Air Force officers nominated for IDE programs at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS), Monterey, CA, are managed by the Air Force Institute of Technology, Civilian Institution Programs (CIP) office at Wright-Patterson AFB, OH. Selected officers complete a Masters Degree program at NPS in a field of study appropriate to their careers. They will also complete the appropriate PME courses in conjunction with their degree requirements (if they have not already completed ACSC by either seminar or correspondence).
At any time in their career if an officer feels they are interested in attending the NPS, they can apply online through the NPS Admissions website. This should be done at the same time that the officer submits their application to their development team for IDE resident programs to allow time for NPS prescreening and sending of required documents (transcripts, GRE scores). The application can be found at http://www.nps.edu/Admissions/index.html, click on the Apply On-line link. For general information on NPS admissions requirements, visit http://www.nps.edu/Admissions/AdmissionRequirements.html.
Officers applying for admission to NPS programs in the Department of National Security Affairs, School of International Graduate Studies, must include scores from the Graduate Record Examination taken within five years of the date of application. Other master’s degree-seeking applicants whose transcripts may indicate a weak academic record (low grades in pertinent courses and/or low GPA) are strongly encouraged to have a current GRE to supplement their NPS application. The GRE is required for all PhD applicants. If the officer does not have a current GRE score (within 5 years), they need to contact their local education office to find a testing center and send the official scores directly to NPS (school code 4831).
For officers selected to attend the IDE program offered at NPS, the appropriate AFIT CIP program manager (PM) will prepare an NPS admissions package on the officer confirming AF sponsorship/funding. NPS Admissions will process the application according to their procedures and notify the AFIT CIP PM of the acceptance decision as soon as possible. This process is speeded up if the officer has already been prescreened by NPS. Once accepted by NPS, the AFIT CIP PM will prepare reporting instructions (AFIT Form 9) on the officer and forward to AFPC. AFPC will then load the assignment and instructions will flow to member’s servicing MPF. The member’s MPF will provide an assignment RIP and begin the orders process (PCS orders to school are not cut at AFIT).