Baruch College Joins National Campaign to Boost Cyber and Tech Careers

October 25, 2024

The White House cited Baruch College in its blog post, “Service for America: Cyber Talent is Everywhere and Opportunity Should Be Too,” as a partner in a national effort to address the 500,000 unfilled positions in cybersecurity, AI, and technology across the country.

In September, the “Service for America” program was launched by The White House Office of the National Cyber Director in collaboration with the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Personnel Management. Part of a broader national cybersecurity strategy, the initiative aims to recruit in the critical fields and focus on candidates who may not have traditional qualifications such as computer science or engineering degrees.

Baruch is among the numerous private and public sector companies and nonprofits that have joined the effort and “are working to build a workforce that will protect their systems, data and customers and ultimately better protect our nation.”

Baruch College’s Commitment

As a partner in Service for America, Baruch College commits to growing its newly launched computer science program enrollment to at least 200 students within the next two years. The College also plans to offer experiential learning opportunities and career preparation for the tech sector through a $1.5 million grant from the New York City 2XTech program.

Baruch also commits to creating vibrant cross-disciplinary academic experience for students by incorporating cyber policy into existing proficiencies in cybersecurity and cyber ethics in a new data science research cluster.

‘Lowering Barriers to Launch a Career in Cyber’

According to Harry Coker, Jr., White House National Cyber Director, the effort is “committed to lowering barriers and broadening pathways, ensuring that there are multiple opportunities available for anyone who wants to launch a career in cyber.”

As part of the National Cyber Workforce and Education Strategy, Coker said the federal government is “promoting best practices that make cyber jobs more accessible to individuals from all backgrounds in any part of the country.”  Learn more here.

Approximately 20 private sector companies, nonprofit organizations, and higher education institutions are currently partners in the Service for America campaign.

Baruch’s Computer Science Major

Learn more about the recently launched computer science (CS+) major, based in the Department of Mathematics at the Weissman School of Arts in Sciences, in collaboration with the Paul H. Chook Department of Information Systems and Statistics.

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