The Defense Civilian Training Corps is a highly selective program that provides a 100% tuition scholarship and a direct pathway into the Department of Defense (DoD) civilian workforce.
Recruit and develop resilient DoD leaders who bring innovative ideas, diverse backgrounds, and a collaborative mindset to enable and secure the defense ecosystem.
Each cohort of DCTC scholars, representing a broad array of majors, will enroll in one classroom course per semester, supplemented with interdisciplinary, experiential learning opportunities, such as hackathons, gaming competitions, and tabletop exercises, led by experienced DoD practitioners. This dynamic approach to learning will develop in students an understanding of:
DCTC is a collaborative effort across Government, industry, 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 Secretary of Defense for Research & Engineering (OUSD(R&E)) and the Chief Digital & Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO).
Implementation of the pilot program and curriculum is led by the Acquisition Innovation Research Center (AIRC), a university affiliated research center (UARC) out of the Stevens Institute of Technology.
Coordination and partnerships with DoD organizations and labs, the military departments (Army, Navy, Air Force), reserve officer training corps (ROTC) programs, and the military academies provide opportunities for student internships and future DoD employment.
Finally, the colleges, universities, and students are the main reason for the program and our number one partner to create national security leaders for today and tomorrow. We proudly partner with historically black colleges and universities (HBCU) and other minority institutions (MIs) to provide an inclusive program across a breadth of diverse backgrounds.