The White House on Monday announced a new pledge by a cyber certification organization to offer $15 million in scholarships for cybersecurity programs at educational institutions, with a goal of reaching more than 50,000 students. 

U.S National Cyber Director Harry Coker Jr. said on Monday that EC-Council, a cybersecurity technical certification body, has pledged $15 million in scholarships to reach over 50,000 students, “supporting them in earning new industry credentials and participating in growing their cybersecurity skills through hands-on programs."

EC-Council has created hundreds of certifications and training programs including the “Ethical Hacker” credential. The organization said that through the Office of the National Cyber Director (ONCD), they plan to provide eight hands-on programs through their partnerships with 800 institutions across North America. 

EC-Council has already certified more than 350,000 people since being created in 2001 and has offices across the U.S., U.K., India, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. 

Jay Bavisi, Group President of EC-Council, said their goal is to “democratize cybersecurity education and build the cyber workforce of the future.” 

“This pledge will enhance accessibility to cybersecurity careers through the academic community and train the next generation of ethical hackers, which is crucial for safeguarding against cyber threats,” he said. 

Wesley Alvarez, Director of Academics, explained to Recorded Future News that the $15 million pledge will be broken down between two different programs — $8 million will be spent on providing scholarships for their “Essentials Series” that will be offered through academic institutions and to U.S. military families, while another $7 million in scholarships will be offered to professionals enrolling in their Certified Cybersecurity Technician (CCT) certification program, which is designed to help IT workers transition into the cybersecurity field. 

Nine industry-recognized certifications will be offered across the scholarships, including ones covering ethical hacking, network defense, digital forensics, threat intelligence, security operations, IOT security, devsecops, and cloud security. 

The courses will be offered online and typically last one week, ranging from 20-40 hours of hands-on training elements based on the type of certification desired. 

This is the first time EC-Council has worked with ONCD but they have previously sponsored cybersecurity education and training programs. 

“Each Essentials Series program and CCT offers a tactical approach to specific domains within the role of a Cybersecurity Technician. However, these skills are highly valuable and transferrable across a number of different jobs within the IT and Information Security industry,” Alvarez said. 

Alvarez added that people will be able to find the courses at “any U.S. academic institution at a Secondary or Post-Secondary level” and individuals can also apply for the scholarship directly with EC-Council.

The pledge is a part of a larger series of commitments supporting President Joe Biden’s National Cyber Workforce and Education Strategy. 

The White House has spent significant resources trying to close the cyber skills gap through a variety of initiatives and efforts, attempting to resolve the dire shortage of cybersecurity workers — which is expected to reach 3.5 million by 2025.

During an event in Wisconsin on Friday, Coker Jr. said there are about 500,000 open cybersecurity jobs in the U.S. He lauded a local college for offering cybersecurity courses in an effort to address the state’s shortage of about 5,000 cybersecurity workers. 

“What impressed me about what we saw today were the pathways that are being created for Americans to find their way into the meaningful, purposeful, challenging and rewarding field of cybersecurity,” Coker Jr. said.