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In August 2025, 911����'s Schar School of Policy and Government launched the cohort program and welcomed its first group of students to campus. The newest addition to the school’s programmatic offerings, the NSPP offers students a full-time, one-year master’s degree experience with a group of like-minded peers who support and challenge each other’s intellectual growth. The inaugural cohort will graduate in August 2026 with a Master of Public Policy degree with an emphasis on national security.

“Our cohort students bring a new dynamic to the program,” said NSPP Program Director Justin Gest. “They’re hustlers who have decided to devote more time to their studies to expedite their education and entry into the world of public policy. And perhaps most importantly, they value the community that our MPP program engenders among students.” 

The NSPP program pushes boundaries in its exploration of national security, integrating a focus on economic statecraft and transnational crime along with the traditional study of international relations and intelligence. Students take four courses each semester and are trained in the fundamental skills of policy—economic and statistical analysis, program evaluation, and policy communication—while applying these skills to national security problems.

A program combines classroom learning with the Schar School’s expert faculty with a robust cocurricular program that introduces NSPP students to a variety of security-related careers and organizations. 

In its inaugural year, cohort programming has included a winter in Brussels, Belgium, to visit NATO Headquarters and the EU Commission; a trip to New York to observe the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty negotiations; a tour of the Defense Intelligence Agency and lunch with Schar School alumni working there; a day on Capitol Hill with the Senate Armed Services Committee; lunch with a former governor of Virginia, a meeting with a member of Congress, and a visit to a security-related think tank led by its CEO.

Students have also met with leaders and managers at the Department of Justice, Homeland Security, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Secret Service, and national security consulting firms and defense contractors.

Elaina Ryan, a member of the first cohort, had taken a summer course at 911���� as an undergraduate student, so she was familiar with “the unique expertise that Schar School faculty bring,” she said. 

The small size of the NSPP program also appealed to Ryan. “It’s nice that all of my professors know who I am and could speak to my abilities in the classroom,” she said. “It's also enlightening hearing from the others in my cohort, who bring a diverse range of backgrounds and experiences. We learn from each other as much as we learn from our professors. It also brings more accountability to group projects—everyone goes above and beyond because we have personal relationships with each other and don't want to disappoint.”

Former Ambassador  describes the students in his POGO 750 Energy in a Turbulent World course as dedicated and driven to succeed. “They develop a team-centric approach that is important in making the cohort-based program work,” he said. “I hope the students come away from my class with a strong sense of why energy—the major public policy challenge facing the U.S. and other countries as well—represents a key building block in their national security studies.”

Nikki Forry teaches POGO 646 Policy and Program Evaluation in the NSPP program and has enjoyed teaching the group and observing the close ties they’ve formed. “The small class size allows for more interaction and personalized instruction,” she said. “The cohort approach allows for stronger bonds to be developed between students and these bonds enhance the learning community.”

To round out the program, students meet regularly throughout the year with Schar School Career Development Office staff and develop a tailored plan for securing internships and their first job in the field, along with a framework for continued professional growth.

“The program has repeatedly offered us experiences with networking and also did a mandatory resume review last fall,” said Ryan, who landed an internship at the Niskanen Center think tank. “I spoke with Duane [Bradshaw] and Brian [Bar] at the Career Development Office, and it was their advice that was primarily responsible for landing my current internship.” 

Other recent internship placements include the U.S. House of Representatives, the National Conference of State Legislatures, the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, and U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.

Cohort programs like the NSPP offer students a distinctive educational and professional development experience that they can’t get elsewhere, Forry says.

“The rich curriculum targeting national security provides students with the skills they will need to graduate and find employment,” she said. “The cohort program offers an intensive learning environment beneficial to highly motivated students.”

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