Bipartisan bill would increase cybersecurity scholarships

Sens. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and Tim Kaine (D-Va.) introduced a bill to revive and expand a Department of Defense scholarship fund for cybersecurity. 

The DOD Cyber Scholarship Program Act of 2017 allots $10 million in 2018 for scholarships to Centers of Academic Excellence, universities and two-year programs vetted by the NSA and Department of Homeland Security. The scholarship fund was phased out in 2013 and was never funded for more than $7.5 million.

The DOD Cyber Scholarship Program Act would guarantee that at least 5 percent of the funds are spent on two-year programs. All recipients follow their education with rounds of cybersecurity service for the Department of Defense.

{mosads}“As our reliance on technology in everyday life continues to grow, so does our threat of cyber-attacks which could significantly disrupt our economy and weaken our national security,” Rounds said in a press release.

“This expanding threat underscores the need to recruit and train cybersecurity professionals. In particular, our national shortage of these experts impacts the Defense Department’s ability to accomplish its cyber missions. 

The United States, as well as the world around it, is believed to face massive shortages of trained cybersecurity workers in the near future. 

Kaine and Rounds serve on the Armed Services Committee, where Rounds chairs the subcommittee on cybersecurity.