A new bill is being proposed by a member of the U.S. House of Representatives to expand an experimental program that trains new cybersecurity professionals. The current program is aimed at students attending 4-year colleges and universities, providing 100% scholarships for tuition and fees in return for four years of working in a government cybersecurity role after completing their education.
The proposed expansion looks to community colleges, trade schools, and other non-4-year institutions for future cybersecurity professionals. The program would require that the students work in a government cyber security role for as long as their scholarship was used.
This program has been created to fill the gap between the supply and demand for cybersecurity professionals in the modern technological age. By giving students the ability to pay for their education in return for service, congress hopes to see a rise in the number of available qualified cybersecurity professionals.
Fordham participates in a similar program, producing an average of about ten cybersecurity professionals annually. This is made possible by a $4.1 Million grant from the National Science Foundation. The program has a 95% job placement rate within government positions.
This type of opportunity, intended to be scaled to over 10,000 students per year, can allow for a significant increase in the number of qualified and dedicated cybersecurity professionals entering the workforce with prior experience working for government agencies.
