High Schoolers Thrive in UALR’s Cybersecurity Graduate Program

High Schoolers Thrive in UALR’s Cybersecurity Graduate Program

• Teacher Pathway: The University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR) runs a graduate certificate program that trains high school teachers to teach cybersecurity.
• Earn Formal Recognition: Teachers who finish the certificate can teach concurrent enrollment courses, so high school students earn college credit before graduating.
• National Network: UALR is part of the National Cybersecurity Teaching Academy (NCTA), first funded through the NSA’s National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity.
• Real-World Impact: Three years in, teachers say students are gaining access to college-level courses and competitions.

Three years after the University of Arkansas at Little Rock enrolled its first cohort of teachers in its cybersecurity education graduate certificate, the benefits are reaching students, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported in May 2025. The program prepares high school teachers to teach cybersecurity classes and concurrent enrollment courses, which let students earn college credit while still in high school.

How the Program Works

UALR is one of several institutions that together form the National Cybersecurity Teaching Academy. The effort to train more computer science and cybersecurity teachers was created with a grant from the National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity within the National Security Agency.

The first cohort started in summer 2022 with 90 teachers enrolled at UALR, the University of Louisville and DePaul University. About 155 teachers across seven universities and one nonprofit are expected in the third cohort.

What Students Gain

Morrilton High School computer science teacher Brad Goodnight finished the certificate in December. “You can resolve so many of those things just simply by going through NCTA (National Cybersecurity Teaching Academy), getting the graduate certificate, and being able to provide concurrent credit to your students,” he said.

Morrilton students have done well. In April 2025, three of them became the first from their school invited to the Arkansas All-State Coding Competition, and they won first place. Goodnight credits the program for helping him build multiple levels of computer science at the school.

Classroom Results

At eStem High School, teacher Phillip Blake, who also completed the certificate, now offers a cybersecurity class that pairs lectures with hands-on activity days, such as creating passwords and testing how easily they can be cracked. Several of his 10 students have opted into concurrent credit.

Sandra Leiterman, managing director of UALR’s cyber arena and principal investigator for the program, sees teachers as the key. “It’s those high school teachers that are really the champions for their students and helping guide them into careers and pathways that are going to be meaningful for them,” she said.

What Comes Next

UALR is developing more high school concurrent cybersecurity courses and professional development for program graduates, backed by a $4.65 million grant from the NSA-run National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity.

The model is a practical answer to a shortage of qualified teachers. Train the teacher, and every student in that classroom gets a path toward college credit and a security career. Other states may want to look closely at how Arkansas has done it.

Fred Templeton, CISA, CASP, SEC+

Fred Templeton is a practicing Information Systems Auditor in the Washington DC area. Fred works as a government contractor and uses his skills in cyber security to make our country's information systems safer from cyber threats. Fred holds a master's degree in cybersecurity and is currently working on his PHD in Information Systems.