Please review our Prospective Students page for eligibility requirements and specific information before submitting an online application.

There are two scholarship options available for non-military applicants only. Please visit our Scholarship page for more information, these scholarships are handled outside of our office.

An applicant is eligible to be considered for admission if they possess an accredited baccalaureate degree, preferably from an institution that holds institutional accreditation from one of the six regional agencies or shall have completed equivalent academic preparation as determined by appropriate campus authorities.

Applicants should possess sufficient preparatory background coursework to enable comprehension and classroom interaction with fellow students and instructors. Key indicators of a student’s potential for academic success includes not only previous academic endeavors.

Some departments have additional application requirements, which are outlined in the Academic Catalog. The general requirement is:

• A minimum grade point average of 2.2 on a 4.0 system, of which 75 semester hours/112 quarter hours must be letter-graded.
• For programs that require GRE scores, the test scores are evaluated by the applicable department and not by our office.

NPS offers a vast array of certificate, master and doctoral degree programs.

Programs can be viewed here.

• Please review the Academic Catalog for a listing of our programs, their descriptions and additional application requirements.

Admissions does not control or know the requirements for each service. Navy Officers should consult their detailer(s) for available annual quotas and members in all other services should reach out to their specific service for available programs.

Resident

• Once all required materials are received, it will take about a month for an academic decision to be made. We will contact you about any missing documentation.
• If you are found to be academically qualified, we will email you a conditional acceptance letter. The letter has no expiration and may be used at any time. You will be enrolled without condition once NPS Admissions has received an official tuition sponsor letter.
• USMC and USN officers will not receive a conditional acceptance letter or be notified about acceptance into a program by NPS Admissions, contact your monitor or detailer for acceptance details. However, if you are a USN medical department officer, we will email you a conditional acceptance letter.

Distance Learning

• Once all required materials are received, we will continue with an evaluation. The evaluation timeline varies depending on your intended start date. We will contact you about any missing documentation.
• You will be enrolled once you are academically approved, selected and funded. An acceptance email with program details will be sent upon enrollment. DL enrollment may not occur until a month prior to the start of the program or program orientation.

Academic Profile Code (APC) for USN officers only

• It will take about a month to calculate and report your APC to PERS once all required materials are received. We will notify you when this occurs or if there is any missing documentation.

GRE Scores, dating back to a max of 5 years, are required for Federal Civilians applying to National Security Affairs curriculums 681–693 or for anyone applying to a doctoral program. Use Institutional Code 4831 to have your scores automatically sent to NPS.

No, applicants applying to programs starting AY/AQ 2023/4 or later are not required to submit a PA.

Certain programs offer a refresher quarter for students who need to strengthen their math or science requirements. If you are required to attend a refresher quarter, that quarter will immediately precede the normal start of the program. For example, if a program starts during the fall quarter, you will be required to report in the summer for the refresher quarter.

• Please refer to our Academic Calendar for the specific quarter's start date and the Academic Catalog for program start dates.
• Refresher quarters are not offered for programs under the School of International and Defense Studies and the School of Defense Management.

The best method to request information is via email. Please provide as much information as possible. Do not include PII.

1. Click on the Returning Users page.

2. You will have to first change your registered/log-in email, if needed, by clicking on “Change your registered email address.” If you receive an error page after an attempt, your email may have been updated and you should proceed to the next step.

3. Proceed with resetting your password by clicking on “Recover a forgotten password.” The password reset instructions will be sent to your current registered/log-in email.

If you do not know your registered/log-in email, contact us at admissions@nps.edu. Do not include PII.

Resident Applicants may submit applications to three programs at a time.

Distance Learning Applicants may submit an application to one program at a time.

Applications are being considered in order of upcoming boards or the next academic quarter. If you have a pending deadline, add it to the Comments and Additional Information section of the application.

Transcripts

• Not directly, if a transcript has been received, there will be a check mark in the "Transcripts Rcvd" column next to the school in your application.
• If you see "Transcripts Not Received" on your dashboard, this means that you are still missing a transcript. You should open the application and see which school does not have a check mark. If all schools have check marks, this means you have transfer credits that we need a transcript for and should have been emailed about it.

GRE Scores

• If you are required to submit GRE scores, your application status will remain incomplete, even after all transcripts have been processed. The status will be updated to complete when the scores have been received and are processed.

PhD

• Your application status will remain incomplete and will not be advanced for review until all admission requirements have been satisfied.

Missing Application Materials

• We will contact you about any missing documentation.

Application Not Submitted

• Your application is currently not submitted. You need to log back into your account and submit your application. You will then receive our auto-email, which verifies that your application was submitted. Your application will also state “Submitted” on your dashboard and on the application’s overview page.

Submitted (Transcripts Not Received)

• Your application is currently submitted, but your application materials are missing. Please allow 5-7 business days after electronic download or 10-14 business days after physical mail receipt to process your transcript(s) and mark it as received on your application.

Admissions Review (Transcripts Received)

• Your application is currently submitted and all application materials were received. We are currently reviewing your application and you will be notified via email about the academic decision.

After submitting an application, official transcripts must be ordered from all attended undergraduate institutions and delivered from the institution(s) directly to NPS Admissions. If you attended NPS, your transcripts will be added to your file.

• If you are a USN officer, official transcripts from all undergraduate and graduate institutions attended are required regardless of program type.

All requirements are listed on the Apply page. Your application status will remain incomplete and will not be advanced for review until all admission requirements have been satisfied.

