---
kind: "section"
citation: "10 U.S.C. § 2195"
title: "10"
title_heading: "Armed Forces"
number: "2195"
heading: "Department of Defense cooperative education programs"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/10/2195"
units:
  - "Subtitle A — General Military Law"
  - "Part III — Training and Education"
  - "Chapter 111 — Support of Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Education"
---

# §2195. Department of Defense cooperative education programs

- (a) The [Secretary](/usc/10/4951.md?p=3) of Defense shall ensure that the director of each [defense laboratory](/usc/10/2199.md?p=1) establishes, in association with one or more public or private colleges or universities in the [United States](/usc/10/101.md?p=a-1) or one or more consortia of colleges or universities in the [United States](/usc/10/101.md?p=a-1), cooperative work-education [programs](/usc/10/2101.md?p=1) for undergraduate and graduate students.
- (b) Under a cooperative work-education [program](/usc/10/2101.md?p=1) established under [subsection (a)](#a), a director referred to in that subsection may, without regard to any applicable non-statutory limitation on the number of authorized personnel or on the aggregate amount of any personnel cost—
  - (1) make an offer for participation in the cooperative work-education [program](/usc/10/2101.md?p=1) directly to a student and appoint such student to an entry-level position of employment in the laboratory of such director;
  - (2) [pay](/usc/10/101.md?p=a-15) such [person](/usc/10/2700.md?p=2) a [rate](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-9) of basic [pay](/usc/10/101.md?p=a-15), not to exceed the maximum [rate](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-9) of [pay](/usc/10/101.md?p=a-15) provided for [grade](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-7) GS–9 under the General Schedule under [section 5332 of title 5](/usc/5/5332.md), that is competitive with compensation levels provided for entry-level positions in similar industry-sponsored cooperative work-education [programs](/usc/10/2101.md?p=1);
  - (3) [pay](/usc/10/101.md?p=a-15) all travel expenses between the college or university in which the student is enrolled and the laboratory concerned for not more than six round trips per year; and
  - (4) [pay](/usc/10/101.md?p=a-15) all or part of such fees, charges, and costs related to the participation of such student in the cooperative work-education [program](/usc/10/2101.md?p=1) as tuition, matriculation fees, charges for library and laboratory services, materials, and [supplies](/usc/10/3011.md?p=8), and the purchase or rental price of books.
- (c) A director of a [defense laboratory](/usc/10/2199.md?p=1) may—
  - (1) require a student, as a condition for receiving payments referred to in [subsection (b)(4)](#b-4), to enter into a written agreement to continue employment in such [defense laboratory](/usc/10/2199.md?p=1) for a period of service specified in the agreement; or
  - (2) make such payments without requiring such an agreement.
- (d)
  - (1) The Director of the [National Security](/usc/10/801.md?p=16) [Agency](/usc/10/3451.md?p=3) may provide a qualifying employee of a [defense laboratory](/usc/10/2199.md?p=1) of that [Agency](/usc/10/3451.md?p=3) with living quarters at no charge, or at a [rate](/usc/10/101.md?p=b-9) or charge prescribed by the Director by regulation, without regard to [section 5911(c) of title 5](/usc/5/5911.md?p=c).
  - (2) In this subsection, the term “qualifying employee” means a student who is employed at the [National Security](/usc/10/801.md?p=16) [Agency](/usc/10/3451.md?p=3) under—
    - (A) a Student Educational Employment [Program](/usc/10/2101.md?p=1) of the [Agency](/usc/10/3451.md?p=3) conducted under this section or any other provision of law; or
    - (B) a similar cooperative or summer education [program](/usc/10/2101.md?p=1) of the [Agency](/usc/10/3451.md?p=3) that meets the criteria for Federal cooperative or summer education [programs](/usc/10/2101.md?p=1) prescribed by the Office of Personnel Management.

## Source credit

(Added Pub. L. 101–510, div. A, title II, § 247(a)(1), Nov. 5, 1990, 104 Stat. 1522; amended Pub. L. 108–136, div. A, title IX, § 926, Nov. 24, 2003, 117 Stat. 1579.)

## Notes

### Editorial Notes

### Amendments

2003—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 108–136 added subsec. (d).