White House and EC-Council Launch $15m Cybersecurity Scholarship

The White House and EC-Council have announced a $15m pledge to train over 50,000 students in critical cybersecurity skills.

The scholarship training program is designed to offer over 50,000 students access to eight turnkey, hands-on programs in academic institutions across the US.

These programs will cover the following cybersecurity domains:

• Ethical hacking
• Network defense
• Digital forensics
• Threat intelligence
• Security operations
• IoT security
• DevSecOps
• Cloud security

Universities, the National Security Agency’s (NSA) centers of academic excellence (CAEs), community colleges, career schools, high schools and non-profit organizations will be able to offer the program.

The curriculum will be provided by cybersecurity and accreditation body the EC-Council. The program will run through the White House’s Office of the National Cyber Director (ONCD).

The scholarships will provide students with complete access to comprehensive cybersecurity curriculum and instructional videos.

Jay Bavisi, Group President of EC-Council, commented: “Our mission to democratize cybersecurity education and build the cyber workforce of the future is unwavering. This pledge will enhance accessibility to cybersecurity careers through the academic community and train the next generation of ethical hackers, crucial for safeguarding against cyber threats.”

Responding to a Rising Cyber Workforce Gap

The pledge aims to help address the cybersecurity workforce gap, which ISC2 found to be 4 million globally in 2023.

Read now: Will the Cyber Skills Gap Continue to Grow in 2024?

In July 2023, the US government announced its National Cyber Workforce and Education Strategy (NCWES). This strategy aims to transform cybersecurity education throughout the country, paving the way for well-paid cyber jobs within all communities.

The ONCD highlighted the EC-Council initiative during a visit to Madison College on August 2 as part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America tour, which showcase investments that are helping create pathways to good-paying cybersecurity jobs.

National Cyber Director Harry Coker, Jr commented at the event: “As National Cyber Director, I spend a lot of time talking with leaders across critical infrastructure sectors and I repeatedly hear two things: they need resources and they need more people ready to join the cyber workforce.”

The US government said there are currently approximately 500,000 open cybersecurity jobs in the country.

Applications for the scholarship program can be made here.