Sec. 302. Federal cyber scholarship-for-service program
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The Director of the National Science Foundation, in coordination with the Director of the Office of Personnel Management and Secretary of Homeland Security, shall continue a Federal Cyber Scholarship-for-Service program to recruit and train the next generation of information technology professionals, industrial control system security professionals, and security managers to meet the needs of the cybersecurity mission for Federal, State, local, and tribal governments. The Federal Cyber Scholarship-for-Service program shall— provide scholarships to students who are enrolled in programs of study at institutions of higher education leading to degrees or specialized program certifications in the cybersecurity field; provide the scholarship recipients with summer internship opportunities or other meaningful temporary appointments in the Federal information technology workforce; and provide a procedure by which the National Science Foundation or a Federal agency, consistent with regulations of the Office of Personnel Management, may request and fund security clearances for scholarship recipients, including providing for clearances during internships or other temporary appointments and after receipt of their degrees.
Each scholarship under subsection
(b)shall be in an amount that covers the student's tuition and fees at the institution under subsection (b)(1) and provides the student with an additional stipend. Each scholarship recipient, as a condition of receiving a scholarship under the program, shall enter into an agreement under which the recipient agrees to work in the cybersecurity mission of a Federal, State, local, or tribal agency for a period equal to the length of the scholarship following receipt of the student's degree. 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. To be eligible to receive a scholarship under this section, an individual shall— be a citizen or lawful permanent resident of the United States; demonstrate a commitment to a career in improving the security of information infrastructure; and have demonstrated a high level of proficiency in mathematics, engineering, or computer sciences. If a scholarship recipient does not meet the terms of the program under this section, the recipient shall refund the scholarship payments in accordance with rules established by the Director of the National Science Foundation, in coordination with the Director of the Office of Personnel Management and Secretary of Homeland Security. The Director of the National Science Foundation shall evaluate and report periodically to Congress on the success of recruiting individuals for scholarships under this section and on hiring and retaining those individuals in the public sector workforce.