Sec. 106. Federal cyber scholarship for service program
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The Director of the National Science Foundation shall continue a Scholarship for Service program under section 5(a) of the Cyber Security Research and Development Act ( 15 U.S.C. 7404(a) ) to recruit and train the next generation of Federal cybersecurity professionals and to increase the capacity of the higher education system to produce an information technology workforce with the skills necessary to enhance the security of the Nation’s communications and information infrastructure.
The program under this section shall— provide, through qualified institutions of higher education, including community colleges, scholarships that provide tuition, fees, and a competitive stipend for up to 2 years to students pursing a bachelor’s or master’s degree and up to 3 years to students pursuing a doctoral degree in a cybersecurity field; provide the scholarship recipients with summer internship opportunities or other meaningful temporary appointments in the Federal information technology workforce; and increase the capacity of institutions of higher education throughout all regions of the United States to produce highly qualified cybersecurity professionals, through the award of competitive, merit-reviewed grants that support such activities as— faculty professional development, including technical, hands-on experiences in the private sector or government, workshops, seminars, conferences, and other professional development opportunities that will result in improved instructional capabilities; institutional partnerships, including minority serving institutions and community colleges; development and evaluation of cybersecurity-related courses and curricula; and public-private partnerships that will integrate research experiences and hands-on learning into cybersecurity degree programs.
Scholarships under this section shall be available only to students who— are citizens or permanent residents of the United States; are full-time students in an eligible degree program, as determined by the Director, that is focused on computer security or information assurance at an awardee institution; and accept the terms of a scholarship pursuant to this section. Individuals shall be selected to receive scholarships primarily on the basis of academic merit, with consideration given to financial need, to the goal of promoting the participation of females and individuals identified in section 33 or 34 of the Science and Engineering Equal Opportunities Act (42 U.S.C. 1885a or 1885b), and to veterans.
For purposes of this paragraph, the term veteran means a person who— served on active duty (other than active duty for training) in the Armed Forces of the United States for a period of more than 180 consecutive days, and who was discharged or released therefrom under conditions other than dishonorable; or served on active duty (other than active duty for training) in the Armed Forces of the United States and was discharged or released from such service for a service-connected disability before serving 180 consecutive days.
For purposes of subparagraph (B), the term service-connected has the meaning given such term under section 101 of title 38, United States Code. If an individual receives a scholarship under this section, as a condition of receiving such scholarship, the individual upon completion of their degree must serve as a cybersecurity professional within the Federal workforce for a period of time as provided in paragraph (5). If a scholarship recipient is not offered employment by a Federal agency or a federally funded research and development center, the service requirement can be satisfied at the Director’s discretion by— serving as a cybersecurity professional in a State, local, or tribal government agency; or teaching cybersecurity courses at an institution of higher education.
As a condition of acceptance of a scholarship under this section, a recipient shall agree to provide the awardee institution with annual verifiable documentation of employment and up-to-date contact information. The length of service required in exchange for a scholarship under this subsection shall be 1 year more than the number of years for which the scholarship was received. If an individual who has received a scholarship under this section— fails to maintain an acceptable level of academic standing in the educational institution in which the individual is enrolled, as determined by the Director; is dismissed from such educational institution for disciplinary reasons; withdraws from the program for which the award was made before the completion of such program; declares that the individual does not intend to fulfill the service obligation under this section; or fails to fulfill the service obligation of the individual under this section, such individual shall be liable to the United States as provided in paragraph (3).
As a condition of participating in the program, a qualified institution of higher education receiving a grant under this section shall— enter into an agreement with the Director of the National Science Foundation to monitor the compliance of scholarship recipients with respect to their service obligation; and provide to the Director, on an annual basis, post-award employment information required under subsection (c)(4) for scholarship recipients through the completion of their service obligation.
If a circumstance described in paragraph
(1)occurs before the completion of 1 year of a service obligation under this section, the total amount of awards received by the individual under this section shall be repaid or such amount shall be treated as a loan to be repaid in accordance with subparagraph (C). If a circumstance described in subparagraph
(D)or
(E)of paragraph
(1)occurs after the completion of 1 year of a service obligation under this section, the total amount of scholarship awards received by the individual under this section, reduced by the ratio of the number of years of service completed divided by the number of years of service required, shall be repaid or such amount shall be treated as a loan to be repaid in accordance with subparagraph (C). A loan described in subparagraph
(A)or
(B)shall be treated as a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan under part D of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087a and following), and shall be subject to repayment, together with interest thereon accruing from the date of the scholarship award, in accordance with terms and conditions specified by the Director (in consultation with the Secretary of Education) in regulations promulgated to carry out this paragraph. In the event that a scholarship recipient is required to repay the scholarship under this subsection, the institution providing the scholarship shall— be responsible for determining the repayment amounts and for notifying the recipient and the Director of the amount owed; and collect such repayment amount within a period of time as determined under the agreement described in paragraph (2), or the repayment amount shall be treated as a loan in accordance with paragraph (3)(C). Except as provided in subparagraph
(C)of this paragraph, any such repayment shall be returned to the Treasury of the United States. An institution of higher education may retain a percentage of any repayment the institution collects under this paragraph to defray administrative costs associated with the collection. The Director shall establish a single, fixed percentage that will apply to all eligible entities. The Director may provide for the partial or total waiver or suspension of any service or payment obligation by an individual under this section whenever compliance by the individual with the obligation is impossible or would involve extreme hardship to the individual, or if enforcement of such obligation with respect to the individual would be unconscionable. Notwithstanding any provision of chapter 33 of title 5, United States Code, governing appointments in the competitive service, an agency shall appoint in the excepted service an individual who has completed the academic program for which a scholarship was awarded. Except as provided in paragraph (4), upon fulfillment of the service term, an employee appointed under paragraph
(1)may be converted noncompetitively to term, career-conditional or career appointment. An agency may noncompetitively convert a term employee appointed under paragraph
(2)to a career-conditional or career appointment before the term appointment expires. An agency may decline to make the noncompetitive conversion or appointment under paragraph
(2)for cause.
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