Ivy Tech Students Awarded Cybercorps Scholarships For Service

From Ivy Tech Community College:

August 28, 2020

Three Ivy Tech Community College South Bend – Elkhart students have been awarded CyberCorps Scholarships, giving them 100% tuition, paid at Ivy Tech Community College and Purdue University Northwest, plus a $25,000 stipend, plus travel and professional development, each year for three years. These students agree to work for the federal government for 3 years after graduation to serve our country.

The three students awarded this scholarship are Ghadir Alfadhl, Sharyl Riley and Philip Zuehlke. All students plan on transferring to Purdue NW after obtaining their Cyber Security degree. Alfadhl, a native of Yemen is the founder/president of the Women’s IT Club at the campus and has taught coding to Monroe Primary School students in South Bend. Riley and one of her sons attended Ivy Tech at the same time. She has dreams of relating her studies and service to combat human trafficking. Zuehlke is the acting Computer Club president.

The National Science Foundation hosted the kickoff bootcamp recently where all three students joined. According to the National Initiative for Cyber Security Careers and Studies, “The Scholarship for Service (SFS) Program is designed to recruit and train the next generation of cybersecurity professionals to meet the needs of Federal, State, local, and tribal government. This program provides scholarships for cybersecurity undergraduate and graduate (MS or PhD) education funded through grants awarded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). In return for the financial support, recipients must agree to work for the U.S. Government after graduation in a cybersecurity-related position, for a period equal to the length of the scholarship.”
Obligations for these students include:

• To work for a government agency for a period equal to the length of scholarship after graduation.
• To maintain a minimum GPA of 3.3 (undergraduate) and 3.5 (graduate) while on scholarship.
• To attend all the required PNW CyberCorps Program workshops and activities.
• To meet with the project team and Career Center to secure summer internship.
• To attend CyberCorps Job Fairs for summer internship and full time positions at government agencies.
• To be willing to take security clearance and background checks required for federal, state, local, or tribal government employment.

For more information on CyberCorps®: Scholarship for Service visit THIS LINK.

This press release was produced by Ivy Tech Community College. The views expressed are the author's own.