Last Mile honors Collin College students at Microsoft Cybersecurity Scholarship Program reception
October 12, 2026
Cougar News
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Collin College cybersecurity students and alumni were honored during a special reception for recipients of the Last Mile Education Fund Microsoft Cybersecurity Scholarship.
The recipients were recognized during the Last Mile Microsoft Awardee Celebration
and Networking Reception on Thursday, Oct. 1, at the Collin College Frisco Campus.
The event included past scholarship recipients, faculty, college leadership, and local
partners and employers. The reception preceded the college’s IT and Cybersecurity
Fair.
The scholarship is powered by the Last Mile Education Fund, a nonprofit that aims to close critical gaps in funding and career support for financially vulnerable college students in the “last mile” to graduation in high-demand STEM fields, addressing both economic mobility for students and the nation’s urgent talent crisis in technology and tech-enabled industries.
To date, Last Mile has awarded over $243,000 to nearly 500 students at Collin College through the Microsoft Cybersecurity Scholarship Program, which provides financial awards and industry certification subsidies to support community college students in cybersecurity and related fields. Collin College is the second-most awarded community college.
“We are indeed grateful for this partnership and the tremendous impact this scholarship has had on our students,” said Dr. Diana Hopes, provost of the Frisco and Celina campuses. “Because of the financial support our students have received, they have been able to obtain certifications that have further prepared them for the workforce.”
To date, twenty-four Collin students in the cybersecurity program have been selected as 2026 Microsoft Cybersecurity Scholarship recipients and received either $500 in cash assistance or a voucher for cybersecurity certification, as well as access to LinkedIn Premium, GitHub Global Campus, Global Mentors Initiative, and the Last Mile alumni network.
Parnian Akhavan, Addison
Gaurav Bhandari, Dallas
Faith Autman-Butler, McKinney
Christopher Caviglia, Princeton
John Duria, Celina
Yonathan Fadel, Frisco
Armand Fernandez-Pierre, North Richland Hills
Felipe Fleury, Frisco
Noel Hackett, Aubrey
Fatemeh Khalilipoormeymandi, McKinney
Muadh Khokhar, Allen
Benjamin Larimore, Fairview
Siddharth Manjunath, Allen
Ryan McKevitt, Plano
Jose Munoz, Lavon
Shara Nichols, Frisco
Godspower Ogunseri, Aubrey
Amirhossein Pirouz, McKinney
Stephen Plunkett, Hutchins
Antonio Reyes-Campuzano, Denton
Rebecca Santos, Princeton
Marko Simon, Frisco
Aaron Wright, Frisco
James Wyckoff, Van Alstyne
For more information about the Last Mile Education Fund, visit www.lastmile-ed.org. To learn more about Collin College Cybersecurity program, visit www.collin.edu/department/cybersecurity.
Collin College serves more than 62,000 credit and continuing education students annually and offers more than 200 degrees and certificates, including a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), a Bachelor of Applied Technology (BAT) in Cybersecurity, a Bachelor of Applied Science (BAS) in Construction Management, a Bachelor of Applied Science (BAS) in Clinical Operations Management, and a new Bachelor of Applied Technology (BAT) in Software Development. The only public college based in Collin County, Collin College is a partner to business, government, and industry, providing customized training and workforce development. For more information, visit www.collin.edu.
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Photo courtesy of the Last Mile Education Fund.
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