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The CIA University provides DI officers with an integrated,
career-long program that combines specialized training in the craft of intelligence analysis with a substantive curriculum interwoven with the values, traditions, and history of the CIA. Courses on the intelligence profession along with instruction in foreign languages, regional studies, and core substantive issues enable DI officers to work in cross-component teams and to stay abreast of global and technological change. Leadership courses help officers explore and enhance their individual abilities and underscore the critical linkage between leadership, values, and the intelligence profession.

The Sherman Kent School for Intelligence Analysis is the DI’s component of CIA University and provides basic analytic training and more advanced courses in specialized skills.

  • The Career Analyst Program (CAP) is the DI’s basic training program and introduces all new employees to the basic thinking, writing and briefing skills needed for a successful career. Segments include analytic tools, counterintelligence issues, denial and deception analysis, and warning skills. Most CAP classes are conducted at the Kent School’s facility approximately 10 miles from the main CIA compound.

  • The Kent School also offers a wide range of intermediate- and advanced-level training for analysts and managers on analytic methodologies, substantive issues, and leadership skills.

  • This DI-specific curriculum is supplemented by courses offered in the CIA University’s Leadership and Mission Academies, which focus on broader leadership development issues and substantive training.

Analysts can take advantage of part-time or evening course work at the multitude of excellent universities in the Washington DC area. Full-time study options are available on a select basis through individual offices. Individuals also may compete for a study position at one of the military services programs, such as the National War College or the Army or Naval War College.

Because language capability is an important part of the analyst’s toolkit, CIA University offers a range of full-time language training opportunities. In addition, the DI sponsors part-time courses in such languages as Arabic, Persian, Chinese, and Russian.

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