CISA helps foster the growth of the program as part of their outreach to states and local communities. CISA also manages the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Careers and Studies (NICCS) and offers free online cybersecurity education to federal employees and military through the Federal Virtual Training Environment (VTE).

The FBI serves as a strategic advisor for the Cyber Operations Program. FBI participates in training and education conferences, symposia, and working groups to address cybersecurity education and training, and co-sponsor, as appropriate, events, working groups and principals’ meetings. FBI provides subject matter expertise and participates in the review of college and university applicants for designation. Additionally, the FBI participates in the Summer Intern Program. Through the NSA CAE partnership initiative, the FBI provides technical liaisons to universities associated with the FBI and NSA’s Centers of Academic Excellence in Cyber Operations schools. The intended purpose is to enhance relationships and identify potential partnerships on research and innovation.

The National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity (NCAE-C) program, managed by the National Cryptologic School at the NSA, collaborates with federal agencies including the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)/National Initiative on Cybersecurity Education (NICE), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Defense Office of the Chief Information Officer (DoD-CIO), and US Cyber Command (CYBERCOM). Its mission is to promote a collaborative cybersecurity education initiative with colleges and universities that establishes curriculum standards, promotes competency among students and faculty, encourages community outreach, integrates cybersecurity practices in institutions and across academic disciplines, and addresses challenges in cybersecurity education.

As part of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in the Department of Commerce, NICE focuses on efforts to close the hiring gap in the cybersecurity workforce. The Annual CAE Community Symposium is supported by a grant from NICE. The NICE Challenge Project, which develops real world cybersecurity tasks that are aligned to the NICE Cybersecurity Workforce Framework presented within virtualized business environments bring students the workforce experience before entering the workforce, is funded by NICE and the NSA College of Cyber. The CAE-CD program office participates with the NICE Interagency Coordinating Council, which offers opportunities for federal departments and agencies to share information and collaborate on areas of common interest. CAE-CD KUs are mapped to the NICE Framework, and designated programs align to the NICE Framework Specialty Areas.

The NSF encourages and funds projects that will generate new knowledge about effective cybersecurity education, re-skill workers to meet cybersecurity education needs, prepare nontraditional students to reenter the educational system, increase the diversity of the cybersecurity workforce, use applied research experiences to build skills and www.iad.gov/NIETP 27 competencies for real-world scenarios, and build effective collaborations between educational institutions, business, industry, and government. NSF and CAE-CD interests frequently align, and the CAE-CD program has benefited from the NSF investment on numerous occasions.