Dakota State University at Madison is getting general fund dollars to enhance its cyber security operations. Senator Russell Olson sponsored Senate Bill 236 to appropriate $900,000 to build a program that he says is rare in the nation.

“DSU is one of the four universities that is endorsed by the NSA—the National Security Agency—the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Defense,” Olson says. “There’s four universities across our country that have that certification and that acknowledgement, and DSU’s not only the smallest, it’s the only public. So these funds are going to go towards putting another 145 students on the books at DSU right here in South Dakota, and going on to protect all of us from the mediocre hackers that try to get into your Twitter accounts to the real cyber terrorists who are out there to do our country harm.”

At the Senate’s late-night budget deliberations on Friday, Olson revealed DSU’s plans that include acquiring Madison’s existing hospital when it moves to a new building.

He says DSU has funds to buy that property and the blessings of the Board of Regents.