According to a news release this week, the university announced its Future Cyber Defenders Scholars Program and Future Cyber Defenders Scholarship, which will provide undergraduate students up to $1,500 per semester in scholarship awards for enrolling in qualifying engineering and information sciences cybersecurity certificates or degree programs. The announcement said the Future Cyber Defenders Scholarship will be available for the November 2022 and January 2023 sessions.
“It’s no secret that our nation is facing a tremendous gap in skills related to data protection and security, leaving many organizations vulnerable to sophisticated cyber attacks,” Tom Monahan, president and CEO at DeVry University, said in a public statement. “With the implementation of our Future Cyber Defenders Scholars Program and Future Cyber Defenders Scholarship, we aim to address this growing need and make upskilling and reskilling more accessible for cyber professionals and their employers.”
According to data from Cybersecurity Ventures cited in the announcement, there will be 3.5 million cybersecurity job openings globally in 2025. The new scholarship program comes as other universities continue to expand cybersecurity programming to meet the demand, such as the University of Hawaii, which announced new cybersecurity internships last year, or Benedict College in South Carolina, which recently launched a master’s degree in cybersecurity, and new cybersecurity training programs at Texas A&M University.
The announcement said the Future Cyber Defenders Scholars Program aims to grow the supply of talent needed to fill those positions through training and networking opportunities, scholarships and resources to help them get hired. It added that the program “will make relevant, industry-related content more accessible to scholars through promoted events, expert insights and discussions, and will foster peer-to-peer engagement within the cyber community.”
“The Future Cyber Defenders Scholars Program and Future Cyber Defenders Scholarship are crucial programs for DeVry to reach current and aspiring cybersecurity professionals and provide them with the necessary resources to advance the industry,” added Shantanu Bose, provost and chief academic officer at DeVry University. “In this time of ever-evolving talent needs, upskilling and reskilling programs — and financial support — are critical to ensuring our workforce has access to the training required to level up in their desired career and protect against cyber threats.”
The university also announced the launch of its Nonprofit Cyber Grant program in Atlanta, which will invite professionals from Atlanta-area nonprofit organizations to participate in cybersecurity training courses to better prepare their organizations to defend against cyber attacks. The Nonprofit Cyber Grant cohort will include professionals from Communities In Schools, Multi-Agency Alliance for Children (MAAC) and Wellspring Living, according to the announcement.
