University and college leaders told the Joint Business Affairs & Labor Committee that six years of state funding under Senate Bill 18‑086 have helped expand cybersecurity education, scholarships, certifications and internship pathways across Colorado and urged continued funding.

At the hearing, UCCS cybersecurity director Gretchen Bliss summarized recent statewide activity: the Mountain West Cybersecurity Consortium coordinated camps and K‑12 outreach across the state; UCCS and partners offered week‑long cybersecurity camps in Gunnison, Grand Junction, Fort Collins, Denver and Colorado Springs; grant funding allowed a shared instructor to teach industry certification courses; and the program helped students obtain CompTIA Security+ certification. "These funds have exponentially increased the number of employees in the Colorado cybersecurity workforce," Bliss said.

National Cybersecurity Center CEO Alita Jeffress described expansion of youth and adult programs, reporting 187 students attended summer camps and a program that trained 203 student analysts to provide monitoring that identified more than 1,600 potential security threats and over 500 viable threats for participating organizations. Colorado State University staff and other presenters said the state investments helped universities secure major industry partnerships, internships and federal grants that scale research and workforce training.

Why it matters: university leaders said the money helps fill immediate local employer demand for cybersecurity skills and creates pathways for underrepresented students to enter the field. Pikes Peak State College, Colorado Mesa University and Colorado Western University described scholarship packages and faculty hires funded by the appropriation. Presenters emphasized three pillars requested by industry: a degree, hands‑on experience and industry certifications; they said state funds support all three.

Committee members asked about selection and placement: presenters said institutions use committees of faculty, student‑services staff and diversity officers to select scholarship recipients and that internship placement often flows from local partnerships with industry and federal contractors. Several lawmakers asked about placement into jobs requiring security clearances; presenters replied that some students already bring military or prior clearance backgrounds, and others are attractive to contractors who sponsor future clearance processes.

Presenters asked lawmakers to continue the funding package so institutions could maintain instructional staff, scholarship pools and internships. Several senators and representatives praised the statewide collaboration and noted cybersecurity’s links to critical infrastructure, AI and energy systems.