What is the CAE in Cybersecurity (CAE-C) Community National Center?

The CAE-C Community National Center is a grant administered through California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB) to support more than 400 CAE-C institutions in developing a robust national cybersecurity workforce.

What are the primary functions of the CAE-C Community National Center?

The Center provides technical and logistical support for CAE events, activities, and curriculum; maintains a portal of CAE resources for institutions and regions nationwide; and engages strategic initiatives in research, student and faculty development, diversity, and workforce development.

Which Communities of Practice does the National Center support?

The Center directly supports the CAE Cyber Research (CAE-R), Cyber Defense (CAE-CD), and Cyber Operations (CAE-CO) Communities of Practice, aligning academia, industry, and government to advance workforce competencies.

What are the INSuRE and NICE Challenge projects?

INSuRE (Information Security Research and Education) connects student research teams with government and national lab technical directors to address real-world cybersecurity problems. The NICE Challenge Project is a national educational cyber range aligned to the NIST SP 800-181 workforce framework and is used by more than 450 colleges and universities.

Does the National Center engage in additional research initiatives?

Yes. The Center partners in research efforts such as a cybersecurity post-secondary education resource directory and a feasibility study exploring the creation of a high school Centers of Academic Excellence program.

Who is the Director of the CAE-C Community National Center?

Dr. Tony Coulson serves as Director. Contact: tcoulson@caecommunity.org.

Mission Statement

Serve as the focal point between the DoD and academia coordinating requirements to strengthen national security by inspiring the next generation of cyber talent through academic engagement supporting force readiness.

Vision Statement

DoW is the world’s dominant cyber force and employer of choice for top cyber talent.

CAEO Program Overview

The CAEO currently oversees 6 Department of War cyber academic programs:

Cyber Service Academy (CSA): Scholarship-for-Service program funding post-secondary students in exchange for employment in the DoW.
National Centers of Academic Excellence for Cybersecurity (NCAE-Cs): Designates universities and colleges as excellent in Cyber Defense, Cyber Operations, Cyber Research, and Artificial Intelligence.
National Defense University College of Information and Cyberspace (NDU-CIC): Provides civilian and military graduate students with certificate training and leadership development.
Senior Military Colleges Cyber Institutes (SMCs): Offers SMC students opportunity to participate in the Cyber Leader Development Program (CLDP) to build DoW cyber skills.
Virtual Institutes for Cyber and Electromagnetic Spectrum Research and Employ (VICEROY): Provides college students with mentors, coursework, certifications, experiential learning, and DoW internships (MAVEN and ENVOY).
University Cyber Consortia (UC2): Provides undergraduate and graduate students with hands-on research opportunities.

About Us

The 21st-century battlespace is defined by data, networks, and algorithms. To defend the nation and its interests, the Department of War (DoW) must cultivate a cyber workforce of unparalleled skill, adaptability, and integrity.

To forge the essential partnership between the defense enterprise and academia required to meet this challenge, the DoW established the Cyber Academic Engagement Office under the authority of Section 1531 of the FY24 NDAA.

Guided by the mandate in Section 1514 of the FY26 National Defense Authorization Act, the Cyber Academic Engagement Office is leading the development of a national defense-focused cyber education ecosystem.

Our mission is to partner with academic leaders to co-develop curricula and formally designate institutions that serve as national centers of excellence in cybersecurity.

Cyber Academic Engagement Office (CAEO)

Sponsoring Organization: Department of War, Chief Information Officer (DOW CIO)

Program Leads

Mr. Mark Gorak

Director

Mr. Scott Nelson

Acting Principal Director

Dr. Zoe Fowler

Academic Outreach Director