Community College Says NSA Whistleblower Edward Snowden Took No “Cyber-Related Classes”

Edward SnowdenImage courtesy of The Guardian.

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In its story unveiling National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden, the Guardian reported that the 29-year-old attended “a community college in Maryland, studying computing, but never completed the coursework.” The Guardian did not name the community college. But a spokesman for Anne Arundel Community College (AACC), located in southeastern Maryland, tells Mother Jones a student with Snowden’s name and birthdate attended the college from 1999 to 2001 and then again from 2004 to 2005. He did not receive a certificate or degree, the spokesman, Daniel Baum, says.

But here’s an interesting wrinkle: Baum says Snowden took no “cyber-related courses” at this college. Nor did he take any classes in the college’s NSA-certified “Information Systems Security” program, which focuses on safeguarding computer data and networks, though he went on to work in a related field for the government and in the private sector. It’s unclear whether Snowden studied computing elsewhere.

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