Sponsors (2)
The bill strengthens cybersecurity workforce training for critical infrastructure—boosting skills, employer ties, and public safety—while relying on modest federal funding and program requirements that may create administrative burdens and leave rural, small, or non‑critical-sector participants underserved.
Students and early-career workers gain industry-aligned cybersecurity skills, recognized credentials, and work-based learning that increase job readiness, employability, and pay potential in critical-infrastructure occupations.
Operators of critical infrastructure and the public benefit from a stronger cybersecurity workforce, which can reduce cyber incidents and improve system reliability and public safety.
The bill provides federal support (a $10 million authorization) and encourages geographically diverse awardees and employer partnerships, enabling state and local education systems to develop or adapt postsecondary CTE programs and strengthen regional workforce-industry linkages.
The authorized $10 million and associated resources may be insufficient to scale programs nationally, and expanding CTE cybersecurity offerings could require additional state or federal funding or reallocation of education resources.
Grant eligibility rules (e.g., requiring multiple employer partners and a qualifying postsecondary institution) and variable implementation risk excluding rural, underfunded, or small institutions and communities, producing uneven access to training.
Recipients face annual reporting, curriculum-update, and sector-alignment requirements that increase administrative burden and ongoing costs for postsecondary institutions and employer partners, potentially reducing program sustainability after grants end.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Establishes a competitive Education Dept. pilot grant program to fund postsecondary CTE programs that integrate cybersecurity training for critical infrastructure workforce needs.
Introduced March 9, 2026 by Glenn Thompson · Last progress March 9, 2026
Creates a competitive pilot grant program at the Department of Education to fund postsecondary career and technical education (CTE) programs that add or integrate cybersecurity education aimed at critical infrastructure workforce needs. Grants (up to $500,000 per award per year) support development of new CTE programs or modification of existing ones, require alignment with the NIST NICE framework, sector-specific skills demonstration, work-based learning, recognized credentials, annual curriculum updates, and reporting on student outcomes; the Education Secretary must establish the program within one year and consult relevant federal agencies when awarding grants.