# Is the DoD finally admitting degrees don’t equal cyber readiness?

**URL:** <https://community.iquasar.com/t/is-the-dod-finally-admitting-degrees-don-t-equal-cyber-readiness/437>\
**Category:** News, Updates & Market Insights\
**Created:** [April 30, 2026, 11:02am UTC](https://community.iquasar.com/t/is-the-dod-finally-admitting-degrees-don-t-equal-cyber-readiness/437 "2026-04-30T11:02:24Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![farrukhshah](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/community.iquasar.com/farrukhshah/32/409_2.png) [@farrukhshah](https://community.iquasar.com/u/farrukhshah)\
**Post date:** [April 30, 2026, 11:02am UTC](https://community.iquasar.com/t/is-the-dod-finally-admitting-degrees-don-t-equal-cyber-readiness/437/1 "2026-04-30T11:02:24Z")

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![DOD CYber](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/uploads/iquasar/original/1X/8389ac0a2264f51a8a721cadc63f1850490ef7c6.jpeg)

With its new cyber apprenticeship program, DoD is prioritizing **hands‑on experience over credential‑first hiring**. Paid apprenticeships. Real labs. On‑the‑job training. Mentorship from operators, not just academics.

So, here’s the question: **Should federal cyber roles be filled by those who can prove skills in action, not just list degrees and certs?**

And if this works for DoD…  
What excuse does the rest of the GovCon ecosystem still have?

_Curious where leaders land on this._