vCISO Cybersecurity Scholarship

Fractional CISO is providing a $1,000 scholarship to candidates studying cybersecurity full-time in the United States with the vCISO Cybersecurity Scholarship.

Eligibility: 

You must be a student studying cybersecurity as your major in the United States. You may be an undergraduate or graduate student and over 18 years old. Fractional CISO employees, partners, clients and their families are not eligible for the vCISO Cybersecurity Scholarship.

Submissions: For consideration by Fractional CISO, you must submit a personal essay on your cybersecurity journey. Candidate must provide mailing address, email address and phone number to enable communication with the Fractional CISO. Candidates must submit their applications through the form on this page.  Fractional CISO will determine the winner based on the essay and subsequent communications with the candidate.

Calendar and awards:

• 2025 Application Cycle Key dates:
  • Submission Period: March 1, 2025 May 31, 2025
    • Applications submit outside of this window will not be considered!
  • Notification within 6 weeks.
• A $1,000 scholarship will be awarded to the winner of the contest.

Other vCISO Cybersecurity Scholarship details:

• By submitting your application, you give Fractional CISO a license to edit, publish and use the essay however Fractional CISO deems appropriate. By submitting your application, you also give Fractional CISO permission to publish your name.
• The winner will work with Fractional CISO to edit the essay for publication. When selected, winning candidate will submit electronically (1) a headshot photo and (2) a photo of candidate that is relevant to the essay. You give Fractional CISO a license to edit, publish and use your photographs however Fractional CISO deems appropriate.
• The winning candidate may be required to provide documentation of enrollment in eligible academic program.
• Award payment will be made to educational institution for tuition, fees, or housing.
• If there are no qualifying submissions, then Fractional CISO may extend the submission deadline or cancel the contest.
• If winning candidate does not timely respond to Fractional CISO, Fractional CISO reserves the right to award the scholarship to another candidate or not at all.
• If candidate does not cooperate sufficiently in editing the essay or in the photo selection process, Fractional CISO reserves the right to award the scholarship to another candidate or not at all.
• Submission of false or misleading information will invalidate candidacy.
• Fractional CISO reserves the right to cancel the scholarship program at its discretion.
• Fractional CISO may share your personal information with third-party scholarship administrators, the educational establishments in which you are enrolled, and government agencies.
• Candidate is responsible for all tax implications.
• Fractional CISO will not provide information about its decisions to unsuccessful candidates or others.
• Draft your essay on your computer and submit through the form. The submission site will not hold a copy of your application. The essay cannot be edited once submitted. Fractional CISO will not provide a copy of your application to you.