NCSF’s 2023 Awards

The National Cyber Scholarship Foundation is delighted to offer scholarships for advanced cybersecurity training in 2023.

National Cyber Scholarship Semifinalist

All eligible high school or college students scoring at least 20,000 CyberStart points, through CyberStart America or Cyber FastTrack, will be awarded a digital Semifinalist badge at the end of the program.

Eligibility criteria:

• High school or college student in the USA

• Registered for CyberStart America or Cyber FastTrack 2022-23

• Minimum point score of 20,000 in CyberStart by April 4 2023

National Cyber Scholarship Finalist

The highest scoring CyberStart players will be invited to complete a short scholarship application by the NCSF. Anyone shortlisted for this invitation will be awarded a digital Finalist badge once their application has been validated.

Eligibility criteria:

• High school or college student in the USA

• Registered for CyberStart America or Cyber FastTrack 2022-23

• Minimum point score of 20,000 in CyberStart by April 4 2023

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

National Cyber Scholar

The top 1000 highest-scoring eligible CyberStart players who submit their scholarship application by the April 20 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.

Eligibility criteria:

• High school (9th-12th grade) or college student in the USA

• Registered for CyberStart America or Cyber FastTrack 2022-23

• Minimum point score of 20,000 in CyberStart by April 4 2023 - applicants will be assessed as a gathered field, so only the highest scorers will receive this status

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

National Cyber Scholar with Honors

Students who earn the GIAC Foundational Cybersecurity Technologies (GFACT) certification through the National Cyber Scholarship Foundation (NCSF) Cyber Foundations Academy by September 15 2023 will be awarded the title “Scholar with Honors”, and may be offered the chance to apply for further scholarships to cover additional SANS training courses and certifications, and for specially selected internship opportunities.

This title can also be given to participants who have passed the GFACT certification in a previous year, and have met the conditions to be named a National Cyber Scholar again in 2023.

Eligibility criteria:

To be awarded the title of Scholar with Honors, students must:

• Complete and pass the GFACT exam by September 15, 2023 and obtain one of the highest 500 scores within the National Cyber Scholar cohort (scores will be reviewed as a gathered field after the deadline)

• Students who are awarded the title of National Cyber Scholar in 2023, but have completed the GFACT certification prior to Summer 2023, will also be considered for this award - they may be required to submit evidence of their GFACT exam score to support@nationalcyberscholarship.org (some scholarship awards can only be won once - if you have received the Alan Paller Honor Scholarship in a previous year you cannot win this again).

Partner scholarships

A number of additional scholarship awards and prizes may be available to CyberStart America or Cyber FastTrack program participants who meet eligibility criteria specified by the partner organization.

Details of these additional opportunities, and their eligibility requirements, will be published here throughout the year. More scholarships and awards may be listed here at any time up until the training programs close in April.

Students will automatically be considered for any award for which they meet the eligibility criteria when they submit a scholarship application, subject to providing consent for their personal information to be shared with the organization offering the award.

Partner prizes may be awarded to an individual in addition to the standard NCSF awards listed above.

CSA Georgia State Task Force (led by The University of North Georgia)

ung.edu

Cash Prizes Exclusively for Georgia Students & Schools

Statewide Superstars

Recognizing Georgia's top students and schools in the CyberStart America program (CSA).

• Cyber Explorers (10)

  The top 10 Georgia students new to CSA with the highest point score by the CSA closing date (April 4, 2023) each receive a $500 cash prize.**

• Cyber Advancers (10)

  The top 10 Georgia students returning to CSA with the highest point score by the CSA closing date (April 4, 2023) each receive a $500 cash prize.**

• Cyber Talent School (1)

  The Georgia school with the highest cumulative point score in Georgia among their registered CSA participants will receive $2500.

• Cyber Breakout School (1)

  The Georgia public school with the highest number of CSA participants* that does not have an existing cyber pathway will receive $2500.

• Cyber Progress School (1)

  The Georgia school with the highest increase in National Cyber Scholarship Semifinalist qualifiers from 2022 to 2023 will receive $2500.

