§2195 Department of Defense Cooperative Education Programs

Summary

The Secretary of Defense must make sure each defense laboratory director sets up cooperative work‑education programs with one or more U.S. colleges or college groups for undergraduate and graduate students. A lab director may ignore internal limits on staff numbers or total personnel costs and may hire students directly into entry‑level lab jobs. The director can pay a basic salary up to the maximum for grade GS‑9 on the federal pay scale, match industry entry‑level pay, cover travel between school and the lab for up to six round trips a year, and pay some or all tuition, fees, lab charges, materials, and books. The director can require a student to sign a written agreement to keep working at the lab for a set time to get those payments, or may choose not to require such an agreement. The Director of the National Security Agency may provide qualifying student employees with housing free or at a charge the Director sets, even if other rules would normally prevent it. A qualifying employee is a student hired under the Agency’s Student Educational Employment Program or a similar cooperative or summer education program that meets Office of Personnel Management criteria.