Embry-Riddle Offering Almost $4 Million In Cybersecurity Scholarships

Daytona Beach, FL – Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University joins a national effort to build on aviation and aerospace cybersecurity, and they have almost $4 million worth of scholarships for cybersecurity students. The $3.875 million that’s been earmarked for scholarships comes to Embry-Riddle after they were one of eight schools selected by the National Science Foundation (NSF), who is also sponsoring the project. That money will go towards 20 full-ride scholarships—split amongst 16 undergraduates and four graduate students—for students studying aviation and aerospace cybersecurity. The grant given to Embry-Riddle will help address an urgent need for cybersecurity professionals, especially those in the government sector.  “Embry-Riddle has this unique capability in the safety-critical domain of aviation and aerospace cybersecurity,” said Professor Dr. Radu Babiceanu, who is also the principal investigator on the NSF-sponsored project professor. “Our students have the opportunity to really make a significant difference in the cybersecurity of transportation, as well as of satellite data and radar systems.” According to Babiceanu, the scholarships will pay for the full tuition and fees to attend Embry-Riddle. They also include two years of stipends, plus travel funds for students to attend job fairs, symposiums, or conferences related to their field. The scholarships also come with a commitment.  Students who receive the scholarship must also commit to work in the cybersecurity field for federal, state, local, or tribal governments for the same duration as their scholarship once they graduate. ERAU’s proposal to the NSF also promises to recruit a diverse group of recipients. The program also goes beyond the Daytona Beach campus, and includes ERAU’s campus in Prescott, Arizona. “The cybersecurity talent shortage remains a critical issue in the United States, with businesses and government agencies alike struggling to fill critical cybersecurity positions,” said NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan. A December report from TechBeacon.com says while the world hired an additional 700,000 cybersecurity workers year-over-year, there’s still a demand for labor. According to a map from CyberSeek.org, which provides data on the demand for cybersecurity, Florida has nearly 30,300 job openings in cybersecurity, while other states like Texas and California have over 60,000 openings each. Shortages in the cybersecurity sector can lead to an increased risk of systems being misconfigured while proper risk assessment and management suffers from a lack of workers. Despite the need, job boards like Indeed report an increase in interest for cybersecurity positions.