Website: http://www.ni-u.edu/
Formerly known as NDIC and a string of other names. Offers BS and MS programs to both military (enlisted/warrant/officer) and civilians. The MS is the one I'm most familiar with because I completed it about a year and a half ago. The MSSI (Master of Science of Strategic Intelligence) is a one-year program hosted out of the DIA's headquarters building in D.C. A couple of things that I liked about the program:
1) it satisfies half of the officer "intermediate level education" requirement (they were pushing for it to satisfy the whole thing but I don't think that has been approved yet)
2) it's a one-year master's-producing program (and the school is accredited)
3) AFAIK it's the only intelligence-related master's program in which you actually routinely handle classified information
4) you get to spend a full year working on an intelligence-related issue (i.e. your thesis)
5) many of the classes were interesting and useful to me as both an intel professional and as a military officer in general
6) there is a wide cross-section of experience in the program. In my small group of 10, there were three Army, two Navy, three Coast Guard, two Air Force, and a civilian
7) the coursework is not "easy," but pretty much all of us agreed it was less stressful than getting shot at in Iraq or Afghanistan. A year with family was awesome. There were times when I had to work really hard of course, but the most stressful part of any day was fighting D.C. rush hour traffic on the way home ;) That's a big change from what I had been doing for the last ten years or so.
You DO NOT have to be an intel professional to attend NIU. In fact, in my small group of ten, there were only three intel types. The rest were operations field, with the exception of the civilian who was an IT tech.
So, if you're active-duty enlisted, warrant, or officer and want a shot at a useful master's degree on the DoD's dime, check out NDU. I highly recommend it, especially for officers looking to satisfy their ILE requirement.
Formerly known as NDIC and a string of other names. Offers BS and MS programs to both military (enlisted/warrant/officer) and civilians. The MS is the one I'm most familiar with because I completed it about a year and a half ago. The MSSI (Master of Science of Strategic Intelligence) is a one-year program hosted out of the DIA's headquarters building in D.C. A couple of things that I liked about the program:
1) it satisfies half of the officer "intermediate level education" requirement (they were pushing for it to satisfy the whole thing but I don't think that has been approved yet)
2) it's a one-year master's-producing program (and the school is accredited)
3) AFAIK it's the only intelligence-related master's program in which you actually routinely handle classified information
4) you get to spend a full year working on an intelligence-related issue (i.e. your thesis)
5) many of the classes were interesting and useful to me as both an intel professional and as a military officer in general
6) there is a wide cross-section of experience in the program. In my small group of 10, there were three Army, two Navy, three Coast Guard, two Air Force, and a civilian
7) the coursework is not "easy," but pretty much all of us agreed it was less stressful than getting shot at in Iraq or Afghanistan. A year with family was awesome. There were times when I had to work really hard of course, but the most stressful part of any day was fighting D.C. rush hour traffic on the way home ;) That's a big change from what I had been doing for the last ten years or so.
You DO NOT have to be an intel professional to attend NIU. In fact, in my small group of ten, there were only three intel types. The rest were operations field, with the exception of the civilian who was an IT tech.
So, if you're active-duty enlisted, warrant, or officer and want a shot at a useful master's degree on the DoD's dime, check out NDU. I highly recommend it, especially for officers looking to satisfy their ILE requirement.
