Cyber Scholarship Opportunities Act of 2017

Cyber Scholarship Opportunities Act of 2017

This bill requires the National Science Foundation, in coordination with the Office of Personnel Management, to develop and implement a pilot program at community colleges to provide scholarships to students who are pursuing associate degrees or specialized program certifications in cybersecurity and either have bachelor's degrees or are veterans.

The bill amends the Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2014 to require that the federal cyber scholarship-for-service program: (1) place at least 80% of recipients in an executive agency, and (2) provide awards to improve cybersecurity education at the K-12 levels.

The post-award employment obligations of scholarship recipients must include work for an executive agency; Congress; an interstate agency; state, local, or tribal governments; or certain government-affiliated nonprofits.

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 bill amends the National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 2002 to include cybersecurity in the definitions of a "mathematics and science teacher" and "science, technology, engineering, or mathematics professional" under the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program.