(a) Admission Authorized.—(1) The Secretary of the Air Force may permit a covered private sector employee to receive instruction at the United States Air Force Institute of Technology in accordance with this section. A covered private sector employee may be enrolled in, and may be provided instruction in, a program leading to a graduate degree or professional continuing education certificate in a defense-focused or homeland security-focused curriculum related to aeronautics and astronautics, electrical and computer engineering, engineering physics, mathematics and statistics, operational sciences, or systems and engineering management.

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(2) No more than 125 covered private sector employees may be enrolled at the United States Air Force Institute of Technology at any one time under the authority of paragraph (1).

(3) Upon successful completion of the course of instruction at the United States Air Force Institute of Technology in which a covered private sector employee is enrolled, the covered private sector employee may be awarded an appropriate degree under section 9414 of this title or an appropriate professional continuing education certificate, as applicable.

(b) Covered Private Sector Employee Defined.—(1) In this section, the term “covered private sector employee” means—

(A) an individual employed by a private firm that is engaged in providing to the Department of Defense significant and substantial defense-related systems, products, or services; or

(B) an individual employed by a private firm in one of the critical infrastructure sectors identified in Presidential Policy Directive 21 (Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience).

(2) A covered private sector employee admitted for instruction at the United States Air Force Institute of Technology remains eligible for such instruction only so long as the person remains employed by the same firm.

(c) Annual Determination by the Secretary of the Air Force.—A covered private sector employee may receive instruction at the United States Air Force Institute of Technology during any academic year only if, before the start of that academic year, the Secretary of the Air Force, or the designee of the Secretary, determines that providing instruction to covered private sector employees under this section during that year—

(1) will further the military mission of the United States Air Force Institute of Technology; and

(2) will not require an increase in the permanently authorized size of the faculty of the school, an increase in the course offerings of the school, or an increase in the laboratory facilities or other infrastructure of the school.

(d) Program Requirements.—The Secretary of the Air Force shall ensure that—

(1) the curriculum in which a covered private sector employee may be enrolled under this section is not readily available through other schools and concentrates on the areas of focus specified in subsection (a)(1) that are conducted by military organizations and defense or homeland security contractors working in close cooperation; and

(2) the course offerings at the United States Air Force Institute of Technology continue to be determined solely by the needs of the Department of Defense or the Department of Homeland Security, as applicable.

(e) Tuition.—(1) The United States Air Force Institute of Technology shall charge tuition for students enrolled under this section at a rate not less than the rate charged for employees of the United States outside the Department of the Air Force.

(2) Amounts received by the United States Air Force Institute of Technology for instruction of students enrolled under this section shall be retained by the school to defray the costs of such instruction. The source, and the disposition, of such funds shall be specifically identified in records of the school.

(f) Standards of Conduct.—While receiving instruction at the United States Air Force Institute of Technology, covered private sector employees enrolled under this section, to the extent practicable, are subject to the same regulations governing academic performance, attendance, norms of behavior, and enrollment as apply to Government civilian employees receiving instruction at the school.