Cyber Scholarship Opportunities Act of 2017

Cyber Scholarship Opportunities Act of 2017

This bill amends the Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2014 to require the federal cyber scholarship-for-service program that the National Science Foundation (NSF) coordinates with the Department of Homeland Security to include scholarship recipients who are students pursuing an associate's degree in a cybersecurity field without the intent of transferring to a bachelor's degree program and who either have a bachelor's degree already or are veterans of the Armed Forces.

The post-award employment obligations of scholarship recipients pursuing a doctoral or master's degree may include work at an institution of higher education or for a local educational agency teaching cybersecurity skills.

Scholarship eligibility factors are revised to include: (1) an individual's skills and abilities under the National Institute of Standards and Technology's national cybersecurity awareness and education program, and (2) students pursuing a degree on a less than full-time but not less than half-time basis.

The NSF must work with the Office of Personnel Management to consolidate information about cyber scholarships programs and job opportunities into a single online resource center.

The NSF may carry out a program to improve cybersecurity education at the K-12 level.

The NSF may: (1) grant exceptions from the post-award employment obligations to students who agree to work in a critical infrastructure mission at a federal government corporation or a state, local, or tribal government-affiliated component of a critical infrastructure sector; or (2) develop a pilot program to enhance critical infrastructure protection training for students pursuing careers in cybersecurity.