The Department of Defense Management (DDM) offers a unique selection of specialized, high-quality, tailored certificates focused on defense management. These certificate options are:

  • Offered to resident and distance learning students

  • Composed of a series of four to five courses

  • Taught by the highly qualified DDM faculty

Open enrollment

Most certificates are open enrollment, permitting students the flexibility to enroll in quarters that fit with their professional and personal schedules. Our most popular open enrollment certficates are below:

Strategic Leadership (Curriculum 206)

  • Strategic thinking is central to military organizations, yet it can be very difficult. Completion of this certificate increases students’ ability to think strategically; to understand and analyze trends in the strategic environment; and to be influential, strategic leaders. Students will examine historical examples and best practices in organizations, obtain a better appreciation of senior leadership perspectives on organizational strategy, and improve their analytical and critical thinking about the strengths and weaknesses of competitors and their own organization.  As a result of improved strategic thinking, organizational analysis skills, and strategic communication competencies, students will be better prepared to develop productive strategies and lead their organizations toward greater performance.

Advanced Acquisition Studies (Curriculum 218)

  • Designed for students interested in Defense system acquisition and program management processes, the program operationalizes the business of Defense acquisition and creates Acquisition Warriors for the DoD.  This program supports continuous acquisition reform initiatives mandated by Congress and senior leaders and also supports initiatives to educate operational warfighters in the business of acquisition. The program contributes to Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA) certifications in Program Management, Test & Evaluation, Production & Quality Management career fields. Additionally, the program provides education supporting for Project Management Professional (PMP) certification.  

Chief Information Officer Management (Curriculum 198)

  • The DDM Chief Information Officer (CIO) Cyber Management Certificate will provide the critical education required by the Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996 to manage government information technology systems.  This certificate will allow its graduates to effectively manage the resources, people, processes, and technologies necessary to ensure our information technology systems optimize mission performance and information assurance.  This certificate meets all of the Clinger-Cohen educational competency requirements. 

Defense Management Foundations (Curriculum 192)

  • This certificate delivers a core of defense-focused management courses to equip students with essential skills for management and leadership roles in the defense establishments of the United States or allied nations. The program prepares graduates to manage organizations, resources, and programs in complex environments. Students choose among foundational courses in organizational leadership; financial management; manpower and economic analysis; operations and logistics; or acquisition management.

Browse all our certificates in the Course Catalog.

Sponsored cohort

Cohort-sponsored certificates are those with all seats funded by a sponsor who selects all the students to enroll in the certificate. 

Data Analytics for Defense Management (Curriculum 194)

  • This program empowers defense managers with basic tools to use data in decision making and an understanding of how data creates value in defense organizations. The program builds basic data literacy for defense managers, enabling them to do basic descriptive and prescriptive analytics with available tools and to better manage data-intensive projects and processes. Students learn how to identify and collect data that is informative for a given managerial context. The four courses take students from no prior data science background through understanding the terminology and concepts underlying complex data bases and algorithms in machine learning.  They study specific applications in areas such as manpower, budgeting and logistics. Mathematical literacy is a requirement for entry, but no prior probability, statistics, use of statistical software or programming is required.

Advanced Acquisition Program (AAP) - Program Management (Curriculum 211)

  • The Advanced Acquisition Program (AAP) is a 12-month, graduate certificate program designed for both the DoD acquisition workforce and professionals working with system acquisition and program management.  Students develop an in-depth knowledge of the defense business and acquisition process.  Completion of the AAP certificate satisfies DAWIA Level II and supports Level III in Program Management.