ROUTINE R 151928Z AUG 22 MID600052194771U FM CNO WASHINGTON DC TO NAVADMIN INFO CNO WASHINGTON DC BT UNCLAS NAVADMIN 182/22 PASS TO OFFICE CODES: FM CNO WASHINGTON DC//N7// INFO CNO WASHINGTON DC//N7// MSGID/GENADMIN/CNO WASHINGTON DC/N71/(MONTH)// SUBJ/ACADEMIC YEAR 2023-2024 FLEET SCHOLARS EDUCATION PROGRAM// REF/A/DOC/CNO WASHINGTON DC/15AUG16// REF/B/DOC/CNO WASHINGTON DC/01AUG15// REF A IS OPNAVINST 1500.78, FLEET SCHOLARS EDUCATION PROGRAM// REF B IS OPNAVINST 1520.24D, OFFICER SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM RMKS/1. This NAVADMIN announces the fiscal year 2023, Academic Year (AY) 2023 and 2024 Fleet Scholars Education Program (FSEP). Applicants should pay special attention to policy change in paragraph 5 regarding tuition caps. 2. Background a. Fleet Scholars Education Program (FSEP) is a Navy talent management initiative that selects high performing Unrestricted Line (URL) Officers and Information Warfare Community (IWC) Officers to attend in-residence graduate education programs. Selected participants will attend in-residence graduate school at an accredited institution of their choice (Continental United States, Alaska and Hawaii). b. FSEP is nominally suited for the Lieutenant (LT) paygrade; however, Lieutenant Commanders are eligible. Top performing Lieutenant Junior Grade Officers may be considered if promoted to LT before reporting to their school of choice for graduate education. c. FSEP participants have up to 24 months to complete a graduate degree while in a full-time student status. Participants will be required to choose a degree from the approved areas of study list located at paragraph 4. The approved areas of study list has changed from last year due to the continuing refinement of Navy Education Requirements. Distance learning, night/weekend /part-time programs structured for the working professional are not authorized graduate programs under FSEP. d. Officers who have already received fully-funded graduate education are not eligible to participate. Graduate degrees obtained through Post 9-11 G.I. Bill, tuition assistance or the Navy College Program for Afloat College Education are not disqualifiers. Selectees will be assigned a unique additional qualification designation for tracking and career management purposes. 3. Application and Selection Process a. Community sponsors will develop and implement selection criteria and policies to identify their most talented and proven performers for FSEP participation. Community sponsors will make their nominees for selection no later than 30 September and submit to the Director for Warfighter Development (OPNAV N71) via the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) Civilian Institutions (CIVINS) program office for final selection approval and selection notification. Selection notification will be released by 31 October 2022 in order for Navy Personnel Command, Graduate Education and Training Placement (PERS-440) to meet the AY23-24 fall/winter semester/quarter start dates. Each community sponsor may select up to their annual allocated graduate education opportunities, as per reference (a), shown below: Community Designator Opportunities SURFOR 1110(8) SUBFOR 1120(5) NSWC 1130(3) NECC 1140(3) AIRFOR 1310, 1320(6) IWC 1810(1) 1820(1) 1830(1) b. Upon notification of selection to FSEP, selectees should apply to at least three accredited graduate education institutions of their choice. Participants may be reimbursed for up to three application and transcript fees after beginning their first semester/quarter. Participants shall consult the list of schools that have existing Education Service Agreements (ESA) with the Navy on the NPS CIVINS website FSEP page at https://nps.edu/web/civins/fsep. In cases where the school of choice is not on the ESA listing, the selectee shall notify the NPS CIVINS office no less than 7 months prior to program start to allow sufficient time to pursue additional ESAs. Participants are responsible for researching and completing prerequisites including graduate record examinations where applicable. Permanent change of station orders and enrollment should not occur prior to 01 July 2023 for the fall/winter term of AY23-24. 4. Areas of Study a. FSEP participants should choose from the following areas of study: Problem Solving/Decision Science/Data Science Leadership Engineering (5XXX) Public Policy/Public Administration Cyber National Security/Strategy b. For those areas of study awarding a subspecialty code (SSC), all Education Plans will be reviewed against the Educational Skill Requirement (ESR), and approved by the respective SME/PERS-451. c. For questions on whether a desired degree falls outside the specific areas of study listed above, the selectee shall submit a degree approval request to the NPS CIVINS office. Details of the degree approval process can be found at NPS CIVINS website listed in paragraph 7. 5. Tuition Cap. For the focus study areas listed in paragraph 4, FSEP selectees will receive 100% funding for tuition related expenses. For any other degree programs, FSEP selectees will only receive a maximum of $40K/year in tuition related expenses. Selectees may use a combination of scholarships, post-9/11 G.I. Bill benefits, and personal resources to cover these additional costs. Reference (b) provides additional information on scholarship requirements. FSEP selectees should contact the OPNAV N7 POC in order to obtain clarification on whether a degree program does/does not fall under a focus study area. 6. Service Obligation: In line with reference (b), FSEP selectees shall agree to remain on active-duty for three years following graduation or withdrawal from the program. A member who voluntarily or through misconduct fails to complete the active-duty time agreed upon shall be required to reimburse the cost of the education received, prorated for the obligated time served. 7. Additional information regarding FSEP is available at the NPS CIVINS website at https://nps.edu/web/civins/fsep and in reference (a). 8. Point of contact is LT Matthew Hinkson, Graduate Education and JPME Policy Requirement, (703) 693-4183 or email matthew.b.hinkson.mil@us.navy.mil. 9. This message will remain in effect until superseded or 31 May 2023, whichever occurs first. 10. Released by VADM J. W. Hughes, Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Warfighting Development (N7).// BT #0001 NNNN UNCLASSIFIED//