It takes a village, or at least an amount of cash roughly equivalent to the combined total assets of a village, to pay for a college education. And since college tuition, generally speaking, seems joined at the hip with unrelenting inflation, well, just about anyone pursuing higher education could use some free assistance. (In 10 years from now, students will probably spend almost as much time applying for scholarships as their professors do angling for research grants.)

Among the many organizations that offer some form of tuition assistance is (ISC)² Foundation, the charitable foundation of leading information security industry association (ISC)². There are several forms of (ISC)² scholarship assistance available, and just last week (ISC)² foundation director Julie Peeler blogged that now is the time to apply. So if you're looking for tuition assistance, or know someone who is, then this could be an opportune moment.

(ISC)² foundation offers both graduate and undergraduate scholarships. To be eligible for the $ 5,000 undergraduate scholarship, a student must have completed at the least the first year of an undergraduate degree program and have at least a 3.2 GPA. Students pursuing both four-year and two-year degree programs with an emphasis in information security are eligible, and multiple scholarships are available.<

The graduate scholarship ($3,000), requires that a student have completed the first year of master's degree or doctoral program, and hold a GPA of at least 3.5. There are up to eight scholarships available to student pursuing advanced studies in information security. The deadline to apply for both the undergraduate and graduate scholarships is June 17.

Perhaps the best scholarship opportunity available from (ISC)² Foundation, however, is exclusively for women. A women's (ISC)² scholarship provides significantly more financial assistance, with the foundation offering up to three scholarships each year from a pool of $40,000. As with the undergraduate scholarship, women's scholarship applicants must have completed at least one year of undergraduate studies with a 3.2 GPA. There's considerably less time still available for interested parties to take a crack at this one: The application window closes March 31.

Finally, (ISC)² Foundation offers a limited number of certification exam vouchers to full-time university faculty who pursue (ISC)² certifications as a means of broadening their knowledge and improving their teaching credentials. There are four application periods throughout the year, the first of which closes March 31.

(ISC)² Foundation director Peeler blogs that there's a critical need for skilled, trained information security workers, and that (ISC)² views it scholarship awards as a means of helping to meet that need. "We are making a direct impact on the global staffing crisis in information security by bringing more people into the information security field," Peeler writes.