S-stem: pathways to a cybersecurity/AI career

The National Science Foundation Division of Undergraduate Education awarded the University of Rhode Island $1,993,716 on October 1, 2026, under the STEM Education program (CFDA 47.076) to support scholarship and career development for low-income graduate students pursuing a Master of Science in Cybersecurity.

The award funds scholarships for a total of 30 scholars, each receiving support covering unmet financial need up to $20,000 annually for up to five years. Beyond tuition assistance, scholars receive faculty mentoring, professional identity development, cohort community-building activities, career exploration support, and an optional bridge preparation course for artificial intelligence coursework. The program will be evaluated using mixed methods and a quasi-experimental design with matched comparison groups, interviews, focus groups, and reflective journals to generate evidence on effective support strategies for low-income STEM graduate students.

The period of performance runs from October 1, 2026, through September 30, 2032, with place of performance at Kingston, Rhode Island. The University of Rhode Island Research Office serves as the prime recipient. The award directly addresses the national workforce need in cybersecurity and related critical STEM fields by supporting retention and graduation of academically talented, financially disadvantaged graduate students.

Abstract

This project will contribute to the national need for well-educated scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and technicians by supporting the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need at the university of rhode island. A total of 30 scholars pursuing master of science in cybersecurity will receive scholarships that cover unmet need up to $20,000 for graduate students for up to five years. Scholars will receive faculty mentoring, professional identity development, cohort community-building, career exploration, and an optional bridge preparation for AI coursework. The overall goal of this track 2 scholarships in stem project is to increase stem degree completion of academically talented, low-income graduate students with demonstrated financial need. There is a significant national need to grow the stem workforce and nurture key talent that will ensure economic competitiveness and provide domestic leadership across critical sectors. This project directly speaks to this need by supporting stem student success, which will strengthen the workforce in graduate cybersecurity education and other key areas of need. The project will be assessed by an experienced evaluator that will use mixed methods and a quasi-experimental design, including matched comparison groups, interviews, focus groups, and reflective journals and the data generated will contribute to the knowledge base regarding effective strategies to support talented, low-income students in stem. This project is funded by NSF?s scholarships in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics program, which seeks to increase the number of academically talented, low-income students with demonstrated financial need who earn degrees in stem fields. IT also aims to improve the education of future stem workers, and to generate knowledge about academic success, retention, transfer, graduation, and academic/career pathways of low-income students. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.- subawards are not planned for this award.