Eligibility for these awards

These prizes will be awarded to the top players/schools in each category listed above, who register for CyberStart America 2022-23 and who meet the following criteria:

• Resident and educated in the state of Georgia (as stated on their CSA registration form).

• Beyond these 20 players and 3 schools, there will be additional prizes available through Georgia’s “Districts of Distinction” initiative - more information can be found at the link below.

• Completed and submitted the NCSF Scholarship Application Form by the deadline of April 20 2023 (including school enrolment verification and parental consent, where required).

• For the purposes of awarding school and district awards, a "participant" is an eligible student who has registered for the CyberStart America program in 2022-23, and completed at least one challenge in CyberStart.

• A school can only win one Georgia-specific prize per year across all categories. An individual student can only win one single Georgia-specific prize per year across all categories, and cannot win a Georgia-specific prize two years in a row – they may be eligible for additional awards via the National Cyber Scholarship Foundation.

  More information on the Georgia prize initiatives can be found here: ung.edu/cyber-operations/cyberstart-georgia

CSA Virginia State Task Force (led by CodeVA)

www.codevirginia.org

Cash Prizes Exclusively for Virginia Students & Schools

TIER 1: STATEWIDE SUPERSTARS

Recognizing Virginia’s top students and schools in the CyberStart America program (CSA).

CYBER DEFENDERS

The top 20 individual participants in the CyberStart America Virginia game with the highest point total by the CSA closing date of April 4, 2023 each receive a $500 cash prize!

Participants in this category may attend any school in Virginia (public, private or home-school).

CYBER TALENT SCHOOLS

The Virginia public school with the highest cumulative point score in Virginia among their registered CSA participants will receive a top prize of $5000; the public school with the second highest cumulative point score in Virginia will receive $2500, and the public school with the third highest cumulative point score in Virginia will receive $1,000.

CYBER ACHIEVEMENT SCHOOL

The Virginia public school with the highest number of National Cyber Scholarship semifinalist qualifiers by the CSA closing date (April 4, 2023) receives a top prize of $5000.

TIER 2: REGIONAL SUPERSTARS

Recognizing Virginia’s public school regions that are encouraging the greatest participation in CyberStart America.

REGIONAL CYBER DEFENDERS

The 5 students in each Region with the highest point score by the CSA closing date (April 4, 2023) each receive $500. That’s $2,500 per region going to their top student participants!

CYBER OPPORTUNITY SCHOOLS

Within each region, the public school with the highest percentage of its total student body participating in CyberStart America (CSA) will receive $2,500.

Eligibility for these awards

These prizes will be awarded to the top players/schools in each category listed above, who register for CyberStart America 2022-23 and who meet the following criteria:

• Resident and educated in the state of Virginia (as stated on their CSA registration form).

• Completed and submitted the NCSF Scholarship Application Form by the deadline of April 20 2023 (including school enrolment verification and parental consent, where required).

• For the purposes of awarding school and district awards, a "participant" is an eligible student who has registered for the CyberStart America program in 2022-23, and completed at least one challenge in CyberStart.

• A school can only win one Virginia-specific prize per year across all categories. An individual student can only win one single Virginia-specific prize per year across all categories – they may be eligible for additional awards via the National Cyber Scholarship Foundation.

  More information on the Virginia prize initiatives can be found here: www.cyberstartva.org/awards-and-recognition

CSA Florida State Task Force (led by Northeast Florida Regional STEM2 Hub, Inc.)

stem2hub.org

Cash Prizes Exclusively for Florida Students & Schools

The Florida CSA Task Force will be providing awards to recognize some of Florida’s top students in the CyberStart America program (CSA).

The top 10 highest-scoring students who attend a school in one the following Florida public school districts will each be awarded a $250 prize: Baker, Clay, Duval, Flagler, Nassau, Putnam, St. Johns.

Eligibility for these awards

These prizes will be awarded to the top players/schools in each category listed above, who register for CyberStart America 2022-23 and who meet the following criteria:

• Resident and educated in the state of Florida (as stated on their CSA registration form).

• Completed and submitted the NCSF Scholarship Application Form by the deadline of April 20 2023 (including school enrolment verification and parental consent, where required).

Key dates