It's a pleasure to welcome you to the National Defense University's Class of 2022. You will find the year ahead to be professionally and personally rewarding. During your time here, you will be interacting with colleagues from across the U.S. interagency as well as with our many International Fellows as we embrace a mixture of people, cultures, and ideas. Our world-class faculty and staff are committed to providing you an inclusive learning environment that is intellectually challenging and academically rigorous -- this is a unique opportunity for you to study, reflect, and hone your abilities as a strategic thinker and leader across many disciplines.

We have developed a Return-to-Campus plan that will smartly and safely begin to combine in-person instruction and engagement with the very successful virtual learning environment we have adopted over the last 14 months. We seek to merge the best of in-person and virtual academic delivery into a flexible hybrid model that can rapidly adapt to changing health protection conditions as warranted, while continuing to provide you with the same superb quality of education for which the "University of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff" is renowned. 

Finally, I encourage you to visit this page often, as we are constantly updating and adding key information to help you make a smooth transition to your new assignment.

We look forward to your arrival and we are excited about accompanying you on your educational journey during the upcoming Academic Year.

Sincerely Yours,

Students attending one of the University's north campus colleges should review the AY 21-22 Orientation Page for information regarding both the University and their College's schedule:

Effective 29 July 2021, face masks are now REQUIRED for all personnel while indoors at NDU, regardless of vaccination status, in accordance with the 28 July 2021 Deputy Secretary of Defense Memorandum. 

The pervasiveness of the Delta variant of COVID-19 has driven the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the Department of Defense to re-evaluate masking guidelines. The CDC recommends indoor masking, regardless of vaccination status, in locations that have been identified as having “substantial” or “high” COVID community transmission rates.  

On 28 July 2021, the Deputy Secretary of Defense issued masking guidance consistent with the CDC recommendation. This guidance applies to all military personnel, civilian employees, on-site contractors, temporarily assigned personnel, and visitors on board any DoD installation or facility.

Based on the most recent assessments, all NDU locations are in areas of "substantial" or "high" community transmission per the CDC. Due to “substantial/high” conditions at all NDU locations, masks are required for all personnel indoors at any NDU facility regardless of vaccination status.  This applies to all faculty, staff, students, contractors, and visitors. The only exception is for individuals alone in a room that has floor-to-ceiling walls with the door(s) closed.

Please monitor NDU's COVID page and COVID FAQs for up-to-date COVID information, guidance and protocols.​

NDU is dedicated to providing traditional classroom instruction to the maximum extent feasible. Accommodations for academic instruction are constantly changing as Federal and local guidelines are updated, and it will affect the delivery of the curriculum accordingly. Please check this website often.

If you have been physically present on the NDU campus and have subsequently begun experiencing symptoms of COVID-19, tested positive for COVID-19, or been notified that you have come into contact with someone confirmed or suspected of having COVID-19, please immediately:

1. Complete form DD3112, "Personnel Accountability and Assessment Notification for a Public Health Emergency";
2. Send the form via encrypted email to NDU’s Health and Fitness Directorate at COVID@ndu.edu; and,
3. Call NDU's Health and Fitness Directorate at (202) 685-2791, and alert them them that you have sent the form via encrypted email.