Applications for the Cyber Service Academy Scholarship are open until Feb. 1.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand founded the Academy in 2022 with her work on the Senate Armed Services Committee. A press release from SCCC says only 7% of federal employees in computer science, computer engineering and information technology are under the age of 30, and Gillibrand is looking to change that.
“I developed the Cyber Service Academy to help meet these needs and give our youth a path to good-paying jobs,” Gillibrand said at a December news conference at Suffolk Community College. “This program will create a pipeline for a talented, highly-trained cyber workforce, granting one year of free college for every year of subsequent public service.” She also praises SCCC as one of only 19 schools in the state eligible for the program due to its status as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity (NCAE-C).
Gillibrand has made appearances at NCAE-C schools across the state to promote the program. The 19 schools eligible range from public, private and community colleges across the state. New York Institute of Technology (NYIT), which holds an Old Westbury campus, is the only other Long Island college eligible for enrollment; Queens’ St. John’s University is the next closest.
The program offers education in various aspects of the field, including cybersecurity, cyber operations and digital and multimedia forensics. In exchange for these courses, the Cyber Service Academy covers the costs of books and fees, a stipend and a laptop, along with a service commitment after graduation.
Open enrollment for the scholarship began on November 1 and will continue until February 1. Further details on the Cyber Service Academy, eligible schools and applicant requirements are available at gillibrand.senate.gov/cyberacademy/. Students can apply for the scholarship at dodemergingtech.com/.
