White House looks to eliminate college degree requirements for cyber jobs with federal contractors

The new National Cyber Director Harry Coker, in his first public remarks since starting the job in December, said that the White House intends “to reduce unnecessary barriers” federal contractors face in filling cybersecurity jobs, like requirements for four-year college degrees. 

“To secure our nation’s cyberspace, we need to make cyber jobs more available and attainable for groups that traditionally haven’t been recruited,” he said in remarks at the Community College of Baltimore County on Thursday. 

Currently, educational requirements and requirements for years of experience can block some talent from jobs with the government or with contractors.

As Nextgov/FCW has previously reported, educational requirements in contracting agreements have also stymied some contractors’ ability to offer apprenticeships for cybersecurity jobs — despite the fact that contracting regulations don’t necessarily require agencies to include such stipulations. 

“There are few [Federal Acquisition Regulation] rules that require four year degrees with cyber jobs,” Coker’s predecessor, Kemba Walden, who served in an acting role, recently told Nextgov/FCW.

The federal government will also be pushing out a series of hiring sprints for cybersecurity professionals across the government to fill seats, said Coker, touting that “we’re tackling how the federal government can hire cyber talent quickly, bring in diverse talent and remove barriers to working in cyber on federal contracts.”

Part of that work to make it easier for agencies to hire quickly will likely include a forthcoming legislative proposal from the Office of Personnel Management, whose director said last fall that the proposal will “build equity” among federal agencies in terms of pay and hiring flexibilities for cyber talent. 

Skills-based hiring — where those hiring screen for competencies, not credentials or experience — is also another likely focus, given that OPM has been working on standards and goals to support a shift to skills-based hiring for government tech and cyber jobs.

Coker’s preview of forthcoming work comes after the Office of the National Cyber Director released a workforce-focused strategy last year, meant to address longstanding worker shortages in the cybersecurity industry. 

There were over 500,000 cyber jobs listed from September 2022 to August 2023 across the United States, covering the public sector and private firms, according to Cyberseek, which is backed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology.