Grad student wins DOD Cyber Scholarship

The University of North Georgia (UNG) has one Department of Defense (DOD) Cyber Scholarship winner for the 2024-25 academic year. 

About 150 students nationwide were awarded these scholarships for 2024-25. 

"The DoD Cyber Service Academy helps some of our hardest-working cyber students earn their master's degree in one year by fully funding their tuition, fees, books, plus $34,000 in living expenses," Dr. Bryson Payne, professor of computer science and information systems and coordinator of student cyber programs, said. "Thanks to this scholarship grant, our students can graduate debt-free and with a high-paying job waiting for them in cybersecurity at a federal agency."

Because of the National Security Agency's (NSA) security requirements, recipients' names are not released. Payne was allowed to provide general facts about the scholar: 

• This is the student's second year earning the DOD Cyber Scholarship.
• He is pursuing a master's degree in computer science with a focus on machine learning and cyber operations and plans to graduate in August.
• He is a spring 2024 graduate with a bachelor's degree in cybersecurity.
• He was a member of UNG's Honors Program.
• He has published research in artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, and he has interned for the NSA at Fort Meade Headquarters in Maryland two summers in a row.
• He holds a top-secret/sensitive-compartmented-information clearance and plans to go to work for the NSA full time when he graduates.

The scholarship pays for summer internships and guarantees a job with the DOD for one year for each year of scholarship support received upon graduation. The DOD Cyber Scholarship is "designed to encourage the recruitment of the nation's top cyber talent and the retention of DOD personnel who have skills necessary to meet DOD's cyber requirements and help secure our nation against threats of information systems and networks," according to the DOD website. 

UNG is designated by the NSA and the Department of Homeland Security as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense. 

The mission of UNG's Institute for Cyber Operations is to develop highly capable cyber professionals and leaders for the private, nonprofit, military, and government sectors. UNG accomplishes this through innovative co-curricular opportunities, interdisciplinary research in emerging threats and solutions, relevant community outreach, and fostering a sustainable ecosystem to support cyber operations education.

Undergraduate and graduate students can learn more on UNG's DOD Cyber Scholarship webpage, and applications for the 2025-26 academic year open Nov. 1 on the DOD Emerging Technologies Talent Marketplace webpage.