PG School
Progress Cum Laude
Photography by Ted Jorgenson
In 1909, the Naval Postgraduate School made its modern debut at the Naval Academy with only three professors, 11 students, and one course in naval engineering. In the 1970s the Postgraduate School, now located at Monterey, California, will play a major role in the Navy’s graduate education program—300 professors, 2,200 students, and a thick catalog of required courses and electives.
Students may take a one- or two-year course—in some cases, three years—in specialized technical subjects, such as Aeronautical Engineering, Electronics and Communications Engineering, Ordnance Engineering, Naval Engineering, Environmental Sciences, Management and Computer Science, Operations Analysis and Engineering Science.
Students carry four courses a quarter. All technical master’s degrees require about two years of work plus a thesis or its equivalent; the management-oriented master’s somewhat less Officers seeking the professional engineer’s degree invest about three years of study and produce a thesis; doctoral candidate must complete two years of graduate above the master’s degree, submit a dissertation, and undergo a final oral examination.
On the following pages is a glimpse of the Naval Postgraduate School, usually referred to throughout the Fleet as the “PG School,” or simply "Monterey.”