Strategic Investment in Cybersecurity Education Drives Record Enrollment
October 09, 2023
Becoming the Best
Enrollment in LSU’s computer science program has tripled over the past decade. While the LSU flagship had a total of 351 computer science students on all levels—undergraduate and graduate—in 2013, there are already 351 freshmen who have declared computer science as their major this fall, contributing to a record number of 1,115 students.
Computer science is now the largest program in the LSU College of Engineering, and much of this growth is driven by cyber. The number of students in LSU’s cybersecurity concentration has increased tenfold in three years.
“The groundwork for our growth in computer science began nearly 10 years ago with strong support from our partners at Louisiana Economic Development for projects like IBM in Baton Rouge and DXC in New Orleans,” said Karsten Thompson, interim dean of the LSU College of Engineering. “Today, that growth is accelerating in areas like software engineering and cybersecurity because they touch every industry, and there is a demand for talent. The real credit is to our top computer science faculty, who have not only been able to strengthen our core offerings but also adapt to emerging areas like deeply technical cyber domains, making LSU a destination for new students, a trusted institution for federal security partners and an attractive home for new researchers.”
Cybersecurity is part of the defense priority of LSU’s Scholarship First Agenda, a top-five target set by LSU President William F. Tate IV. In a strategic move, the flagship campus recently elevated the LSU Cyber Center to coordinate cybersecurity research across the disciplines.
“We’re now well on our way to becoming the number-one school for cybersecurity in the United States, which President Tate set as our goal just 18 months ago,” said Professor Golden Richard, interim director of the LSU Cyber Center and faculty lead for cybersecurity at LSU with joint appointments in the College of Engineering and the Center for Computation & Technology.
Among the 36 schools designated or redesignated by the National Security Agency this year, LSU is the only university to become a Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Operations.
“LSU has a good strategic vision and an excellent reputation. I wanted to bring my expertise where I can contribute to top cybersecurity research together with excellent students in a computer science department that has the support of university leadership and excellent plans to grow.”
Associate Professor Elias Bou-Harb, former director of the Cyber Center for Security and Analytics at the University of Texas at San Antonio, who brings more than $1 million in federal funding to LSU and Louisiana