What is the CAE Candidates National Center (CCNC)?

The CAE Candidates National Center (CCNC) serves as the entry point for colleges and universities seeking Academic Validation or NCAE-C designation, providing mentoring, resources, guidance, and application support throughout the candidacy process.

What support does the CCNC provide to candidate institutions?

The CCNC offers mentoring, advisory support, and access to resources to help institutions prepare for academic validation or NCAE-C designation. Candidate institutions must obtain mentor endorsement before applying for designation.

How does Whatcom Community College support the CCNC mission?

Whatcom Community College plays a lead role in the National Science Foundation’s Advanced Technical Education (ATE) National Center, NCyTE (National Cybersecurity Training & Education Center), enabling applicants to benefit from both NCAE-C and NCyTE expertise and resources.

What is the goal of the CAE Candidates National Center?

The ultimate goal is to improve and expand cybersecurity education nationwide to meet the cybersecurity workforce needs of the nation.

What are CAE challenge coins for graduates?

The CNC at Whatcom Community College offers institutions the opportunity to create customizable CAE challenge coins to honor graduating students who successfully complete a CAE-designated program. Coins feature the school’s name on one side and the CAE seal on the other.

Who can I contact for more information about the CCNC or challenge coins?

Stephen Troupe, Associate Director, CAE Candidates Program National Center, Whatcom Community College.

About Us

The CAE Candidates National Center (CCNC) serves as the entry point for colleges and universities seeking Academic Validation or designation through the National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity (NCAE-C) program. The CCNC provides structured support throughout the process, including mentoring, pre-submission reviews, guidance, and access to resources to help institutions successfully prepare for validation and designation. Candidate institutions must receive CCNC mentor endorsement prior to submitting for designation, ensuring readiness and alignment with program requirements.

Through its leadership at Whatcom Community College, the CCNC is closely aligned with the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Advanced Technological Education (ATE) National Center, the National Cybersecurity Training & Education Center (NCyTE). This connection allows participating institutions to benefit from both NCAE-C program support and NCyTE’s broader educational resources, tools, and community.

The overall goal of the CCNC is to strengthen and expand cybersecurity education across the nation, supporting institutions in developing high-quality programs that contribute to a skilled and prepared cybersecurity workforce.

CCNC Impact

From 2021 through 2025, the CAE Candidates National Center (CCNC) has supported a total of 563 Program of Study (PoS) validations and 544 CAE-C designations, demonstrating the scale and impact of the program across the national cybersecurity education community.

During this same period, the program achieved an approximate 97% peer review pass rate, based on December 2025 data. This reflects a substantial improvement from historical pass rates of approximately 25–30% prior to the implementation of the structured mentoring and pre-submission review model, as noted by the National CAE Program Office at NSA.

In total, 1,138 applications were approved to proceed to peer review, while only 31 applications did not pass the peer review stage. These outcomes highlight the effectiveness of the CCNC’s comprehensive support model, which focuses on mentoring, guided application development, and quality assurance prior to submission.

Together, these results demonstrate the program’s success in improving application quality, increasing institutional success rates, and strengthening the national cybersecurity workforce pipeline.