WASHINGTON, DC - October 1, 1997 - San Jose-based Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) todayannounced Cisco Networking Academies, a new program to teach and certify high school andcollege students to design, build and maintain computer networks capable of supporting nationaland global organizations. Upon completing the program, graduates will have the skillsnecessary to fill the estimated 190,000 high-technology jobs that are currently available inU.S. corporations (Source: a 1997 study from the Information Technology Association of Americaentitled "Help Wanted: the IT Workforce Gap at the Dawn of a New Century").

"It's the 'shop' of the 21st Century," said Cisco Chairman John Morgridge. "It's the firsttrue partnership between schools, government and business since the days of high school 'autoshops.' The difference is, instead of auto mechanics, students learn the conceptual andpractical skills necessary to design and manage networks."

Morgridge made the announcement today at a press conference on Capitol Hill. "In thisInformation Age, network administrators are essential to the success of almost all businesses,"he said, "yet most companies are shaking the bushes to find enough people with the right skillsto address the demand."

To kick-start the program, Cisco Systems will contribute approximately $18 million incurriculum, equipment and resources to help bridge the gap. The investment has already startedin 57 high schools, colleges and technical schools in seven states throughout the country -Arizona, California, Florida, Minnesota, Missouri, New York and North Carolina. In the firstfull year of the program, more than 1,000 students will gain the school-to-career experiencethey need to take immediate positions in the networking industry. By the Fall of 1998, theprogram is expected to be operational in all 50 states and in other countries as well.

"Access to information on the Internet is as important today as electricity and basic phoneservice have been in the past," said U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), co-author of theSnowe-Rockefeller Amendment to the 1996 Telecommunications Act which links schools andlibraries to the Information Superhighway. "By equipping our young people with skills they'llneed to compete in the next century, Cisco's Networking Academies program is helping to preparea new generation for a new set of challenges."

Dr. Donald Ingwerson, superintendent of the Los Angeles County School District, which includes2.8 million students, is enthusiastic about the Cisco Networking Academies starting in hisschool district in January 1998. Ingwerson said, "Cisco Systems has gone the extra mile injoining with Los Angeles County Schools to prepare our students to compete in the 21st Century. Through this relationship, thousands of our students will leave high school capable ofentering the technical workforce."

Kids taking Cisco Networking Academies classes are just as excited about the curriculum as theyare about the employment opportunities awaiting them after graduation. For Jenica Lee, aThurgood Marshall Academic High School senior in San Francisco with tentative plans to pursuecomputer science in college, the interactive, project-based format of the Academy helpsstudents develop into problem solvers. "You learn more, because you encounter problems andhave to work through them to figure out the solution," Lee observed. "It's also more fun."

"The Networking Academies program is in tune with the President's initiatives on educationaltechnology and in the best spirit of public-private partnership," said Linda Roberts, directorof the Office of Educational Technology, U.S. Department of Education. "This new program willprovide badly needed network support and trained students."

Businesses across the country are eager to accept the influx of skilled Cisco NetworkingAcademies graduates. "Cisco's program is just what the doctor ordered," said Marvin Bailey,vice president, State Technology Programs at Ameritech, Inc. "The growth we've experiencedrequires a continual supply of skilled network professionals to keep our customers happy andour internal network up and running. We're very supportive of Cisco's new Networking Academiesprogram and eagerly awaiting its graduates."

The Cisco Networking Academies program also addresses the need for network administratorswithin the schools themselves. As tens of thousands of elementary and secondary schools havebecome "wired" in the last few years, principals across the country have scrambled to findpeople to build and maintain their new networks. According to industry analysts, more than 85percent of the Internet's backbone is comprised of Cisco hardware and software. While in theCisco Networking Academies program, students fill their own school's networking needs and canbe loaned out on projects to other school within the district. Upon graduation, students cango to work building and supporting the networks of schools in their area.

The new Cisco Networking Academies program is the latest in a series of programs from Cisco tobenefit schools. Cisco was a founding member of NetDay (a national program to wire America'sK-12 schools), was the first corporation to partner with the Internet2 program to define thenext-generation Internet, and has supported such educational programs as International SchoolsCyberFair and the Virtual Schoolhouse Grant Program. For more information on Cisco's role ineducation, see Cisco's Education Website at www.cisco.com/edu.

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