How UNC Charlotte exceeds CAE standards with HTB

Their story

UNC Charlotte has been at the forefront of cybersecurity education for more than two decades, establishing itself as a powerhouse in North Carolina’s computing landscape. Home to one of the largest computing programs in the state, the university’s cybersecurity program, led by Dr. Bill Chu, has become a cornerstone of its College of Computing and Informatics.

With approximately 300 students across their undergraduate and master’s programs, the curriculum is designed to equip future cybersecurity professionals with cutting-edge skills that directly align with industry demands, ensuring they graduate ready to tackle real-world challenges.

Further solidifying its leadership status in cybersecurity education, UNC Charlotte has earned the prestigious designation of Center of Academic Excellence (CAE) in Cyber Defense Education and Research by the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

This recognition places UNC Charlotte among an elite group of institutions committed to delivering top-tier cybersecurity education. The CAE designation not only reinforces the university’s rigorous curriculum but also provides students with a competitive edge in the job market, positioning them for high-impact careers in federal agencies, government contracting, and leading cybersecurity firms.

Their goal

For professors at UNC Charlotte, keeping cybersecurity course materials current with the latest threats and technologies was a never-ending challenge. Traditional resources like textbooks and outdated lab exercises were not only time-consuming to maintain but also failed to reflect real-world attack scenarios.

Faculty members attempted to bridge the gap by using open-source tools and self-built exercises, but these solutions required significant manual effort, were difficult to maintain, and often lacked the depth needed to truly prepare students for the workforce.

“We had a combination of our own efforts from each individual faculty member and used open source, free tools. Frankly that doesn’t really work well,” said Dr. Chu. “Open Source tools sound great, but they don’t really work out of the box well and you have to maintain it and it’s a lot of effort.”

Beyond the burden on faculty, students faced technical roadblocks with self-hosted cybersecurity exercises, which required complex setups and often hindered their ability to gain hands-on experience efficiently.

“Before HTB, I was using my own exercises. I had a VM built with Elastic SIM and asked them to do log analysis on EDR logs, DNS logs, and NetFlow logs. Students were really struggling and had a lot of questions. They found it to be very challenging,” Dr. Chu recalled.

Additionally, UNC Charlotte needed a scalable, hands-on training solution that aligned with the rigorous standards of the NSA CAE program. The latest renewal criteria for CAE designation require competency-based education, meaning universities must prove that students graduate with industry-relevant skills.

“We needed a way to demonstrate that our students graduate with the competencies the industry expects,” Dr. Chu emphasized.

Their solution

Recognizing the need for a cutting-edge, hands-on training platform that aligns with industry expectations, Dr. Chu integrated HTB into two required cybersecurity courses at UNC Charlotte. Today, HTB accounts for 25% of students’ grades, providing them with real-world training on penetration testing, application security, security analytics, and threat hunting, all critical skill sets for cybersecurity professionals.

With HTB’s structured learning paths

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• Application Security: Leveraging HTB’s Bug Bounty Hunter module and penetration testing exercises, students gain build knowledge of injections, cross-site request forgery (CSRF), and application penetration testing techniques.

• Security Analytics: Students learn to detect and investigate security threats, covering Windows exploit detection, Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) tools, network traffic analysis, Windows log forensics, threat hunting with Elastic Stack, and penetration testing methodologies through seven graded HTB modules.

Their success

With HTB, UNC Charlotte isn’t just teaching cybersecurity - they’re producing graduates with industry-recognized skills that map directly to the NSA’s CAE competency requirements.

“It gives very in-depth material at the level we’d like students to understand and it’s up-to-date technology,” said Dr. Chu. “It’s mapped to critical competencies and potential employers know what students are capable of doing because they’ve gone through these trainings, so it’s an industry standard people recognize and understand.”

Beyond its industry relevance, HTB’s affordability, flexibility, and depth of content set it apart from other high-cost, corporate-focused alternatives. By integrating HTB, UNC Charlotte has scaled hands-on training, better prepared students for real-world cybersecurity roles, and strengthened its position as a leading cybersecurity education provider.

In fact, Dr. Chu shared the story of a former student who exemplifies the impact of HTB’s hands-on training. While interning for the federal government, she set her sights on a penetration testing role but needed to build the right skill set to make the transition.

Her mentors pointed her to HTB as the best way to gain practical experience, and by enrolling in one of Dr. Chu’s courses that incorporated HTB, she developed the offensive security skills necessary to stand out. The real-world training she received not only strengthened her technical expertise but also validated her capabilities to potential employers, ultimately helping her secure a full-time role in cybersecurity.

Additionally, by leveraging HTB’s structured learning, UNC Charlotte has:

• Expanded Course Depth and Breadth: Students now cover more material and grasp complex topics faster, reducing struggles with previously difficult concepts.

• Enhanced Industry Readiness: Students gain recognized, resume-worthy experience with HTB, making them more competitive for cybersecurity roles, including federal internships.

• Improved Faculty Efficiency: Professors can now focus on teaching core concepts while HTB provides up-to-date, practical exercises that mirror real-world cybersecurity challenges.

As UNC Charlotte continues to integrate cybersecurity competencies into its curriculum, HTB remains a key partner in ensuring students graduate with the practical skills needed to thrive in the field.

“You’re using the right language and the right tools. If we reinforce this with additional complimentary material in class, that just makes things even better for our students,” Dr. Chu said. “They feel very reassured that they’re getting the real thing.”

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