The DOD awards three-year graduate fellowships to doctoral candidates in various fields of engineering as well as biosciences, chemistry, cognitive and behavioral sciences, computer sciences, geosciences, materials science, mathematics, naval architecture, oceanography and physics. These sciences have been deemed to hold military importance. Individuals must provide evidence of significant aptitude for advanced training in these fields.
The department also issues National Security Education Program grants for a variety of military and national security goals. The David L. Boren Scholarships and Fellowships are designed to help educate citizens in foreign languages critical to national security such as Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Persian/Farsi and Russian. These individuals also gain understanding of cultures not commonly studied by university students. These awards are dedicated to strengthening U.S. economic competitive ability, and enhancing international cooperation and national security. A list of NSEP areas of interest is published annually, including specific world regions, languages and areas of study. The program also encourages applications from people interested in other world regions and languages if they can provide a compelling argument that this knowledge would contribute to national security. Study of Spanish or French, for instance, does not qualify unless combined with a focus on one of the science and engineering fields the DOD emphasizes.
People receiving NSEP grants, scholarships and fellowships study abroad, and upon return they perform government service in a time frame equal to that of the grant. They can work in one of several agencies including the departments of Commerce, Defense, Education, Homeland Security Intelligence, Justice, State and Treasury, as well as for NASA, Congress and others. Agency opportunities vary by year.
Since 2005 the NSEP also has administered a program to assist citizens who are native speakers of Arabic, Chinese and other languages important to national security to learn English with professional-level proficiency. This program is called English for Heritage Language Speakers.
The DOD Information Assurance Scholarship Program was established to create more personnel to work in the global information infrastructure and to keep networking and other computer information secure. The DOD depends on this infrastructure to conduct its operations and to maintain a substantial advantage over any possible adversary. Information security is vital.