Who IS A CAE?

Centers of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity are institutions that have met rigorous requirements, and through careful evaluation are designated as CAE in Cybersecurity. An institution or program must apply to be a CAE every five academic years. Students attending CAE-CD and CAE-R schools are eligible to apply for scholarships and grants through the Department of Defense Information Assurance Scholarship Program and can apply for the Federal Cyber Service Scholarship for Service Program. CAE in Cybersecurity institutions receive formal recognition from the U.S. Government as well as opportunities for prestige and publicity in return for their role in supporting our Nation's information systems.

WHAT IS A CAE-CYBER DEFENSE?

CAE- Cyber Defense (CD) is a program that aims to reduce vulnerability in our national information infrastructure by promoting higher education and research in CD. CAE-CD produces a growing number of professionals with CD expertise in various disciplines.The National Centers of Academic Excellence in CD programs are sponsored by the NSA and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Designation as a CAE does not carry a commitment for funding from NSA or DHS.

WHAT IS A CAE-CYBER OPERATIONS?

The CAE-Cyber Operations(CO) program is in support of the President's National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE): Building a Digital Nation and furthers the goal to broaden the pool of skilled workers capable of supporting a cyber-secure nation. The CAE-CO program is intended to be a deeply technical, inter-disciplinary, higher education program with a particular emphasis on technologies and techniques related to specialized cyber operations (e.g., collection, exploitation, and response), critical to intelligence, military and law enforcement organizations authorized to perform these specialized operations.

NATIONAL CENTERS OF ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE IN CYBERSECURITY (CAE-C)

  • NSA/DHS National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education (CAE-CDE).
    • Applicable to regionally accredited four-year institutions, graduate-level universities and DoD schools.
  • NSA/DHS National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Two-Year Education (CAE-2Y).
    • Applicable to regionally accredited two-year community college, technical schools, state or federally endorsed Cybersecurity training centers and U.S. Government Cybersecurity training centers.
  • NSA/DHS National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Research (CAE-R).
    • Applicable to PhD producing regionally accredited, degree granting four-year institutions or DoD schools rated either as a Doctoral University – Highest Research Activity (R1), Doctoral University-Higher Research University (R2), or Doctoral University-Moderate Research Activity (R3) as determined by the Carnegie Foundation Basic Classification System.
  • The National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cyber Operations (CAE-CO)
    • Applicable to institutions that provide deeply technical, inter-disciplinary programs firmly grounded in the computer science (CS), computer engineering (CE), and/or electrical engineering (EE) disciplines.