Lt. Gen. Michael Plehn

Lt Gen Michael T. Plehn, USAF
17th President, NDU

Additional Resources

Access RequestMcNair Gate Access for those without CACs or PIVs
AY24-25 North Campus Student Orientation Schedule (6 Aug 2024)
AY24-25 North Campus Fall Electives Catalog (14 Aug 2024)
AY24-25 North Campus Spring Electives Catalog (7 Oct 2024)
DoD SAFEA DOD enterprise-wide method of securely transferring UNCLASSIFIED, FOUO and large files
NDU Privacy Program: Guidance on data usage, transmitting sensitive info, and NDU's privacy compliance

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Welcome to National Defense University!

It's a pleasure to welcome you to the National Defense University's Class of 2025. 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.

As an in-residence institution, we have smartly and safely combined in-person instruction and engagement with a very successful virtual learning environment. Our flexible hybrid model can rapidly adapt to changing health protection or other emergent conditions as warranted, while continuing to provide you with the same superb quality of education for which the "Chairman's University" 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,

Michael T. Plehn, Lt Gen, USAF
President, National Defense University

General Academic Calendar Dates

  • All AY25 Master's cohort programs at CIC, CISA, ES, and NWC (Fort McNair, D.C) will begin 5 August 2024 and end with graduation on 12 June 2025. Winter holiday break will be 21 December 2024 through 5 January 2025.
  • The AY25 CISA JSOMA program (Fort Liberty, N.C.) will begin 5 August 2024 and end with graduation on 6 June 2025. Winter holiday break will be 21 December 2024 through 5 January 2025. 
  • The AY25 JAWS program at JFSC (Norfolk, Va.) will begin 22 July 2024 and end with graduation on 13 June 2025. Winter holiday break will begin 23 December 24 through 5 January 25.
  • Calendars for other programs are available on their respective college’s website.

NDU is amid a major system change: the implementation of our new student information system, NDU Connect. We’re excited to offer an improved student experience, but also expect some bumps along the way. Thank you for your patience and understanding as we navigate the new system and processes together.

Instructions for Incoming Students

Incoming students to NDU programs in AY25 will be sent a welcome message from NDU Connect to the email address that you provide in your application or that was provided to us by your NDU service or agency representative. Please ensure that we have a valid email address to which you have reliable access throughout the admissions and onboarding process; personal email addresses are preferred to ensure delivery of automated emails.

Upon receipt of the welcome message, please follow the link and instructions in the email to set your password and access the NDU Connect Student Portal.

Instructions for navigating the NDU Connect Student Portal -- and other important onboarding instructions -- are provided below. We recommend you review them prior to accessing the portal.

NDU Colleges at Fort McNair, D.C. – Resident JPME II Programs: AY24-25 JPME II master’s programs at CIC, CISA, ES and NWC.

CISA at Fort Liberty, N.C. – Resident Program: AY24-25 CISA Joint Special Operations Master of Arts (JSOMA) program.

JFSC at Norfolk, Va. - Resident JAWS JPME II Master's Program: AY24-25 Joint Advanced Warfighting School (JAWS).

JFSC at Norfolk, Va. – Resident and Hybrid JCWS JPME II Programs: Joint and Combined Warfighting School (JCWS) resident and hybrid programs for calendar years 2024 and 2025.

JFSC at Norfolk, Va. – Joint Information School (JIS) Programs  

CIC at Fort McNair, D.C. – Resident Cyber and CIO Leadership Development (LD) Programs 

CIC Distance Learning (DL) Master’s and Certificate Programs