineering and Computer Science. The program provides three years of funding to complete both a B.S. and M.S. through the existing Accelerated Undergraduate/Graduate program, as well as a graduate certificate in Cybersecurity. Scholarships are open to current students at Virginia Tech and students transferring from two-year programs within the Virginia Community College System (VCCS), with whom Virginia Tech has articulation agreements. The program requires a completion of the 18-credit completion graduate certificate in Cybersecurity including network/systems fundamentals, security, cyber law, and electives in cryptography and business aspects of cyber. The project is managed by the Hume Center for National Security and Technology using an apparatus already in place for awarding endowed national security scholarships and fellowships, including a dedicated support for monitoring and mentoring students, and a robust national security career placement program with personal connections to most cyber-related agencies, national labs, and FFRDCs. To fulfill the thesis requirement of the M.S. degree, students conduct research in cybersecurity in one of the six cyber-related labs at the university, including the IT Security Lab designed as a 'teaching hospital' for network security where student research projects can use the production campus network as a testbed for security research. The program provides a major advancement in cyber security education at Virginia Tech by incentivizing study in cybersecurity and by creating a pathway to federal employment. The Hume Center will work with the Center for Enhancement of Engineering Diversity to recruit and retain students from underrepresented populations. Students' graduate research is captured and disseminated through the University Library's VTechWorks. Curriculum and learning environments are available to K-12 and universities accessing the RAVE network nationwide.
