Steelgate LLC Donates $50,000 to Grow Cyber Scholarship at USCA

SteelGate LLC, an international cybersecurity firm with operations in the Central Savannah River Area, has donated $50,000 to the University of South Carolina Aiken to help award scholarships to students seeking a career in cybersecurity and computer science.

Earlier this year, USCA received a $25,000 donation to create the SteelGate Cyber Scholarship to support degree-seeking students who are majoring in computer science and have a 3.0 GPA or higher. As part of its computer science degree, USCA offers concentrations in cybersecurity and data science.

USCA received great response from the scholarship’s initial rollout and hopes to award funds in 2025 to as many as 25 students from 18 local high schools who are seeking a career in cybersecurity and computer science, said Dr. Scott McKay, dean of the College of Sciences and Engineering at USCA.

“The SteelGate Cyber Scholarship addresses a critical and significant demand for motivated and qualified cyber personnel who have the awareness and skills to defend local, state, national and even international networks from growing threats,” McKay said. “USCA continues to make it one of its highest priorities to work with cybersecurity firms and organizations to meet the ever-increasing need for graduates who are ready to combat the nation and world’s cyber threats, and we are grateful for SteelGate for leading this charge.”

 McKay said the need for IT, cyber and computer science professionals is expected to continue to grow at a rate much faster than the national average, 15 to 30%, well past 2030. The increase is already being felt on USCA’s campus, with its cyber program growing to more than 200 students.

 In addition to establishing a scholarship, SteelGate will work with USCA’s Office of Career Services to offer internships to university students as part of the new partnership.

Established in 2019, SteelGate LLC is a certified service-disabled, veteran-owned small business that attracts and retains the most talented professionals to solve the most complex problems around cyber operations, distributed command and control, data science and information operations. They have customers across the globe and have recently relocated their Georgia office to the Georgia Cyber Center to facilitate solving some of the toughest cyber-related challenges with Federal and State organizations.

USCA is a significant partner located in the STEM and cyber capital of South Carolina. The university will soon be home to the $60 million U.S. Department of Energy/Savannah River National Laboratory’s Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative. In 2025, the South Carolina National Guard plans to break ground on a new $30 million Cyber Integration Center, which will serve as the new home of its Cyber Battalion. USCA is a National Security Agency Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense.

Both facilities will provide USCA students with real-world opportunities to work on cybersecurity and computer science projects. The university has already opened a Regional Security Operations Center on campus to provide students with hands-on learning opportunities in monitoring and securing USCA’s network and those for local organizations, municipalities and school districts.

For more information, contact USCA Marketing & Communication at news@usca.edu.