The DoD 8140 Qualification Matrix lists 57 certifications from 11 organizations. Eight of them give a nonprofit some route to discounted vouchers or training. Two offered grants to organizations in 2026. Almost none publish a nonprofit price, so plan on a phone call.

What the matrix is

DoD Manual 8140.03 sets how the Department of Defense qualifies its cyber workforce (Department of Defense, 2023). The Qualification Matrix V2.1, effective , is the working list behind it. For each work role in the DoD Cyber Workforce Framework, it names what counts as qualified at the Basic, Intermediate and Advanced levels (DoD Chief Information Officer, n.d.).

A person qualifies through one of three foundational options: education (an accredited degree), training (DoD, military or commercial), or a personnel certification. Experience counts only for DoD civilians and service members already in a coded cyber position on , and DoD retires that route at the end of 2027 for cybersecurity roles and 2028 for IT and enabler roles (DoD Chief Information Officer, 2025b). Everyone also needs on-the-job qualification and at least 20 hours of professional development a year, or whatever the certification demands if that is more (DoD Chief Information Officer, 2025a). An option at a higher level counts at the lower ones too.

In our work, certification is the route most career changers can finish in months rather than years. If your nonprofit pays for exams, the matrix tells you which ones count for DoD cyber work. DoD has moved this content to cyberworkforce.mil, and the old cyber.mil pages go away on .

The 11 organizations

The matrix’s Certification Index lists 57 certifications from 11 organizations. Here is each one, and whether a nonprofit can pay less or get a grant.

Organization Certifications on the matrix Nonprofit discount Grants to organizations The route
Cisco CCNA, CCNP Enterprise, CCNP Security, CyberOps Associate YesYes Networking Academy admits nonprofits, and learners in its instructor-led courses get discounted exams. Global Impact Cash Grants fund program delivery, not vouchers.
EC-Council CEH, CEH (Practical), CHFI, CND, ECIH, CCISO YesYes Accredited Training Centers can be nonprofits and get discounted vouchers: $500 to join, $250 a year, a certified instructor required. Hackers4Humanity gave nonprofits training credits in 2026 and closed .
CompTIA A+, Network+, Security+, CySA+, PenTest+, Cloud+, SecurityX (CASP+) YesNo A nonprofit partnership through its Nonprofit page; the account team sets the price. Its charity arm, CompTIA Spark, closed at the end of 2024.
GIAC (SANS Institute) 19, including GFACT, GSEC, GCIH, GISF, GCIA and GPEN YesNo SANS offers qualifying partner organizations, nonprofits among them, a negotiated rate on training. Whether that rate covers GIAC attempts, and what qualifies, is not published.
ISACA CISA, CISM YesNo ISACA’s Academic Partner program admits workforce development groups, as its partner directory shows, and lists exam discounts. It assumes you deliver course content.
ISC2 CC, SSCP, CISSP and its ISSAP, ISSEP and ISSMP concentrations, CCSP, CSSLP, CGRC YesNo The Global Academic Program names nonprofits, but its discount is written for schools. Confirm before you count on it.
CertNexus CyberSec First Responder (CFR), Cyber Secure Coder (CSC) YesNo The Authorized Training Partner program is open to workforce development organizations. Partner pricing is not published.
Mile2 CISSO, CPTE YesNo Authorized Training Center pricing for any purchasing organization, with a starter pack from $6,050, at least 10 vouchers a year and an exclusivity clause. Savings vary by bundle.
Warfighting Acquisition University (formerly DAU) DAWIA NoNo Courses are free, but only for federal and defense-contractor staff. Nothing is open to the public.
FITSI FITSP-A, FITSP-D, FITSP-M, FITSP-O NoNo Full price only (exam $395). Its training-center license is for teaching, not discounts.
Rocheston RCCE Level 1 NoNo The partner program is for training centers. Free curriculum goes only to accredited degree-granting schools.

Nonprofit discount means a nonprofit that is not a school can join or apply and buy vouchers or training below list price. Grants means the vendor or its foundation gives money, vouchers or training to organizations.

Before you call

Expect to negotiate. Not one of these organizations publishes a nonprofit price.

  • Get the price and the transfer rule in writing. Ask for the per-voucher price, any yearly minimum, and confirmation that you may give vouchers to people you select. CompTIA’s terms say a voucher transferred against them may be voided (CompTIA, n.d.-b).
  • Read the strings. Most partner programs expect you to teach. Cisco, ISACA and ISC2 build around instructor-led courses. EC-Council requires a certified instructor and lets a training center sell vouchers only to people it trained. Mile2 asks for yearly purchases and exclusivity.
  • One grant is open now. Cisco Global Impact Cash Grants take Letters of Inquiry from U.S. public charities all year, up to $100,000 for a first-time grantee. They do not fund scholarships or stipends, and more than 65% of the people you serve must be economically underserved (Cisco, n.d.).
  • Watch for the next Hackers4Humanity. EC-Council’s 2026 round gave each nonprofit $1,000 in training credits for every nominee who passed its C|PENT exam. It closed , and no 2027 round has been announced (EC-Council, 2026a, 2026b).
  • Point candidates at the free routes.
    • SANS Cyber Academy: tuition-free SANS courses with GFACT, GSEC and GCIH attempts, for U.S. citizens and permanent residents with no cyber work experience who are not full-time students. Applications open in March and August 2027 (SANS Institute, n.d.-b).
    • Cyber Workforce Academy Maryland: the same model, free for Maryland residents and transitioning military stationed in Maryland. Applications for its Core and ICS pathways are open now, and the official window runs February to March 2027 (SANS Institute, n.d.-c).
    • ISC2 One Million Certified in Cybersecurity stopped taking sign-ups on . Anyone holding an unexpired exam code must schedule and take the exam by (ISC2, 2026).
    • Onward to Opportunity, run by Syracuse University’s IVMF: free training toward Cisco’s CCNA for transitioning service members, veterans and military spouses (Institute for Veterans and Military Families [IVMF], n.d.).
    • Veterans can use the GI Bill to get test fees back for approved exams (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, n.d.).

We are building our own certification pipeline on this same list, one phone call at a time. If you are doing this work too, compare notes with us at contact@vonterraproject.org.

How we checked this

We started from the Certification Index in the DoD 8140 Qualification Matrix V2.1. For each of its 11 organizations we read the organization’s own partner, nonprofit, academic and grant pages, and its foundation’s where it has one, on . Every claim here was checked against the source it cites before publishing. We did not contact the organizations; where a page does not publish a price or a rule, we say so.

About the author

Colton Williams

Colton Williams

Founder & Executive Director

A veteran, traveler, developer, storyteller, and inventor.

Read Colton’s full bio

Corrections

See something wrong, or a program we missed? Write to contact@vonterraproject.org. We fix errors, put the date of the fix at the top, and say here what changed.

Sources

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