HB2447, the New Collar Jobs Act of 2025, would create a broad suite of incentives to expand cybersecurity education and workforce growth. It adds an employee cybersecurity education credit (section 45BB) allowing employers to claim 50% of qualified expenses for employees pursuing cybersecurity certificates, degrees, or industry-recognized credentials, up to $5,000 per employee per year.
The credit is designed to be integrated with the general business credit and is subject to anti-double-dipping rules.
The bill also introduces a loan-repayment program for cybersecurity workers in economically distressed areas, offering forgiveness of the balance of certain federal direct loans after 36 consecutive qualifying payments while the borrower remains employed in a cybersecurity role in those areas. In addition, it calls for at least doubling NSF’s CyberCorps scholarships, expands cybersecurity instruction under NSF programs, increases funding for the Advanced Technology Education program, and provides a cybersecurity training incentive for government contracts that awards a 5 percent score increase to competitive proposals by qualified offerors who have utilized the education credit.
At a Glance
What It Does
Establishes a new employee cybersecurity education credit (45BB) equal to 50% of qualified expenses, capped at $5,000 per employee per year; expands the General Business Credit by adding this new credit; and applies rules to prevent double benefits.
Who It Affects
Employers that sponsor cybersecurity education for workers; employees pursuing cyber-related certificates or degrees; cybersecurity instructors and institutions; borrowers in economically distressed areas eligible for loan forgiveness; and federal contractors.
Why It Matters
Creates a direct economic incentive to grow cybersecurity capabilities across industry and government, aligning education pathways with workforce demand and incentivizing distribution of workers into economically distressed regions.
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What This Bill Actually Does
The New Collar Jobs Act of 2025 creates a multifaceted toolkit to grow the cybersecurity workforce. First, it adds a new tax credit for employers who pay for employees’ cybersecurity education.
Known as 45BB, the credit covers 50% of qualified expenses for degrees, certificates, or industry-recognized credentials tied to NICE NCWF-defined cybersecurity roles, up to $5,000 per employee per year. This credit is treated as part of the General Business Credit, with safeguards to avoid double benefits with other credits.
Second, the bill provides a loan repayment program for cybersecurity workers in economically distressed areas. After making 36 consecutive qualifying payments on eligible federal Direct Loans, borrowers who remain employed in a cybersecurity job in an economically distressed area for at least 60% of their hours can have the loan balance forgiven, up to $25,000, and not more than the outstanding balance.Third, the Act expands NSF’s cybersecurity scholarship-for-service program, mandating a funding increase that would at minimum double the number of scholarships relative to FY2024, and it broadens program language to include cybersecurity instructors who teach for NICE-defined roles.
It also calls for increased funding for NSF’s Advanced Technology Education program. Finally, it creates a cybersecurity training incentive for government contracts, requiring a 5% score boost in competitive evaluations for solicitations over $5 million, for qualified offerors that have claimed the education credit.Taken together, the measures link education expenses, loan relief, and federal contracting incentives to build a more capable, distributed cybersecurity workforce across the public and private sectors.
The Five Things You Need to Know
The bill creates the 45BB employee cybersecurity education credit (50% of qualified expenses, up to $5,000 per employee).
The credit becomes part of the general business credit, with anti-double-dipping rules.
A new loan-repayment program forgives up to $25,000 after 36 qualifying payments for cybersecurity workers in economically distressed areas who stay in related roles.
NSF cyber scholarships would be doubled, and cybersecurity course instruction would be expanded under the existing Cybersecurity Enhancement Act framework.
A 5% government-contract scoring incentive rewards proposals from qualified offerors who have used the education credit.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
Every bill we cover gets an analysis of its key sections.
Short title and table of contents
This section designates the act as the New Collar Jobs Act of 2025 and provides a table of contents outlining Sections 2 through 7, framing the bill’s institutional structure and sequencing.
