Admission and Program Requirements

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Apply to this program through a central application: GradCAS. Review the sections below before you begin.

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Certificate in Defense and Strategic Studies

This program operates in Fairfax, Virginia, and is certified by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV).

Program description

The School of Defense and Strategic Studies offers a Graduate Certificate in Defense and Strategic Studies designed for mid-career professionals. The Certificate in Defense and Strategic Studies is intended for those already employed in the national security field, yet desire advanced study of major defense and strategic issues to further their career. Prospective students may enroll in the fall, spring, or summer semester. Once admitted, they must complete 9 credit hours selected from the course list in order to receive the Certificate. Students may attend full-time (3 seminars per semester) or part-time (1 or 2 seminars per semester).

Entrance requirements

The candidate must have a bachelor's degree and be admitted to the certificate program.

Coursework to total 9 hours

  • DSS 601 Seminar on Nuclear Strategy and Arms Control
  • DSS 630 International Law and Global Security
  • DSS 631 International Negotiations
  • DSS 632 Seminar on International Security Affairs
  • DSS 633 Analysis of International Security Politics
  • DSS 634 The Geopolitics of Conflict and Accommodation
  • DSS 700 Strategy and U.S. Defense Policy
  • DSS 702 Seminar on Regional Security Problems
  • DSS 703 Science, Technology, and Defense Policy
  • DSS 704 Arms Control: Theory and Practice
  • DSS 705 NATO Security Issues
  • DSS 706 Soviet and Russian Military Strategy
  • DSS 707 Congress, National Security, and WMD
  • DSS 708 Seminar on Contemporary Security Issues in the Former USSR
  • DSS 709 Seminar on Space Policy and Security
  • DSS 710 Seminar on International Terrorism and Security
  • DSS 711 The rise of the United States to Preeminence
  • DSS 712 American National Security Policy
  • DSS 713 Intelligence, Counterintelligence, and Covert Action
  • DSS 714 Seminar on Strategic Thought
  • DSS 715 Grand Strategy
  • DSS 716 Understanding Military Operations
  • DSS 717 Small Wars, Imperial Conflicts, & Guerrilla Warfare
  • DSS 718 Causes of War
  • DSS 719 Strategic Culture
  • DSS 720 Internship Training in DSS Policy
  • DSS 721 Missile Defense, Proliferation and Contemporary Warfare
  • DSS 722 Emerging Strategic Challenges
  • DSS 723 Counterproliferation
  • DSS 724 Leadership in National Security Policy
  • DSS 725 Seminar on Instruments of State Power
  • DSS 726 Chinese Military Power
  • DSS 727 Chemical and Biological Warfare: Global and Community Perspectives
  • DSS 728 Terrorism: Advanced Research Topics
  • DSS 737 Advanced Studies in Chemical and Biological Warfare
  • DSS 740 Ethics of Weapons of Mass Destruction
  • DSS 796 Directed Reading and Research in Defense and Strategic Studies
  • DSS 797 Special Topics

GPA requirements

Students must have a B or better grade in each course.