According to a story in the Baltimore Business Journal, Towson University students now have special access to typically hard-to-attain internships at the National Security Agency.
The university was recently named a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Operations by the NSA, a designation received by just 13 colleges nationwide. Towson was the only institution in Maryland to be so recognized.
Among other benefits to the designation, the NSA will reserve a number of internships for Towson’s cyber security students, greatly enhancing their career prospects. From the BBJ:
Shiva Azadegan, a professor in the computer and information sciences department at Towson, said the university has applied for the recognition several times but had never received it before. Towson in January sent the NSA a 250-page application that took more than a month to complete, Azadegan said.
Towson will hold the designation at least until 2019. It will allow Towson to further grow its relationship with the NSA, Azadegan said. The NSA already has visited the campus and met with four students from the university’s cyber security and defense team and made them conditional offers for jobs on the spot.
The university’s Bachelor of Science in computer science with a track in computer security satisfied the NSA’s rigorous academic and programmatic requirements for the designation.
The program provides a comprehensive approach to advanced study in computer science and prepares professionals who are capable of holding a variety of positions in specialized intelligence, military and law enforcement cyber operations.
Read the full BBJ story.
