Dept. of Defense College Options
The following guidelines are for government personnel
who wish to pursue fulltime study while remaining a fulltime
employee with the federal government. A nomination from
your Flag/General/SES officer of your command is needed for
this. If you are only planning on taking classes one or two at a
time while continuing to work full time, you typically only need
a form filled out from your immediate supervisor Okaying your
attendance should the class time occur within your normal
working hours and including a plan for making up the lost
work hours.
Through the Defense Intelligence Agency:
National Defense Intelligence College
http://www.ndic.edu
Degrees Offered:
BS in Intelligence
MS in Strategic Intelligence (MSSI)
Joint Programs:
Complete MSSI with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
Complete MSSI with the National Security Agency
Eligibility
❇ All prospective NDIC students must be U.S. citizens who are members of the
U.S. Armed Forces or federal government employees.
❇ Students must possess a TS/SCI security clearance.
❇ Government contractors are not eligible for enrollment in National Defense
Intelligence College academic programs.
Admission Requirements
1. Application
2. Statement of Purpose
3. Transcripts
4. GRE Scores from within the last 5 year
5. Nominations required for fulltime study
Defense Acquisition University
http://www.dau.mil/default.aspx
National Defense University
http://www.ndu.edu/index1.cfm
Member Colleges:
❇ National War College
http://www.ndu.edu/nwc/index.htm
Degrees offered:
“The National War College is a 10-month (August-through-May), in-residence
academic program conducted on the campus of the National Defense University,
located at Fort Lesley J. McNair, in Washington, DC. It is a graduate-level course,
offering a Master of Science degree in National Security Strategy. There is no nonresident version of the program. NWC students must be either a Lieutenant Colonel
or Colonel (Navy/Coast Guard equivalent), or GS14 and above in the civil service.”
Getting Into the Program
❇ The National War College has no application process of its own
❇ Students are sent to us by the uniformed services, civilian agencies, allied and
friendly governments, etc., who have negotiated slots.
❇ Student must be nominated by his/her agency or service or compete for a
place through the Defense Leadership and Management Program (DLAMP)
program. Civilians should be senior GS-14s or GS15s and will normally
possess a graduate degree and demonstrated potential for senior executivelevel service.
❇ Go to the Joint Pub Website and find the publication CJCSI 1800.01 B Officer
Professional Military Education Policy for more information.”
❇ College of International Security Affairs
http://www.ndu.edu/cisa/index.cfm
Degree Programs:
Master of Arts in Strategic Security Studies (MASSS)
Admissions Standards:
❇ A minimum undergraduate grade point average of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale, or the
equivalent, is required for admission to the CISA graduate program.
o In rare cases, a student with a GPA below 3.0 who has extensive
professional accomplishments may be considered for conditional
admission.
❇ Students must have completed or expect to complete an undergraduate
degree prior to starting courses at CISA.
❇ All CISA students must be sponsored by federal, state or local government
departments and agencies, congressional staffs, and military and civilian
representatives of the international community who operate in the
Washington DC area.
❇ Full-time students are sponsored for an intensive ten-month, in-residence
study.
❇ Industrial College of the Armed Forces
http://www.ndu.edu/icaf/
Degree Programs:
Master of science degree in national resource strategy
Military students also earn Joint Professional Military Education II credit.
Admission Standards:
❇ A senior service school, a primary feature of attendance for potential
students is that they've reached a particular level of career achievement.
❇ College's founding purpose is to train and now educate students in processes
of resource management in regard to domains of national security.
❇ The great majority of students are current service members or federal
government employees.
❇ The college is now expanding selection from private sector firms related to
national security industries.
* The typical student coming from a military service has achieved the rank of
lieutenant colonel, commander or higher.
* The typical government civilian comes with a GS grade of 14 or higher.
* The typical private sector civilian comes with 20+ years of work experience.
❇ To maintain the diversity of the class of 330 students, the College has a
specified number of seats for each category of students.
o The students are nominated and selected from within their own
organizations to attend the college.
o Each military service and agency has a specified number of seats to
fill.
Application Process:
❇ To attend ICAF is through the employing military branch or government
agency. Applications and other educational paperwork should be forwarded
to the NDU Registrar.
❇ Military officers (Lieutenant Colonel or Commander and above) and civilian
government employees (GS 14 and above) apply, or are nominated, through
their respective agencies.
❇ The agency's representative submits the nominations to the college via the
NDU Registrar.
❇ Information Resources Management College
http://www.ndu.edu/irmc/
Degrees Offered:
1. Government Information Leader Master of Science Degree

Note: Admission to the GIL MS degree is suspended pending approval
of the degree by the United States Department of Education.
2. Government Strategic Leader (GSL) GSL Certificate
3. Advanced Management Program (AMP)
4. Chief Information Officer (CIO) Certificate
5. Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Certificate
6. Enterprise Architecture (EA) Certificate
7. Information Assurance (IA) Program
8. NSTISSI No. 4011 Certificate

CNSSI 4012, 4016: NSTISSI 4015

Chief Information Security Officer Certificate (CISO)
9. IT Project Management (ITPM) Certificate
Admissions Standards:
Go To: http://www.ndu.edu/irmc/admis/admis_admis.html
❇ Joint Forces Staff College
http://www.jfsc.ndu.edu/
Courses Offered:
* Joint Advanced Warfighting School (JAWS)
successful completion of JAWS will result in the awarding of a Masters
Degree in Joint Campaign Planning and Strategy,
* Joint and Combined Warfighting School(JCWS) JPME-II
* Joint Command, Control and Information Operation School(JC2IOS) has the
following courses:
o Joint Command, Contol, Communications, Computers and Intelligence Staff
and Operations Course (JC4ISOC)
o Joint Information Operations Orientation Course (JIOOC)
o Joint Information Operations Planning Course (JIOPC)
o Joint Information Operations Course (JIOC)
* Advanced Joint Professional Military Education (AJPME)
* Senior Enlisted Joint Professional Military Education (SEJPME)
* Homeland Security Planner’s Course (HLSPC)
* Joint, Interagency, and Multinational Planner's Course (JIMPC)
Admission Standards:
Vary slightly by program selected but overall students must be nominated to attend
and either members of the armed forces or civilian DoD personnel must first be
nominated by the Flag/General/SES Officer in their chain-of-command
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
http://www.usuhs.mil/
This is the military’s medical and nursing schools. They do offer advanced degrees
(i.e. masters and doctorates) in other areas of research sciences related to the
medical fields including psychology.
Graduate Studies home page: http://www.usuhs.mil/graded/index.html
Admissions Standards:
❇ Each applicant must complete a baccalaureate degree program from an
accredited academic institution before matriculation at USU.
❇ Complete college transcripts, transcripts of all previous graduate studies, a
complete employment history, three letters of recommendation from faculty
members under whom the applicant has studied, and the aptitude portion of
the Graduate Record Examination, taken no more than two years before the
time of application, are required.
❇ Individual programs may also require Advanced Graduate Record
Examinations in one or more subject areas.
❇ Additionally, programs may have established requirements for college
courses specific to their area of scientific studies
Branch War Colleges
The individual branch colleges are not limited to members of only that
branch. Civilians and members of other branches may attend these
schools. They offer too many different options to be summarized for
this list. Check out the links below for each school for more information.
Air War College
http://www.au.af.mil/au/index.asp
Army War College
http://www.carlisle.army.mil/default.cfm
Marine War College
http://www.mcu.usmc.mil/default.aspx
Naval War College
http://www.usnwc.edu/