(Butler, PA) Butler County Community College will fund financial awards, boot camps and professional information-technology certification examinations for eligible networking and cybersecurity program students as part of a $400,000 U.S. Department of Defense grant the college was allocated as a partner organization in a new consortium.
BC3 is one of six community colleges in the state that led by Indiana University of Pennsylvania will emphasize cybersecurity education, and work to increase students’ completion rates in certification programs that strengthen the defense industrial base workforce, and the rates of students transferring to senior institutions, according to the U.S. Department of Defense.
IUP has appropriated portions of the nearly $5 million National Defense Education Program grant announced in the fall to the community colleges in the consortium named “A Collaborative Pennsylvania-wide Community College Consortium for Enhancing STEM and Cybersecurity Education: Indiana University of Pennsylvania Research Institute.”
“Cybersecurity is a growing field, and the jobs are plentiful.”
BC3 will receive $133,600 a year for three years.
In addition to funding with the grant 11 $1,000 financial awards, boot camps and the $350 cost of each extra-curricular Computing Technology Industry Association certification examination in network+ or in security+, BC3 will also compensate industry specialists who will serve as career advisers to the college’s networking and cybersecurity students, said Sherri Mack, dean of BC3’s business division.
Report: 5 billion internet users worldwide
The defense industrial base is one of 16 critical infrastructure sectors, according to the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The U.S. Department of Defense reported in March that its industrial base encompasses about 220,000 companies.
Critical infrastructure sectors are those whose assets, systems and networks are considered so vital to the United States that their incapacitation or destruction would have a debilitating effect on security, national economic security, or national public health or safety, according to the agency.
National cybersecurity threats include espionage, hacking, identity theft, crime and terrorism, according to the agency. Personal threats include malicious software, identity theft, stolen information and scams, the agency reports.
The U.S. Department of Defense knows "we need more trained, skilled workers in the area of cybersecurity.”
There are nearly 5 billion internet users worldwide, Forbes reported in February, citing Statista.
The global cost of cybercrime is expected to increase from $8.44 trillion in 2022 to $23.84 trillion by 2027, Statista reported in December.
“This is a huge number,” said Les Graves, an associate professor of computer information systems in the college’s business division and coordinator of BC3’s networking and cybersecurity program. “Even if you are off by 30 percent, it’s still a big number. And I think the Department of Defense is very painfully aware of that. They know we need more trained, skilled workers in the area of cybersecurity.”
20-plus enrolled this spring
Its community college partners in Pennsylvania were chosen based on factors that include vested interest in cybersecurity and expertise in managing previously federally funded grants, according to IUP.
Networking and cybersecurity is the most popular of BC3’s four computer information systems associate degree programs. Thirteen students graduated from the program in BC3’s Class of 2022, and 21 are enrolled this spring, according to Sharla Anke, the college’s assistant dean of institutional research and planning.
BC3’s 65-credit program is intended to prepare graduates to install, configure, secure and support an organization’s network.
IUP’s 120-credit bachelor’s degree program in computer science-cybersecurity graduates about 20 students annually and currently enrolls about 100, according to the university.
The university will work with community colleges in the consortium to create seamless transfer agreements for students in cybersecurity programs, said Dr. Waleed Farag, director of IUP’s Institute for Cybersecurity and a professor of computer science.
Information security analysts plan and carry out security measures to protect an organization’s computer networks and systems, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. The median pay in 2021 for information security analysts with a bachelor’s degree was $102,600, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“Cybersecurity is a growing field,” Mack said, “and the jobs are plentiful.”
The projected change in employment through 2031 for information security analysts is 35 percent and regarded as much faster than average, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
First BC3 students complete boot camp
Professional development activities, and soft-skills enhancement opportunities for faculty and students will be held at IUP and at the community colleges, according to the university.
BC3 networking and cybersecurity students who pass the TestOut Network Pro Certification test that constitutes the final examination in the associate degree program’s networking II course are eligible to attend BC3’s new 40-hour, remote-format boot camps.
Students in the grant-funded boot camps will learn about network fundamentals, network operations, network security, network implementation and troubleshooting, said Graves, who instructs the boot camps.
They will take five practice tests with a total of 1,200 questions to prepare for the nationally recognized Computing Technology Industry Association professional certification examinations in network+ or in security+, Graves said.
Students who complete the boot camp will be provided with the grant-funded vouchers to finance the cost of the COMPTIA examinations that are not part of BC3’s curriculum in networking and cybersecurity, Graves said.
The first three BC3 networking and cybersecurity students completed BC3’s initial boot camp in January in preparation to take the COMPTIA examination in network+, Graves said.
A boot camp to train students to take the COMPTIA security+ examination will be scheduled for this spring, according to Graves.
Industry specialists “to talk about career options”
The grant-funded financial awards will be available to BC3 networking and cybersecurity program students for the fall semester, Mack said. Award criteria and an application will be available March 1 at bc3.edu/cybersecurity, Mack said.
BC3 will also work to attract to the program underserved and underrepresented populations, veterans and their spouses, as required by the grant, Mack said.
Student-veterans will be informed about the new opportunities available in the college’s networking and cybersecurity program, according to Stella Smith, BC3’s associate director of financial aid and its veterans coordinator.
The college will also pay industry specialists to mentor students.
“A person working in the cybersecurity field will meet regularly with students either in class or through a separate meeting time to talk about career options,” said Mack, who added that the college plans to schedule a meet-and-greet among students and cybersecurity professionals to discuss internship possibilities.
Networking and cybersecurity is one of 23 associate degree, certificate or workplace certificate programs in business, BC3’s largest academic division.
Each of five consortiums nationally will receive an initial award of $5 million over three years, with the possibility of three one-year options at $2 million per year, according to the U.S. Department of Defense.
COMPTIA is an American nonprofit trade association that issues professional certifications for the information technology industry, according to its website.
Other community colleges in Pennsylvania that are partner organizations in IUP’s consortium are Montgomery County Community College, Blue Bell; Northampton Community College, Bethlehem; Bucks County Community College, Newtown; Pennsylvania Highlands Community College, Johnstown; and Westmoreland County Community College, Youngwood.
For more information, contact Mack at 724-287-8711 Ext. 8247 or at sherri.mack@bc3.edu
