Education
National Security Education at Wisconsin
Supports: Workforce & Talent for the Mission
UW–Madison educates the national security workforce at every level: degrees created in partnership with the military, the nation’s first quantum computing master’s, policy training for the leaders who will make security decisions, and scholarship pathways that turn education into service.
Programs that Serve the Mission
MS in Data Engineering
Created in partnership with the Army, the MSDE program trains experts in managing data at scale — and serves as a named degree pathway in the Army Artificial Intelligence Scholars Program, through which officers study at UW–Madison before applying their skills at the Army AI Integration Center (AI2C).
Public Affairs and Policy Programs
Security decisions are made by policymakers, and the La Follette School of Public Affairs trains them through the Master of Public Affairs and the Master of International Public Affairs. A distinctive Neuroscience and Public Policy program prepares leaders for policy domains from health to national security.
National Security Studies Certificate
A new interdisciplinary 15-credit undergraduate certificate spanning security policy, civil-military relations, strategy, emerging threats, and ethics — open to all majors, and a natural fit for anyone interested in national security, diplomacy, global strategy, international affairs, or ROTC cadets and midshipmen preparing to lead.
Army Civil Affairs Environmental Training
The Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies partners with the U.S. Army Civil Affairs & Psychological Operations Command to train 38G Environment and Natural Resources specialists in managing environmental issues that promote stability in complex operational environments — reviving a tradition that began in World War II, when UW–Madison hosted an Army Civil Affairs Training School on campus.
Educating the Signature Areas
Quantum Information Science & Engineering
In addition to contributing to the quantum workforce with our PhD programs since 2007, we have the nation’s first master’s degree in quantum computing — an accelerated program, completable in one calendar year, affiliated with the Wisconsin Quantum Institute and connected to the Chicago Quantum Exchange, HQAN, and Q-NEXT.
Nuclear Engineering & Engineering Physics
One of the nation’s premier nuclear engineering programs, spanning fission reactor design, fusion engineering, plasma physics, and radiation effects on materials.
Health & Life Sciences
From medicine, public health, and pharmacy to veterinary medicine and neuroscience, Wisconsin’s health sciences schools train the researchers and practitioners behind biosecurity, pandemic preparedness, and brain health.
Scholarships & Service Pathways
DoD Cyber Service Academy
As a National Security Agency-designated Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Research, UW–Madison students are eligible for Cyber Service Academy scholarships — full tuition and a stipend in exchange for service in the Department of Defense cyber workforce.
SMART Scholarship-for-Service
The Department of Defense’s SMART program pays full tuition and a stipend for students in STEM disciplines — with a guaranteed civilian position in a DoD laboratory or facility after graduation.
ROTC & Service Members
Army, Navy, and Air Force ROTC programs commission officers from the UW–Madison student body, and the university welcomes service members and veterans across every program — see Get Involved for military and veteran resources.
Education That Serves
A national security education is never only a national security education. The skills are sovereign — data engineering, policy analysis, quantum science, environmental management all command careers far beyond the mission, and the credential travels wherever a graduate goes. Many alumni will serve in uniform or in government; many more will carry security literacy into companies, statehouses, classrooms, and newsrooms. Both halves are the point: every graduate serves the mission or strengthens the society the mission defends — and an informed citizenry is itself a national security asset.
Why It Matters
Talent is the decisive technology. Every mission priority — from applied AI to biomanufacturing to quantum — ultimately comes down to whether the nation can educate people faster than its challenges evolve. Wisconsin’s answer spans the whole pipeline: undergraduate certificates that open the field, professional master’s degrees built with mission partners, doctoral training that pushes the frontier, and scholarship pathways that carry Wisconsin graduates into national service.
WINS connects mission partners with Wisconsin’s educational programs — and connects students with the mission.