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UA Recognized for Service
to Hispanic Students

Elite Designation for he University of Arizona is the first of Arizona’s three

Cyber Ops Program from NSA Tstate universities to meet federal criteria as a Hispanic-
Serving Institution.
The UA earned the designation from the U.S. Department
program at the University of Arizona that began only 18 of Education for its success in the enrollment of Hispanic
A months ago has been recognized as one of the best in students and in providing educational opportunities to
the country for 2018-19. them. The HSI designation opens new opportunities to boost
The UA’s program in cyber operations, based at its Sierra supplemental grants and student support services, as well as
Vista campus and taught both traditionally and online, additional benefits to the UA for research collaborations and
has received official designation as a Center of Academic partnerships.
Excellence in Cyber Operations by the National Security The UA joins 105 four-year public institutions —
Agency, an arm of the U.S. Department of Defense. including only a small number of Research I universities
Although about 150 four-year colleges and universities, and members of the Association of American Universities —
including the UA, have been designated as Centers of that meet the HSI designation criteria, according to the most
Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education, or CAE- recent data from the Hispanic Association of Colleges and
CDE, only 20 institutions have achieved CAE-CO status. The Universities.
smaller group also includes the U.S. Air Force Academy, U.S. “We have been working toward earning this eligibility
Military Academy and Naval Postgraduate School. because of the direct impact it will have on Hispanic
The UA’s degree program for a Bachelor of Applied Science students from Arizona and the region,” says UA President
in cyber operations has two paths: an engineering track with Robert C. Robbins. “This select designation ensures that we
a security focus and a defense and forensics track. A policy are creating an environment that promotes student success.”
track, combining the technical aspects of those two with
studies in law, political science and philosophy, is expected
to launch in the spring.
UA is a ‘Top Producer’ of

Student Fulbrights — Again

he University of Arizona is among the nation’s best at
Thelping students win life-changing Fulbright awards
— 12 in 2018, enough to secure an honor for the UA as a Top
Producer of the awards. The winners headed off for study
in places like Poland, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Chile, Cyprus,
Germany, Malaysia and South Korea.
The UA has earned the honor six times now, thanks in
part to the Office of Nationally Competitive Scholarships,
based in the Honors College.
That office helps students compete for many awards —
including the Rhodes, Churchill and Goldwater scholarships
— but the Fulbright draws the most interest and largest
number of Wildcat applicants.
The Fulbright student program supports research
projects and English teaching assistantships in 140 countries The annual HSI designation, defined by the Higher Education Act,
recognizes institutions of higher education with undergraduate
for recent bachelor’s-level graduates, graduate students and student enrollment that is at least 25 percent Hispanic. The UA
young professionals. reported a first-to-second-year retention rate among Hispanic
students of 82.8 percent, compared to the university’s overall
University Communications stories: uanews.arizona.edu retention rate of 83.3 percent. / Chris Richards photo

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