The Marine Corps University's history dates back to 1891 when 29 company officers attended the School of Application. This facility became the Officers Training School in 1909, and later relocated to Marine Corps Base Quantico. In 1919, Major General John A. Lejeune ordered the creation of the Marine Corps Officers Training School. Brigadier General Smedley D. Butler established the Field Officers Course, in October 1920 and the Company Grade Officers Course in July 1921.
Degree programs
Marine Corps War College: On 1 August 1989, the 29th Commandant of the Marine Corps, General Alfred M. Gray, Jr., instituted the Art of War Studies program under the Marine Corps Command and Staff College. Today the mission of the Marine Corps War College is to develop, deliver, and evaluate professional military education and training through resident and nonresident programs to prepare leaders to meet the challenges of the national security environment. Preserve, promote, and display the history and heritage of the Marine Corps. Marine Corps War College graduates are prepared to assume senior leadership positions of increasing complexity through the study of national military strategy, theater strategy and plans, and military support to those strategies within the context of national security policies and decision-making. College graduates receive a Master of Strategic Studies degree.
Marine Corps Command and Staff College: Informed by the study of history, language and culture, CSC educates and trains its joint, multinational, and interagency professionals in order to produce skilled warfighting leaders able to overcome diverse 21st Century security challenges. Command and Staff College offers students the option of completing the requirements for a Master of Military Studies degree.
School of Advanced Warfighting: The School of Advanced Warfighting provides a follow-on, graduate-level professional military education for selected field grade officers who have completed the Marine Corps or sister service command and staff college course. The course develops complex problem solving and decision making skills that can be used to improve the warfighting capabilities of an organization at the operational level of war. School of Advanced Warfighting graduates receive a Master of Operational Studies degree.
Formerly Amphibious Warfare School, the mission of the Expeditionary Warfare School is to provide Marine Captains career-level professional military education and oversee their professional military training in command and control, MAGTF operations ashore, and naval expeditionary operations. This training and education will enable them to command or serve as primary staff officers in their MOS, integrate the capabilities resident within their element of the MAGTF, integrate their element within the MAGTF, and understand the functions of the other elements of the MAGTF.
Marine Corps Command and Staff College (CSC)
The Marine Corps Command and Staff College provides graduate level education and training in order to develop critical thinkers, innovative problem solvers, and ethical leaders who will serve as commanders and staff officers in service, joint, interagency, intergovernmental, and multinational organizations confronting complex and uncertain security environments. The Command and Staff College is a ten-month program for majors, lieutenant commanders, allied foreign officers, and U.S. government civilian professionals that fulfills Joint Professional Military Education Phase I requirements. Students come from all branches of the US Armed Forces. Students have the option of completing the requirements for a Master of Military Studies degree. MCU-CSC is also known for the high quality of its civilian faculty members, many of whom conduct ground-breaking research into national security issues.
Marine Corps War College (MCWAR)
School of Advanced Warfighting
The mission of the School of Advanced Warfighting is to develop lead planners and future commanders with the will and intellect to solve complex problems, employ operational art, and design and execute campaigns in order to enhance the Marine Corps’ ability to prepare for and fight wars.
The mission of the Enlisted Professional Military Education branch is to provide progressive educational opportunities to improve leadership, critical thinking capability and sound tactical skills for enlisted Marines throughout their careers.
School of MAGTF Logistics
The mission of the School of Marine Air-Ground Task Force Logistics is to develop, deliver, and evaluate the logistics education of the Marine Corps, and to manage the logistics education continuum in order to increase the combat effectiveness of Marine Corps operating forces, Marine Forces Reserve, the supporting establishment, and Headquarters Marine Corps.
