Google has awarded over two dozen colleges and universities $1 million each to expand their access to cybersecurity education.
The technology company created a fund last year in partnership with The Consortium of Cybersecurity Clinics to provide money to higher education institutions for the establishment of educational clinics. The hope is to create more opportunities for diverse, young professionals to get into the field as the demand for cybersecurity jobs continues to increase and hundreds of thousands of those positions remain open across the U.S., Google said. The clinics also provide students an opportunity to utilize those skills in their school communities.
Google’s investment in the schools’ cybersecurity clinics includes mentorship from volunteer Googlers, Titan Security Keys and scholarships for the Google Career Certificate in Cybersecurity. Colleges and universities were asked to apply for the funding. Google said it originally planned to support 20 clinics but decided to contribute to more schools after reviewing “hundreds of compelling applications.