June 9, 2009 - The University of New Orleans, the first and only university in the State of Louisiana designated as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance (IA) Education (CAE) by the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), was designated in June 2009 as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Research (CAE-R).

The goal of the CAE program, implemented in the late 1990s, is to reduce the vulnerability of the U.S. national information infrastructure by promoting higher education in Information Assurance (IA) and producing a growing number of professionals with experience in the field. Colleges and universities designated as National Centers of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education have to pass a rigorous review, demonstrating that their faculty members are active in both teaching and performing research in areas of information assurance, that they have state-of-the-art IA resources, and that there is a commitment to treating IA as a multi-disciplinary science. The primary benefit of the CAE designation is the availability of "full-ride" scholarships with guaranteed federal jobs for undergraduate and graduate students. A number of UNO students are currently funded by these scholarships.

The CAE-R program's goal is to contribute to state-of-the-art knowledge and practice, through the promotion of IA-related research. CAE-R schools must meet CAE guidelines in addition to providing evidence of significant research by faculty and students, community service, and outreach in IA. UNO joins major research institutions such as Dartmouth, George Mason University, Johns Hopkins University, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and the University of Washington as a CAE-R institution.

The Department of Computer Science at the University of New Orleans coordinated the application to the National Security Agency and Department of Homeland Security. The first milestone was achieved in 2003 when the curriculum of the Department of Computer Science was certified by the Information Assurance Courseware Evaluation Program of the NSA. The curriculum standards are set by the Committee on National Security Systems (CNSS) and outline a number of important topics that must be covered in detail. The second milestone was achieved in 2006, when the CAE designation was bestowed. The final milestone, the CAE-R designation, was awarded in 2009. The CAE-R award was recently accepted by Professor Golden G. Richard III in Seattle, Washington. UNO's status as a CAE and CAE-R is valid until 2014, when a reapplication will be necessary.