Findings
Congress identifies a gap between rising manufacturing technology and employment growth, arguing that modern factories increasingly require cybersecurity expertise. It points to a surge in industrial cyber incidents and argues that workforce demand aligns with the NICE NCWF framework for job classifications.
Employee cybersecurity education (45BB)
This section adds a new section 45BB to the tax code, establishing a credit equal to 50% of qualified employee cybersecurity education expenses, capped at $5,000 per employee for the taxable year. Qualified expenses cover degrees and qualifying certificates tied to NICE-defined cybersecurity roles. Rules resemble those for other business credits and include provisions to prevent using both this credit and other overlapping benefits.
Student loan repayment for cybersecurity workers
The act adds a loan-repayment provision for cybersecurity workers in economically distressed areas. After 36 consecutive qualifying payments on eligible Direct Loans, the borrower can have the remaining balance forgiven up to $25,000, provided the borrower works in a cybersecurity job in an economically distressed area for at least 60% of total hours.
CyberCorps scholarship-for-service program
NSF scholarship funding for cybersecurity would be increased, with the number of scholarships at least doubled relative to FY2024. The act also expands the Cybersecurity Workforce Framework to include cybersecurity course instructors who teach for NICE-defined roles, integrating education instruction into the program.
Increased funding for Advanced Technology Education
The Act calls for NSF IT and cybersecurity divisions within the AT Education program to receive funding in FY2026 not less than 110% of FY2024 levels, signaling a commitment to expanded education and workforce development in technology fields.
Cybersecurity training incentive for government contracts
The head of an executive agency must award a 5% score increase to competitive proposals for contracts over $5 million that come from qualified offerors who have claimed the employee cybersecurity education credit in the prior three years, linking payroll education incentives to procurement outcomes.
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Explore Technology in Codify Search →Who Benefits and Who Bears the Cost
Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- Employers sponsoring qualifying cybersecurity education can reduce net training costs via the 45BB credit, encouraging broader workforce development.
- Employees pursuing cybersecurity certificates, degrees, or industry-recognized credentials gain subsidized education opportunities and potential career advancement.
- Borrowers in economically distressed areas gain access to loan forgiveness, easing debt burdens while stabilizing regional cybersecurity capacity.
- NSF and higher education institutions benefit from increased scholarship funding and the ability to recruit and retain cybersecurity talent into academia and formal programs.
- Federal contractors may gain a competitive edge due to the 5% scoring incentive for qualified proposals, promoting defense of national cybersecurity across sectors.
Who Bears the Cost
- The federal government foregoes tax revenue due to the new 45BB credit, affecting budgetary resources.
- NSF, and related agencies, must fund increased scholarships and program expansions, creating ongoing cost implications.
- Employers bear the administrative and accounting costs of implementing the education credits and tracking qualified expenses.
- The government incurs administrative costs implementing and monitoring the loan-forgiveness provisions and ensuring compliance with distressed-area requirements.
- Contracting agencies may bear costs associated with verifying qualification for the 5% scoring incentive and maintaining related program integrity.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The central dilemma is balancing targeted, competency-based incentives that spur rapid workforce growth against the risk of budgetary strain and uneven implementation across regions and programs. The bill seeks to knit together education subsidies, loan forgiveness, and procurement incentives in a way that could magnify impact if well-implemented, but could also lead to misaligned incentives or gaps in coverage if any one mechanism fails to reach its intended audience.
The bill relies on tax code modifications and federal education funding, creating potential budgetary impacts and administrative complexity. The 45BB credit trades relief for qualified cybersecurity education against reduced net revenue, while the loan-forgiveness provisions introduce contingent fiscal outlays tied to borrower performance and regional distressed-area criteria.
Oversight will be important to ensure accurate qualification, prevent misreporting, and avoid gaming of the distressed-area definitions. The combination of tax incentives, loan forgiveness, and procurement advantages aims to stimulate both supply (education and training) and demand (contracting incentives) for cybersecurity talent, but that mix raises questions about long-term cost, coverage, and benchmarking against outcome metrics.
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