CSIS News

December 10, 2018

Now Accepting Applications for the DoD Cyber Scholarship Program

The Center for Secure Information System and the Department of Information Sciences and Technology are now accepting applications for the 2019-2020 Department of Defense (DoD) Cybersecurity Scholarship Program (CySP). The Department of Defense will provide students selected as Cyber Scholars with a full-ride scholarship including the following benefits:

• Full cost of tuition and books
  
• Required fees (including health care for PhD students)
  
• A laptop, which the student can keep upon termination of the scholarship
  
• A stipend of $25,000 for undergraduate students and $30,000 for graduate (Master’s/PhD) students.
  
• Internship opportunities and guaranteed employment with a DoD agency upon graduation.
  

Students falling into one of the following categories may apply:

• Juniors, Seniors pursuing a Bachelor’s degree (Sophomores promoting to a Junior in Fall 2019 are eligible to apply)
  
• Students in their first or second year of a Master’s degree;
  
• Students pursuing doctoral degrees
  

Applicants must meet the following requirements to be eligible:

• Must be 18 years of age or older
  
• Must be a citizen of the United States at the time of application
  
• Must be enrolled (or accepted for enrollment) at George Mason University for the 2019-2020 academic year
  
• Must be pursuing a course of study and/or have a declared major in one of the scientific, technical, or managerial disciplines related to cyber or with a concentration in cybersecurity
  
• Must have a 3.2 GPA (undergraduate) or a 3.5 GPA (graduate), or an analogous rank based on a comparable scale
  
• Must be able to obtain a security clearance (but not required to obtain security clearance before applying)
  
• Must agree to work for the DoD, after graduation, as a civilian employee for one calendar year for each academic year for which financial assistance (scholarship) is received
  

To submit an application, compile all the required documents, in the order indicated below, into a single PDF file and e-mail it to Dr. Albanese (malbaes@gmu.edu), Dr. Rytikova (irytikov@gmu.edu), and Dr. Islam (kislam2@gmu.edu). Name the file LASTNAME_FirstName_George_Mason_University.PDF, and include:

1. The completed DoD CySP New Student Application (fill out and sign Attachment D). The form must be electronically filled out. Hand-written applications will not be accepted.
   • Dowloand Attachement D: Returning Student Application (7 pages)
   • Dowloand Attachement D: New Student Application (10 pages)
2. Official Transcripts (scanned from an official hardcopy) from all colleges and universities attended.
3. Resume (2 pages), including:
• Education: degrees, institution, location, date of graduation (or expected date of graduation); major/minor fields; GPA
• Experience: jobs, internships, and/or volunteer work. Include name of company, position, and dates employed. List at least three important tasks, accomplishments, or skills gained at each job. Also identify any clearance level held. It is important that you identify the number of hours per week you worked.
• Skills: include computer systems; programs which you are proficient. Include foreign languages. List any other skills, certifications, clearance levels you may hold.
4. Separate sheet highlighting recognitions, honors and awards (see instructions on page 5 of Attachment D).
5. Two Letters of Reference from persons knowledgeable of your potential for successful learning, as well as your knowledge and ability. At least one of these letters must be from a current faculty member (or a most current faculty member), and the second letter may be from either a current or former faculty member, or a current or former employer. See page 5 of Attachment D for instructions about the content of Letters of Reference.
6. Competency Statement (see instructions on page 6 of Attachment D).

In addition to the above electronic documents, please deliver original transcripts in sealed envelopes to one of the faculty named above. The Department of Defense needs to verify that the transcripts are not counterfeit. We recommend that you get multiple copies of your transcript. You can deliver a sealed copy to us, and use another copy to scan it for inclusion in the PDF document.

The deadline to submit applications is February 11, 2019, but we encourage students to submit their applications as early as possible to receive feedback from us and increase their chances of being selected for the scholarship.