The National Cyber Scholarship Foundation increases the opportunity to become a National Cyber Scholar in 2023

9th and 10th graders can now earn the title of National Cyber Scholar and win free training scholarships worth up to $3000.

National Cyber Scholar status to be awarded to 9th-10th graders in 2022-23

More prizes for previous Scholars and GFACT recipients

How to qualify as a National Cyber Scholar in 2022-23

Further information

The National Cyber Scholarship Foundation (NCSF)’s programs and scholarships aim to empower America’s future Cyber Stars and identify talented high school and college students. This update for 2022/23 focuses on one of the National Cyber Scholarship Foundation’s three core values - nurturing potential.

The NCSF aims to nurture potential by offering free training, provided by the global leader in cybersecurity training, and certifications to as many people as possible and continue strengthening the pipeline into the cybersecurity industry.

National Cyber Scholar status to be awarded to 9th-10th graders in 2022-23

In the 2021-22 cycle, National Cyber Scholar status was only open to high school juniors or seniors, or college students in the USA. Now, all eligible students participating in CyberStart America (CSA) can qualify for this status and its prizes in 2022/23.

This means that 9th- and 10th-graders, who were previously ineligible to qualify as National Cyber Scholars in CSA, can now also be considered for Scholar status and receive an invite to the 2023 Cyber Foundations Academy, with the chance to gain an industry-recognized GIAC certification for free!

There are still limited places available for the National Cyber Scholar award and this eligibility update means more people will be competing for the places at this year’s Cyber Foundations Academy. Students in CyberStart America and Cyber FastTrack will need to score as high as they can in CyberStart to guarantee their place as a Scholar and entry to the Academy.

More prizes for previous Scholars and GFACT recipients

Additionally, students who have completed the GFACT previously, and achieve the rank of Scholar again this year, may be offered the chance to take additional SANS courses, and become even more competitive in future college and job applications. This means students who previously earned their GFACT certification should still participate in CyberStart America/Cyber FastTrack if they want to win additional prizes.

The NCSF is adding these additional opportunities as part of their third value of empowering excellence and rewarding exceptional students who consistently demonstrated aptitude and ability year on year.

How to qualify as a National Cyber Scholar in 2022-23

Up to 3,000 of the highest-scoring CyberStart players who submit their scholarship application by the April 20, 2023 deadline will be awarded a scholarship to cover the SANS Foundations course and one attempt at the GIAC Foundational Cybersecurity Technologies (GFACT) certification, worth over $3000.

Earning Scholar status from the NCSF will support students’ entry into the cybersecurity industry by providing the funding and skills they need to get hired and feel confident in an entry-level cybersecurity role or similar.

Updated Scholar eligibility criteria

  • High school students in 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th grade or college students in the USA

  • Registered for CyberStart America or Cyber FastTrack 2022-23

  • Minimum point score of 20,000 in CyberStart by April 4 2023 and/or equivalent performance in the 2022-23 picoCTF and/or CyberPatriot competitions (as outlined on the NCSF Awards Outline page)

  • Shortlisted to complete a scholarship application, which is submitted by the deadline of April 20, 2023

You can read the full NCSF prize criteria here.

We hope this eligibility expansion helps nurture more students’ potential to help them land their first cybersecurity role and succeed in the industry!

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