Listen to this articleThere is a shortage of cyber workers at the federal level, and U.S. Sen. Kristen Gillibrand was at Stony Brook University Friday to discuss her Cyber Service Academy scholarship program that would help fill that void.
The program provides full college tuition in return for public service at the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and Intelligence Community.
“Thousands of unfilled DoD cyber positions leave our country with a severe shortage of personnel needed to protect the United States from adversaries like Russia,” Gillibrand said in a news release about her visit to Stony Brook. “I developed the Cyber Service Academy scholarship program to help meet these needs and give our youth a path to good-paying jobs in government.”
The initiative comes at a time when nearly 30,000 DoD cyber positions remain unfilled. Touting the program, Gillibrand, who was joined by elected officials as well as educators, pointed to a need to foster a next generation cyber workforce.
“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,” Gillibrand said. “Stony Brook University is a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity, and I encourage students to apply, earn free tuition and serve our great nation.”
The university is one of 24 New York institutions that qualify to host the program because of their National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity designations. Gillibrand created the scholarship program through her work on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
“I am pleased to support Sen. Gillibrand’s Cyber Service Academy initiative and applaud her commitment to strengthening our nation’s cybersecurity capabilities,” Assemb. Ed Flood said in the news release. “This program plays a crucial role and invests in our future, providing the skills needed to advance cyber defense and defend our digital infrastructure. Initiatives such as this ensure we remain vigilant and protect our communities and country.”
The program includes a scholarship covering the full cost of tuition, select books and fees, a stipend for room and board, purchase of a laptop and more. Areas of study include cybersecurity, cyber operations, digital and multimedia forensics and computer crime investigations.
The program comprises a service commitment for a period equivalent to the length of a recipient’s scholarship that starts after graduation.
Applications for the 2025-2026 academic year is open through Feb. 1, 2025. More about the program is available here.