The National Cyber League (NCL), a non-profit organization that educates students through practical experience solving real-world challenges, announced its National Cyber Power Rankings in late November. Monmouth University’s Cyber Hawks earned the No. 2 overall position in the standard bracket, just behind the team fielded by the United States Coast Guard Academy. These rankings highlight the top-performing schools in the National Cyber League competition. The NCL Fall 2025 competition concluded with participation from 9,200+ students and almost 800 high school, colleges and universities, nationwide.
The NCL competition is a bi-annual event that gives students the opportunity to test themselves against real-world cybersecurity challenges, such as identifying hackers from forensic data, pentesting and auditing vulnerable websites, and recovering from ransomware attacks. “We continue to see incredible engagement from students across the country and the feedback shows that NCL challenges are not only fun, but truly helping players build confidence and prepare for cybersecurity careers,” said David Zeichick, NCL Commissioner.
This success is in no small part to Ikey Sasson’s first-place individual finish and an 11th place team finish in two separate competitions in the fall. Although the newly established Monmouth Cyber Hawks entered their first year of competition in 2025, students and professors alike were impressed with their early success. “To say that I am incredibly proud of them does not say enough. In just a few months, we have turned Monmouth University into a wonderful place to study Cybersecurity and excel in this exciting field,” said Brian Callahan, Ph.D., director of the Monmouth Cybersecurity Research Center.
Established in 2011 by an alliance of public agencies dedicated to developing the next generation of cybersecurity professionals, the NCL is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization aiming to help students develop, practice, and validate their cybersecurity knowledge and skills.
