OMB Approves NSF CyberCorps Final Rule

Yesterday, the OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) announced that it had approved, ‘consistent with change’, a final rule form the National Science Foundation on “NSF CyberCorps Scholarship for Service Program”. The notice of proposed rulemaking for this action was published on July 15^th, 2022. This final rule was sent to OMB on April 27^th, 2023.

According to the Spring 2023 Unified Agenda entry for this rulemaking:

“NSF is finalizing amendments to the CyberCorps Scholarship for Service (SFS) Program, which provides scholarships for cybersecurity undergraduate and graduate (MS or PhD) education. In return for the financial support, recipients must agree to work after graduation in the cybersecurity mission of an agency of the U.S. Government or a State, local, or Tribal government or another qualifying entity, for a period equal to the length of the scholarship. These regulations govern the process of converting scholarships to student loans when the scholarship recipients fail to meet their required service obligations.”

NSF Sends CyberCorps Final Rule to OMB

Yesterday, the OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) announced that it had received a final rule from the National Science Foundation on “NSF CyberCorps Scholarship for Service Program”. According to the listing for this rulemaking in the Fall 2022 Unified Agenda:

“NSF is finalizing amendments to the CyberCorps Scholarship for Service (SFS) Program which provides scholarships for cybersecurity undergraduate and graduate (MS or PhD) education. In return for the financial support, recipients must agree to work for the U.S. Government or a State, local, or Tribal government after graduation in a cybersecurity-related position, for a period equal to the length of the scholarship. NSF, in consultation with the Secretary of Education, is finalizing regulations governing the process of converting scholarships to student loans when the scholarship recipients fail to meet their required service obligations.”

GAO Reports – Cybercorps Scholarships

This week the Government Accountability Office (GAO) published a report on Cybersecurity Workforce:

Actions Needed to Improve CyberCorps Scholarship for Service Program. The program was started in 2000. Since that time the program has awarded about $621 million in scholarships to over 4,707 recipients.

According to the Highlights section of the actual report:

“GAO was asked to review the Scholarship for Service Program. GAO determined the extent to which (1) NSF and OPM are complying with program legal requirements, and (2) NSF has identified, analyzed, mitigated, and reported on program risks.”

The report includes three recommendations for the National Science Foundation:

• NSF should periodically evaluate and make public, information on how long CyberCorps® Scholarship for Service Program scholarship recipients stay in the positions they enter upon graduation.

• NSF should provide Congress with all required information in a timely manner for the CyberCorps® Scholarship for Service Program so Congress can use this information to make informed decisions regarding the SFS Program.

• NSF should develop and implement a risk management strategy that includes a process to effectively identify, analyze, mitigate, and report CyberCorps® Scholarship for Service Program risks and challenges.

The report includes two recommendations for the Office of Personnel Management:

• OMB should establish a time frame for implementing a process to ensure that all CyberCorps® Scholarship for Service Program scholarship recipients provide their institutions of higher education and the Office of Personnel Management (in coordination with the National Science Foundation) with annual verifiable documentation of post-award employment and up-to-date contact information for a period of at least through the end of their work service obligation.

• OMB should ensure the collection of complete and consistent data that relate to the fulfillment of all post-award obligations or requirements pursuant to the CyberCorps® Scholarship for Service Program.

NOTE: GAO actually published two very nearly identical reports (GAO-22-105187 and GAO-22-106146.pdf), both on October 29^th, 2022. Most of the changes are very minor formatting changes, the biggest change that I have found in a quick look is that the later report refers to the ‘Office of Personnel Management’ in a number of locations where the earlier report refers to it in the same places as the ‘U.S. Office of Personnel Management’.

NSF Publishes CyberCorps NPRM

Today, the National Science Foundation published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) in the Federal Register (87 FR 42431-42437) for changes to “NSF Federal Cyber Scholarship-for-Service Program”. The rulemaking is “is proposing standards for how a  CyberCorps SFS scholarship would be repaid if a scholarship recipient fails to meet the program requirements, as well as the process to discharge the repayment obligation, in whole or in part, in certain circumstances.”

The preamble to the proposed rule discusses the problem with the current system if a scholarship recipient is required to repay a scholarship because of failure to:

• Satisfy the academic requirements of the program, or

• Complete the service obligation.

This NPRM is proposing a single, centralized process for NSF and the Department of Education to convert the repayments amounts to Direct Unsubsidized Loans for the benefit of individual scholars, institutions, and Federal agencies.  

NSF is proposing to add a new Part 620 to 45 CFR:

PART 620—CYBERCORPS® SCHOLARSHIP FOR SERVICE (SFS) PROGRAM

620.1  Scope and purpose.

620.2  Definitions.

620.3  Documenting the service obligation.

620.4  Deferral of obligation.

620.5  Discharge of agreement to serve or repay.

620.6  Obligation to repay the CyberCorps SFS scholarship.

620.7  Severability.

NSF is soliciting public comments on the rulemaking. Comments may be submitted via the Federal eRulemaking Portal (www.Regulations.gov). The Federal Register Notice does not provide the docket number necessary for submitting a comment, but a brief search shows that the appropriate docket number is “NSF_FRDOC_0001-2960”. Comments should be submitted by September 19^th, 2022.

OMB Approves NSF CyberCorps NPRM

Yesterday, the OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) announced that it had approved a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) from the National Science Foundation for “NSF CyberCorps Scholarship for Service Program”. The NPRM was sent to OIRA back on May 2^nd, 2022. According to the Abstract for this rulemaking in the Spring 2022 Unified Agenda:

“The CyberCorps Scholarship for Service (SFS) Program is designed to recruit and train the next generation of cybersecurity professionals to meet the needs of Federal, State, local, tribal, and territorial government. The program provides scholarships for cybersecurity undergraduate and graduate (MS or PhD) education funded through grants awarded by the NSF. In return for the financial support, recipients must agree to work for the U.S. Government or a State, local, or Tribal government after graduation in a cybersecurity-related position, for a period equal to the length of the scholarship. Under the statute, NSF, in consultation with the Secretary of Education, must issue regulations that govern the process of converting scholarships to student loans when the scholarship recipients fail to meet their required service obligations.” [emphasis added]

We can probably expect to see the NPRM published in the Federal Register in the next week or so.

NSF Sends CyberCorps Scholarship NPRM to OMB

On Friday, the OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) announced that it had received a notice of proposed rule making (NPRM) from the National Science Foundation for a proposed rule on “NSF CyberCorps Scholarship for Service Program” (RIN 3145-AA64). According to the Fall 2021 Regulatory Agenda entry for this rulemaking:

“The CyberCorps Scholarship for Service (SFS) Program is designed to recruit and train the next generation of cybersecurity professionals to meet the needs of Federal, State, local, tribal, and territorial government. The program provides scholarships for cybersecurity undergraduate and graduate (MS or PhD) education funded through grants awarded by the NSF. In return for the financial support, recipients must agree to work for the U.S. Government or a State, local, or Tribal government after graduation in a cybersecurity-related position, for a period equal to the length of the scholarship. Under the statute, NSF, in consultation with the Secretary of Education, must issue regulations that govern the process of converting scholarships to student loans when the scholarship recipients fail to meet their required service obligations. [emphasis added]”