Fresno State teams up with other CSUs to increase number of cybersecurity professionals

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Fresno State is piloting a program in partnership with two other California State Universities to increase skilled cybersecurity professionals.

Fresno State students are learning about the latest technology when it comes to cybersecurity and artificial intelligence.

The university is hoping to address a critical shortage of cybersecurity professionals throughout the state and the nation.

Fresno State is doing this by collaborating with California State Universities San Bernardino and San Jose.

The goal is to create a technology and career education pipeline and pathway from elementary school to college.

"I think it's going to make a huge different for all of our kids to bring them up into the 21st century skills and opportunities," Fresno State Criminology Professor Keith Clement, Ph. D., said.

Clement calls Central California a technology desert compared to Los Angeles and Silicon Valley.

He says it's important that students are developing the skills necessary here in the Central Valley to make them competitive.

"Many of our local kids in our local schools need access to high-paying, high-demand, hard-to-fill kind of positions," Clement said.

The three universities are tasked with creating a pilot program with goals and metrics developing strategies and tactics to build successful regional alliances and multi-stakeholder partnerships.

The end goal is to leverage the CSU system to be a driver for developing the cyber workforce.

"By the end of the program, my hope is really to see a career pipeline pathway in cyber security that starts from a very young age, goes all the way through advanced graduate defense programs and doctoral degree programs in this area," Clement said.

Clement thinks by connecting well-educated students directly to the workforce, it will help fill critically needed roles in the Valley, the state and across the country.

"I think that blending the education and the workforce development together is critical," Clement said.

The program is funded through June 2026.

Fresno State and San Jose State each received $1 million while the lead campus, San Bernardino, received $2 million.

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