Institutional Learning Objectives

All NPS master’s degree programs provide graduate-level education to achieve these objectives:

Subject Matter Competence: Student demonstrates graduate-level knowledge and competencies in their academic field. 

Methods and Technical Merit: Student demonstrates the ability to apply technical expertise and appropriate methodological rigor in conducting research and analysis. 

Critical Thinking: Student demonstrates the ability to apply critical thinking and logical reasoning to research questions and to implement creative or innovative approaches to answer them.

Communication Skills: Student demonstrates proficiency in communicating and presenting the results of their inquiry and learning in written documents and/or oral presentations. 

Defense Relevance: Student demonstrates the ability to apply education and learning to problems of relevance in the defense or national security community.

These general educational objectives reflect the core benefit from a graduate education:  Knowledge, Competence, Critical Thinking, Communications – all applied in a Defense setting.  NPS believes these core skills prepare officers to better fulfill all future assignments.