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• Scholarship For Service
• Information Assurance Scholarship Program

Information Assurance Scholarship Program

IASP program has been inactive since 2014, so the information below is for historical purpose only. This page will be updated if this program gets activated again.

Do you want to pursue a challenging profession in Information Assurance?
Do you want to work for the Department of Defense and help defend our nation’s cyber space?
Do you want to have your education fully paid for?

Apply for the Security Assured Information Systems (SAIS) Track at the University of Pittsburgh, a recently designated National Center of Academic Center in Information Assurance Education. Receive certification for the following national IA standards CNSS 4011, 4012, 4013, 4014 and 4015

DoD-IASP Opportunity

The University of Pittsburgh is proud to offer an exceptional program that enables civilians to obtain a scholarship for a graduate degree with concentration in Information Assurance, receive a salary while in school, and begin a career with an unlimited future. Founded in early 2004, the Laboratory of Education and Research on Security Assured Information Systems (LERSAIS) in the Department of Information Science and Telecommunications (DIST) has recently been re-designated as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education and Research (CAE & CAE-Research) jointly by the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The DIST currently offers a Security Assured Information Systems (SAIS) Track in the MS/PhD in Information Science (MSIS) and MS in Telecommunications (MST) and degree programs.

LERSAIS is in the process of applying to DoD for the prestigious DoD-IASP scholarship funds and is currently accepting applications from interested students. The scholarship recipients will be selected by the DoD while the scholarship applications will be handled by the LERSAIS. The scholarship will be for pursuing a MSIS/MST degree program through the SAIS Tracks in the DIST. The scholarship students will be in the program for up to two years. All accepted students will receive stipends plus support for tuition and fees, and room and board. Upon graduation, the students will be required to work for a DoD agency as a civilian employee for up to two years upon the graduation.

Scholarship Benefits

Each student in the program will be supported for up to two years. The specific benefits will be:

• A graduate student will be paid a stipend of $19,000 per academic year (MS/PhD degree).
• The scholarship will pay for the full cost of tuition, required fees, books, and a stipend to cover room and board.
• DoD will also provide sponsors who will maintain contact with the student during the scholarship period, and who will facilitate the student’s entry into internships and eventual DoD employment.

Requirements and Eligibility

The following criteria must be fulfilled to be eligible for the DoD-IASP support:

• United States citizen at the time of application and at least 18 years of age
• Currently enrolled in, or accepted to begin, the first or second year of the MSIS/MST Program, OR accepted into or pursuing doctoral studies
• A GPA of at least 3.2 out of 4.0
• Federal employment criteria may require security clearances (Note, if family members are not U.S. Citizens, some agencies may be unable to process them through the required security clearances. DoD agencies make every effort to assign eligible students at an agency without such restrictions.)
• Completion of summer internship/s facilitated by the National Security Agency (NSA) into a Department of Defense agency
• Upon graduation, each student will be required to work for a DoD agency (ex. Defense Intelligence Agency, Defense Technical Information Center, National Security Agency) as a civilian employee. The work requirement time period matches the supported time period.

Veterans are especially encouraged to apply.

Application Process

Each applicant to the DoD-IASP program should provide the following:

• Complete application form.
• Statement of purpose and description of goals and motivations to pursue a career in Information Assurance and computer security.
• Copy of transcripts of all college work outside of the University of Pittsburgh.
• Two recommendation letters (more details can be found in the application information)

Full Program Details

Applications are not being accepted at this time.