Department of Defense Cyber Service Academy (CSA)
Formerly known as the DoD Cybersecurity Scholarship Program (CySP)
About the Program
The Department of Defense Cyber Service Academy (DoD CSA) at CSUSB began in 2016. With the help of Congressman Pete Aguilar (CA District 33), the DoD CSA program was restarted and provides schools designated as Centers of Academic Excellence (CAE) in Cybersecurity the opportunity to develop this grant-funded scholarship program. Since 2016, we’ve awarded nearly $500,000 in scholarships.
As a CAE in Cyber Defense, CSUSB selects the most qualified candidate applications to send to the Department of Defense (DoD) each year. After reviewing all of the applications it receives nationwide, the DoD selects individuals to participate in the program. This program is one of the most competitive and prestigious in the Nation, with anywhere between 50-100 yearly participants.
Students selected to participate in the program receive tuition, books, and a stipend to cover room and board. The stipends are $29,000 for undergraduate students and $34,000 for graduate students. Students can apply for either a 1, 2, or even a 4 year scholarship, with a post-graduate obligation for the same number of years toward federal service. Students are required to complete an internship with the Department of Defense during the summer. Internships do NOT count towards the post-graduation obligation requirements.
The application period for the Fall 2025-2026 CSA scholarship is now open!
Save the date for the next info session
January 14th, 2025 @ 1pm
JB102
Please see our events page for more information.
Eligibility Requirements
Before reviewing the application, you must determine whether or not you meet the eligibility requirements.
Students eligible for the Department of Defense Cyber Service Academy must:
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Be a United States Citizen, 18+ Older
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Be a full-time CSUSB student (outside employment is prohibited while receiving the DoD CSA Scholarship)
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Be pursuing an eligible academic program in Cybersecurity at CSUSB*
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Be completing a first undergraduate, first graduate degree, or both
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Have 3.2+ GPA for undergraduate students or a 3.5+ for graduate students
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Be eligible for federal employment
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Be able to obtain a security clearance
To help you understand the clearance process and to assess whether a job requiring an investigation and clearance will suit your personal needs, we highly recommend you take the Digital Clearance Readiness Assessment.
Different from the private sector, background investigations in the Federal Government are detailed, extensive, probing, and cover many areas of your life including your personal conduct, foreign contacts and travel, alcohol and drug use, criminal conduct, personal finances, and use of information technology systems – and take from several weeks to several months to complete.
This Digital Clearance Readiness Assessment allows you a private way to evaluate your readiness to undergo a background investigation that leads to a decision on your clearance. It is not associated with you or your account and is completely confidential. Only you will see your own results.
NOTE: This assessment does not take the place of a Federal background investigation. It is only meant to determine your readiness to go through the Federal background investigation process.
Digital Clearance Readiness Assessment
For more information about the program, please contact the Center for Cyber and AI at cyber@csusb.edu or 909-537-7535.
*The Master’s of Science in Cyber Analytics Online program is not eligible for scholarships through the Cybersecurity Center. The program is not affiliated with the CAE Designation requirements.
