Scholarship Description:
UCF has obtained a Scholarship-for-Service grant from National Science Foundation (UCF-Today news) in Feb. 2021. Starting from Fall 2023, for the third cohort we will provide this SFS scholarship to 6 to 9 undergraduate and graduate students who focus their study in a cybersecurity program or courses, and/or research. The undergraduate applicants include students currently in the following degree programs: BS CS, BS IT, BS CpE. The MS graduate applicants include students that will enroll in the following programs starting Fall 2022: MS DF (Digital Forensics), and MS CSP (Cyber Security and Privacy).
Benefit: The SFS scholarship includes academic-year stipend of $25,000 per year for undergraduate students and $34,000 per year for graduate students, and additionally covers tuition and fees, plus a professional allowance of up to $6,000 per academic year for SFS Job Fair and other travel, books, professional certifications, etc. The scholarship normally lasts for two years. Students will also be provided with research opportunities with the Cyber Security and Privacy Cluster faculty members.
Commitment: All scholarship recipients must work after graduation for a federal, state, local, or tribal Government organization in a position related to cybersecurity for a period equal to the length of the scholarship. Students are required to take government internship positions in the summer between their first and second year of scholarship study. UCF and US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) will help matching students with the internship opportunities. Students agree to have a background check by the government.
Qualification: 1). US citizen or lawful permanent resident; 2). GPA is at or above 3.2; 3). Full-time student within two years of graduation with a bachelor’s or master’s degree, and must be able to have the SFS scholarship for 1.5 or 2 years before graduation; 4). Must agree to work less than 15 hours/week during the scholarship period (except summer) in order to focus on the cybersecurity education; 5). Need to be able to come to UCF campus for extracurricular activities when requested.
Deadline: Application will open on April 1st, 2023. Application deadline will be May 15th, 2023.