Department of Defense Cyber Scholarship Program Act of 2017

To amend title 10, United States Code, to support meeting the increasing needs of the United States for a cybersecurity and information assurance workforce by reinvigorating and modifying the Information Assurance Scholarship Program of the Department of Defense, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Department of Defense Cyber Scholarship Program Act of 2017 2. Reinvigorating and modifying the Information Assurance Scholarship Program (a) Findings and sense of Congress (1) Findings Congress makes the following findings: (A) Cyber threats to United States interests posed by state and non-state actors are growing as the United States becomes increasingly reliant on the Internet and cyberspace for critical services. (B) A well-trained workforce is essential to meeting the increasing cybersecurity needs of the United States. (C) The Department of Defense Cyber Strategy, issued in April 2015, cites building the cyber workforce among its objectives for achieving the essential strategic goal of building and maintaining ready forces and capabilities to conduct cyberspace operations. (D) Specifically, the strategy stresses the importance of improving civilian recruitment and retention for fulfilling the cyber missions of the Department of Defense. (E) Many community colleges offer degrees or industry-recognized credentials in cybersecurity and related fields that prepare students to fill high demand cybersecurity jobs. (F) The Information Assurance Scholarship Program of the Department of Defense and the National Security Agency promotes recruitment, education, and retention of cybersecurity professionals. (G) Since 2001, the Information Assurance Scholarship Program has supported individuals pursuing cybersecurity education and training in exchange for government service. (H) Since 2013, budgetary considerations have resulted in reductions to funding for Information Assurance Scholarship Program. (I) The efforts of the Department of Defense to build a cybersecurity workforce capable of defending against and responding to cyber threats should include reinvigorating the Information Assurance Scholarship Program and supporting cybersecurity degree programs at United States educational institutions. (2) Sense of Congress It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of Defense should— (A) consider the Information Assurance Scholarship Program to be a critical cybersecurity effort of the Chief Information Officer of the Department of Defense; (B) continue to support programs at 2-year institutions of higher education that help students develop skills necessary to support the cybersecurity missions of the United States; and (C) restore funding to the program to recruit and retain new scholarship recipients and build capacity at institutions of higher education. (b) Modification of Information Assurance Scholarship Program (1) Designation of program Section 2200a of title 10, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection: (h) Designation of program A program under which the Secretary provides financial assistance under subsection (a) of this section and grants under section 2200b of this title shall be known as the Department of Defense Cyber Scholarship Program . (2) Allocation of funding Subsection (f) of such section is amended— (A) by inserting (1) Not less (B) by adding at the end the following new paragraph: (2) Not less than five percent of the amount available for financial assistance under this section for a fiscal year shall be available for providing financial assistance for the pursuit of an associate degree. . (c) Authorization of appropriations There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Defense to provide financial assistance under section 2200a of such title, as amended by subsection (b), and grants under section 2200b of such title, $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2018. (d) Reinvigoration plan required Not later than September 30, 2018, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the congressional defense committees (as defined in section 101(a) of such title) a plan for reinvigorating the Department of Defense Cyber Scholarship Program, as designated by section 2200a(h) of such title, as added by subsection (b)(1) of this section.

Summary: Department of Defense Cyber Scholarship Program Act of 2017 This bill designates the existing Department of Defense (DOD) information assurance scholarship and grant program as the Department of Defense Cyber Scholarship Program to provide financial assistance (with consideration given to whether the recipient is, or the pursuit of the degree is at, a Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education designated by the National Security Agency) to: (1) persons pursuing information assurance degrees or certifications at institutions of higher education in exchange for an agreement to serve on active duty in the armed forces or as a DOD employee for a designated period; and (2) institutions of higher education to support development of faculty, curriculum, laboratories, and research for information assurance disciplines. Not less than 5% of the amounts available for scholarship financial assistance must be available for the pursuit of associate degrees. DOD must submit a plan for reinvigorating the program.