The National Cybersecurity Teaching Academy
What is NCTA?
NCTA the first and only academic program in the US designed to prepare high school teachers to teach cybersecurity. The program is an 18 credit hour graduate certificate that includes coursework on:
- teaching cybersecurity,
- foundations of cybersecurity,
- network security, and
- advanced topics.
Courses vary by institution.
Intent to Apply Survey
If you are interested in applying to start an NCTA graduate certificate in 2026, we need you to complete this short survey. Please read the program descriptions below beforehand so you can rank order the programs based on the curriculum, delivery and cost.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NCTA_2026
Questions? Please contact:
Dr. Melissa Dark,
melissa.dark@darkenterprisesinc.com
Participating Institutions - 2026
Program Descriptions
Explore what each institution has to offer. Read the course descriptions, find tuition costs, and locate contact information for each institution.
University of Arkansas Little Rock
Program Description PDF:
UALR – NCTA 2026
Contact: Sandra Leiterman, saleiterman@ualr.edu
https://ualr.edu/computerscience/cybersecurity-graduate-ncta/
The University of Arizona
Program Description PDF:
U of A – NCTA 2026
Contact: Paul Wagner, paulewagner@arizona.edu
https://infosci.arizona.edu/graduate-certificates/cyber-operations
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Program Description PDF:
WPI_NCTA2026
Contact Xiaoyan (Sherry) Sun, xsun7@wpi.edu
https://www.wpi.edu/academics/study/teaching-cyber-security-high-school-teachers-certificate
Dakota State University
Program Description PDF:
–coming soon–
Contact: Kyle Cronin
kyle.cronin@dsu.edu
NCTA PARTICIPATION MAP
The NCTA Participation Map shows our reach so far:
- 325 educators in 45 states,
- Represented schools are composed of 102 city schools, 119 suburban schools, and 98 town/rural schools,
- Over 500,000 students are enrolled in the represented schools,
- Cybersecurity enrollment is ~39,600 students.