After submitting an application, official transcripts must be ordered from all attended undergraduate and graduate institutions and delivered from the institution(s) directly to NPS Admissions. If you attended NPS, your transcripts will be added to your file.

GRE Scores, dating back to a max of 5 years, are required for Federal Civilians applying to National Security Affairs curriculums 681–693. Use Institutional Code 4831 to have your scores automatically sent to NPS.

All requirements are listed on the Apply page. Your application status will remain incomplete and will not be advanced for review until all admission requirements have been satisfied.

After submitting an application, official transcripts must be ordered from all attended undergraduate and graduate institutions and delivered from the institution(s) directly to NPS Admissions. If you attended NPS, your transcripts will be added to your file.

GRE Scores, dating back to a max of 5 years, are required for anyone applying to a PhD program. Use Institutional Code 4831 to have your scores automatically sent to NPS.

The letter of intent, letters of recommendation and writing sample should all be emailed as PDF attachments to admissions@nps.edu.

All requirements are listed on the Programs page. Your application status will remain incomplete and will not be advanced for review until all admission requirements have been satisfied.

It is procedure to delete schools where you did not obtain a degree from or did obtain a degree that is lower than an undergraduate degree (associate degree or certificate) after receiving transcripts or if the transcript is not needed. Therefore, there is no need to inquire about this if it happens.

After submitting your application, official transcripts must be ordered from all undergraduate and graduate institutions attended and delivered from the institution(s) directly to NPS Admissions. Transcripts must come directly from the institution or their designated transcript exchange service, we do not accept transcripts submitted by the applicant.

Transcripts must be delivered electronically to admissions@nps.edu or physically to our mailing address:

Admissions Office (Official Transcripts)
Naval Postgraduate School
1 University Circle, He-046
Monterey, CA 93943-5100

Not directly, if a transcript has been received, there will be a check mark in the "Transcripts Rcvd" column next to the school in your application.

If you see "Transcripts Not Received" on your dashboard, this means that you are still missing a transcript. You should open the application and see which school does not have a check mark. If all schools have check marks, this means you have transfer credits that we need a transcript for and should have been emailed about it.

Please allow 5-7 business days after electronic download or 10-14 business days after physical mail receipt to process your transcript(s) and mark it as received on your application.

Your transcript was downloaded. It will be marked as received on your application once it is processed, which can take 5-7 business days.

If the transcript did not come directly from the institution or their designated transcript service company, it is considered unofficial. Official transcripts are delivered to us directly from the institution or institution's transcript provider. Copies and scans of official transcripts are considered unofficial. Sending us unofficial transcripts will delay the processing time of your application.

Unofficial transcripts do not have the characteristics of an official transcript and will not be accepted by our office.

• Official paper transcripts have the institution's seal and the Registrar's signature. They are usually printed on secured transcript paper and may have a raised seal embossed on the paper.
• Official electronic transcripts are downloaded securely through the transcript exchange service utilized by the institute and are in PDF format containing digital signature and authentication.

No, if you have previously applied and had transcripts delivered to our office, your transcript status will be updated by the end of the following week after application submission. Please email us if this does not happen or if there is an issue with that timing. Do not include PII.

If you attended NPS, your transcripts will be added to your file. Your transcript status will be updated on the Monday after your application submission. Please email us if this does not happen or if there is an issue with that timing. Do not include PII.

No, only have one version of your transcript per school delivered to us. Ordering more than one version will delay the processing time of your application.

U.S. students with degrees from international institutions are required to have their degrees evaluated by a service credentialed by the National Association for Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) or Association of International Credential Evaluators (AICE).

The evaluating agency will provide us with an equivalency report detailing your coursework, which we will use to complete your evaluation. The equivalency report must include the following information: Courses, Semester Units, Grades, Subtotal, Total Semester Units, and Overall Grade Point Average.

The Academic Profile Codes reported as of 1 SEPT 2022 have been updated for the benefit of prospective students. This new method may result in an APC that differs significantly from prior calculations. Further details about the breakdown of the 2nd and 3rd digit calculation will be released to detailers soon. Admissions will conduct an academic review through the waiver process, with the faculty's involvement, to ensure students are prepared for graduate education and their studies and career timing are aligned.

The Academic Profile Code (APC) is an internal index used for initial applicant evaluation. The three-digit code is calculated by NPS Admissions. It summarizes prior academic performance, including cumulative GPA, mathematics course exposure/performance and selected science/engineering areas.

All officers seeking to obtain an Academic Profile Code (APC) must submit an application. Please read the APC section of the Apply page for instructions.

Once all required materials are received, it will take 1-3 days to calculate your APC, then an additional 1-3 days after calculation to report your APC to PERS. We will notify you when this occurs or if there is any missing documentation.

• Once your APC has been calculated, it will immediately be displayed on your application under the Employer Information section.
• Once your APC has been reported about 1-3 business days after calculation, please allow 5-7 business days before it appears in Block 47 of your ODC. If Block 47 of your ODC is blank or if 565 is listed, your APC was not calculated and you must submit an application.

If your APC does not meet the minimum requirement for a particular program, consult your detailer.

• All APC waiver requests will be handled by your detailer through the Graduate Education Placement Officer, PERS 440C.
• While the Admissions Office does work with the Graduate Education Placement Officer on waiver requests, it is your detailer who must ultimately advocate for any waivers.

No, the APC is an internal tool that our office uses to evaluate applications and is not provided to officers outside of the U.S. Navy. If you are found to be academically eligible, we will email you a conditional acceptance letter, which is all you will receive from us to include in your ACS packet.