UA Prepares Students for Careers in Intelligence and Information

The Defense Intelligence Agency named the University of Arizona an Intelligence Community Center for Academic Excellence, a designation that comes with a five-year, $1.5 million grant. The UA will use the funding to create the country’s first Bachelor of Applied Science in intelligence and information operations. It will also allow students across disciplines to take classes and conduct research in intelligence and information systems.

Only eight grants were awarded nationally, with the UA earning the highest score for its outstanding educational and research plans.

ECE department Head Tamal Bose, co-investigator of the project, will create research projects that deal with intelligence studies within electronics and cybersecurity, as well as integrate intelligence studies elements into parts of the ECE program. In 2009, he was a lead investigator for the IC-CAE program at Virginia Tech. Many of the students from the program went on to internships and full-time positions in the intelligence community. He expects similar results for UA students.

“Jobs in the intelligence community are very difficult to get because they’re so selective, so this gives our students an opportunity to get a leg up on pursuing them,” Bose said. “It also creates a synergy with the university and college’s other Department of Defense-based research grants and contracts. We hope to leverage this focus area to attract more contracts and grants from the intelligence community.”