VALHALLA – US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D, NY) and Congressman Jamaal Bowman (D, NY-16) were at SUNY Westchester Community College on Friday to encourage students to apply to the Cyber Service Academy scholarship program, which grants students free college in return for public service in the Department of Defense.
Gillibrand created the Cyber Service Academy scholarship program through her work on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Successful applicants are provided a scholarship covering the full cost of tuition, select books and fees, a stipend, and purchase of a laptop.
Successful applicants incur a service commitment that starts after they receive their degree and is equivalent to the length of their scholarship.
Areas of study include cybersecurity, cyber operations, digital and multimedia forensics, computer crime investigations and other fields.
“There are nearly 40,000 unfilled public sector cybersecurity positions, leaving our country with a severe shortage of cyber personnel needed to protect ourselves from adversaries like Russia,” said Gillibrand. “The Cyber Security Academy will create a pipeline for a talented, highly trained cyber workforce, granting one year of free college for every year of subsequent public service.”
Interested students should go to www.gillibrand.senate.gov/cyberacademy and click on the DoD Cyber Scholarship Program link to apply. This page will continue to be updated as the DoD refines its application process. Open enrollment starts November 1.
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