The National Defense University is made up of six colleges, each with a distinct focus that provides uniquely valuable education and leader professional development opportunities. NDU’s education programs offer a combination of rigorous graduate education and the ability to grant JPME II certification, a major requirement for the award of Joint Qualified Officer (JQO) status. Research and partnership programs throughout the university enhance the educational experiences of NDU’s students.
College of Information and Cyberspace
The College of Information and Cyberspace (CIC) educates joint warfighters, national security leaders, and the cyber workforce on the cyber domain and information environment to lead, advise, and advance national and global security.
CIC offers a wide spectrum of educational activities, services, and programs to prepare information leaders to play critical roles in national security in the Information Age. Whether in pursuit of the Master of Science, a Certificate, or a graduate level course for professional development—CIC students represent the complex global operational environment and contribute to a rich and dynamic learning environment. CIC students are encouraged to become better leaders and decision-makers and to master the tools of lifelong learning. Students, graduates, employers, leaders, and practitioners create a global learning community to foster strategic thinking, innovation, and creativity.
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College of International Security Affairs
The College of International Security Affairs (CISA) is the Department of War's flagship for education and the building of partner capacity in combating terrorism, irregular warfare, and integrated deterrence at the strategic level.
CISA's mission is to educate joint warfighters, civilian national security leaders, and partner nations in critical thinking to inform national strategy and globally integrated operations, under conditions of disruptive change, to prevail across the continuum of competition and war, with a special emphasis on irregular warfare.
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Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy
The Eisenhower School (ES) educates joint warfighters, national security leaders, defense industry executives and allied partners for strategic leadership roles.
ES prepares senior military officers, government civilians, and selected representatives from the private sector and international officers for the national security challenges of the 21st century. The goal is to leverage technological advances, integrate new strategic and operational concepts, identify and adapt to evolving global developments, and channel the vitality and innovation of the Services, the interagency, and allies to achieve a more seamless, coherent effect when confronting new national security challenges and the battlefields of the future.
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Joint Forces Staff College
The Joint Forces Staff College (JFSC) educates national security professionals to plan and execute operational-level joint, multinational, and interagency operations, and instills in them a primary commitment to joint, multinational, and interagency teamwork, attitudes, and perspectives.
Seminars focus on joint doctrine at the operational level employing historical case studies and computer-driven war games to create the intellectual rigor to stretch student minds. The results yield the critical thinking required to conceive and apply joint solutions on the 21st Century battlefield.
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National Intelligence College
The National Intelligence College (NIC) advances strategic intelligence education, research, and leader development in support of national security and joint warfighting education.
For more than 60 years, the former National Intelligence University--which officially joined NDU on 1 July 2026 as NIC--served as the accredited, degree-granting institution of the U.S. Intelligence Community, educating leaders and advancing expertise in strategic intelligence to support national security. NIC continues to prepare civilian and military professionals through rigorous classified graduate and certificate programs.
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National War College
The National War College (NWC) mission is to educate future leaders of the Armed Forces, Department of State, and other civilian agencies for high-level policy, command and staff responsibilities by conducting a senior-level course of study in national security strategy.
The curriculum emphasizes the joint and interagency perspective. Reflecting this emphasis, 59 percent of the student body is composed of equal representation from the land, air, and sea (including Marine and Coast Guard) Services. The remaining 41 percent are drawn from the Department of State and other federal departments and agencies, and international fellows from a number of foreign countries.
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