The Defense Civilian Training Corps is a congressionally-mandated talent development program that provides a multidisciplinary, active-learning curriculum with summer internship projects at DoD organizations. DCTC is a highly selective pilot program that provides a 100% tuition scholarship and prepares scholars for a direct pathway into DoD acquisition-related careers.
Recruit and develop resilient DoD leaders who bring innovative ideas, diverse backgrounds, and a collaborative mindset to enable and secure the defense ecosystem.
The development and integrated curriculum approach is a hallmark of the DCTC program. The approach is designed to provide DCTC scholars with the skills and experience to jump-start their professional careers and be productive members of the DoD acquisition community immediately upon graduation. The four elements of the development and integrated curriculum are: the (1) core curriculum, (2) immersive learning experiences, (3) summer internships, and (4) innovation capstone project.
The DCTC program operates through collaboration between the DoD and academia. The Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition & Sustainment (OUSD(A&S)) is the lead organization for the pilot effort, working in tandem with the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research & Engineering (OUSD(R&E)), Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel & Readiness (OUSD(P&R)), the Chief Digital & Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO), and the National Security Innovation Network (NSIN).
The curriculum introduces scholars to the important partnership between the DoD and defense industrial base. Implementation of the pilot program and curriculum is led by the Acquisition Innovation Research Center (AIRC), a university affiliated research center (UARC) located at the Stevens Institute of Technology in partnership with land-grant universities, a Historically Black College and University, and a Minority Institution to create an inclusive program across a breadth of diverse backgrounds.
DCTC scholars represent the future of the workforce and are selected through a rigorous and highly competitive process. Our partners in Senior Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) programs and the military academies have shared curricular and extra-curricular models to transform individual Scholars into a mission-driven team.
Partnerships with the military departments (Army, Navy, Air Force, Space Force) and their organizations, will provide scholars with student internships, projects, and future DoD employment. Through teamwork and innovation, scholars will contribute as national security leaders today to solving DoD challenges.