2016 US Code
Title 15 - Commerce and Trade
Chapter 100A - Cybersecurity Enhancement
Subchapter II - Education and Workforce Development
Sec. 7442 - Federal Cyber Scholarship-for-Service Program

(1) provide scholarships through qualified institutions of higher education, including community colleges, to students who are enrolled in programs of study at institutions of higher education leading to degrees or specialized program certifications in the cybersecurity field;

(2) provide the scholarship recipients with summer internship opportunities or other meaningful temporary appointments in the Federal information technology workforce; and

(3) prioritize the employment placement of scholarship recipients in the Federal Government.

Notwithstanding any provision of chapter 33 of title 5 governing appointments in the competitive service, an agency shall appoint in the excepted service an individual who has completed the eligible degree program for which a scholarship was awarded.

Except as provided in paragraph (4), upon fulfillment of the service term, an employee appointed under paragraph (1) may be converted noncompetitively to term, career-conditional or career appointment.

An agency may noncompetitively convert a term employee appointed under paragraph (2) to a career-conditional or career appointment before the term appointment expires.

An agency may decline to make the noncompetitive conversion or appointment under paragraph (2) for cause.

(1) be a citizen or lawful permanent resident of the United States;

(2) demonstrate a commitment to a career in improving the security of information technology;

(3) have demonstrated a high level of proficiency in mathematics, engineering, or computer sciences;

(4) be a full-time student in an eligible degree program at a qualified institution of higher education, as determined by the Director of the National Science Foundation; and

(5) accept the terms of a scholarship under this section.

As a condition of receiving a scholarship under this section, a recipient shall agree to provide the qualified institution of higher education with annual verifiable documentation of post-award employment and up-to-date contact information.

A scholarship recipient under this section shall be liable to the United States as provided in subsection (i) if the individual—

(1) enter into an agreement with the Director of the National Science Foundation, to monitor the compliance of scholarship recipients with respect to their post-award employment obligations; and

(2) provide to the Director of the National Science Foundation, on an annual basis, the post-award employment documentation required under subsection (g)(1) for scholarship recipients through the completion of their post-award employment obligations.

If a circumstance described in subsection (g)(2) occurs before the completion of 1 year of a post-award employment obligation under this section, the total amount of scholarship awards received by the individual under this section shall—

If a circumstance described in subparagraph (D) or (E) of subsection (g)(2) occurs after the completion of 1 or more years of a post-award employment obligation under this section, the total amount of scholarship awards received by the individual under this section, reduced by the ratio of the number of years of service completed divided by the number of years of service required, shall—

(1) be treated as a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan under part D of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087a et seq.); and

(2) be subject to repayment, together with interest thereon accruing from the date of the scholarship award, in accordance with terms and conditions specified by the Director of the National Science Foundation (in consultation with the Secretary of Education) in regulations promulgated to carry out this subsection.

In the event that a scholarship recipient is required to repay the scholarship award under this section, the qualified institution of higher education providing the scholarship shall—

Except as provided in paragraph (3), any repayment under this subsection shall be returned to the Treasury of the United States.

A qualified institution of higher education may retain a percentage of any repayment the institution collects under this subsection to defray administrative costs associated with the collection. The Director of the National Science Foundation shall establish a single, fixed percentage that will apply to all eligible entities.