Collin College Receives National Security Agency Mark of Distinction

The National Security Agency (NSA) recently designated Collin College as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense (CAE-CD).

The college also received validation from the NSA for its Associate of Applied Science in Information Systems Cybersecurity program through 2027.

I am incredibly proud of our new designation as a Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense (CAE-CD) with the NSA, said Dr. Brenden Mesch, dean of Academic Affairs and Workforce at the Frisco Campus. This relationship with the NSA will have a long-lasting, positive impact on our students, the local community, the state, and our nation. We have already provided resources back to the NSA CAE community to help other schools enhance their programs and future cybersecurity professionals for our nation. We are also excited to gain resources from other institutions, and the NSA itself, that will bolster the excellence of this critical infrastructure program at Collin College.

Collin College Student Corey Moses said the NSA designation is important to him. He earned an Associate of Arts degree in General Studies and a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certificate and is in the process of completing his Associate of Applied Science in Information Systems Cybersecurity from Collin College.

It opens doors that a student like me might not normally have, said Moses who plans to earn a Bachelor of Applied Technology in Cybersecurity from the college and then pursue cyber-psychology at a graduate level.It provides a potential for growth and larger opportunities than what I would normally expect to have.

Ervin Frenzel, director of the workforce cybersecurity program at Collin College, describes the designation as a mark of distinction for the colleges cybersecurity field of study.

The certification clearly states the level of commitment from our school and our students to the field of study, Frenzel said.Locally and nationally, we have to look to the betterment of our communities, and this is a way to ensure that we are doing that. We continually strive to improve our program and the NSA CAE-CD program helps to provide the framework to ensure we are improving.This pattern of improvement should be seen as a lifetime process by our student body.

According to a letter from the NSA, the colleges ability to meet the increasing demands of the program criteria will serve the nation well in contributing to the protection of the National Information Infrastructure. The NSAs National Cyber Strategy addresses the critical shortage of professionals with cybersecurity skills and highlights the importance of higher education as a solution to defending Americas cyberspace.

For more information about the colleges Bachelor of Applied Technology in Cybersecurity and Associate of Applied Science in Information Systems Cybersecurity, visitwww.collin.edu/department/cybersecurity.