Cyberai innovation: building academic pathways for the cyberai workforce

The National Science Foundation Division of Graduate Education awarded Kean University $500,000 on October 15, 2026, under the STEM Education program (CFDA 47.076) to develop an undergraduate CyberAI academic pathway aligned with national AI security competency standards.

Kean University will develop curriculum resources, applied learning experiences, and faculty development materials to train students across computing and criminal justice disciplines in securing AI systems and applying AI in cyber operations. The project establishes a formal degree pathway and three core CyberAI courses with applied labs mapped to national competency standards. Faculty across computer science, information technology, and criminal justice will integrate CyberAI micro-modules into existing courses through structured workshops. A mentored summer research program will provide graduate students with research experience in applied AI security, generating lab scenarios and course content. Students will develop a large language model-powered curriculum alignment tool that maps course syllabi to national competency standards. All curriculum materials and tools developed through the project will be made publicly available for adoption by other institutions.

The award period runs from October 15, 2026, through September 30, 2029, with place of performance in Union, New Jersey.

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly used both in attacks and in critical systems that need protection, creating strong demand for professionals who can secure AI systems and apply AI in cyber operations. Existing educational programs are challenged to keep pace with this need. This project will build one of the first undergraduate cyberai academic pathways aligned with new national standards for AI security, giving students skills that directly match how employers and government agencies define these roles. Kean university will develop curriculum resources, applied learning experiences, and faculty development materials for its cyberai pathway. By training students across computing and criminal justice disciplines, the project will expand the regional and national cyberai workforce pipeline and broaden participation in a critical field. The project will establish a cyberai educational backbone at kean university by applying a competency-mapping methodology across courses, faculty development, and research. IT will develop formal degree pathways and three core cyberai courses, with applied labs mapped to national AI security competency standards. Faculty across computer science, information technology, and criminal justice will integrate cyberai micro-modules into existing courses through structured workshops, extending exposure to students outside the formal pathway. A mentored summer research program will provide graduate students with research experience in applied AI security, generating lab scenarios and course content. Students will also develop a novel, large language model-powered curriculum alignment tool that maps course syllabi to national competency standards. Curriculum materials and tools developed through the project will be made publicly available for adoption by other institutions. This project is supported by the cyberaicorps scholarship for service (cyberai SFS) program which funds proposals to increase national capacity to educate and train professionals in artificial intelligence (AI) or cybersecurity, and to support their placement and retention in the cyberai mission of government organizations. The scholarship track funds academic institutions to award scholarships to students in exchange for their government service. The innovation track seeks transformative education proposals in the areas of AI, cybersecurity, or the integration of AI and cybersecurity. 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.