FISCAL YEAR 2026 COMMANDANT'S EDUCATION BOARD OPT-IN PILOT PROGRAM

MARADMINS : 261/25

R 061308Z JUN 25 MARADMIN 261/25 MSGID/GENADMIN/CMC WASHINGTON DC MRA MM// SUBJ/FISCAL YEAR 2026 COMMANDANT'S EDUCATION BOARD OPT-IN PILOT PROGRAM// REF/A/MSGID: DOC/MM/YMD: 20190530// REF/B/MSGID: DOC/MPP-56/YMD: 20210510// REF/C/MSGID: DOC/MMSR/YMD: 20190215// REF/D/MSGID: DOC/MCO/CMC/YMD: 20210203// REF/E/MSGID: DOC/MARADMIN/MM/YMD: 20240920// NARR/REF A IS MCO 1524.1, MARINE CORPS GRADUATE EDUCATION PROGRAM. REF B IS MCO 1300.8 W/CH-1, MARINE CORPS PERSONNEL ASSIGNMENT POLICY. REF C IS MCO 1900.16 CH 2, MARINE CORPS SEPARATION AND RETIREMENT MANUAL (MARCORSEPMAN). REF D IS MCO 1001.65A, OFFICER RETENTION AND PRIOR SERVICE ACCESSIONS. REF E IS MARADMIN 426/24.// POC/DELANEY T. DUMANOVSKY/MAJ/MMOA-3/USMC/DSN 278-9285/ TEL (703)784-9285/EMAIL: SMB_MMOA_GRAD_EDU@USMC.MIL// GENTEXT/REMARKS/1. Purpose. This message announces the Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) Commandant’s Education Board (CEB) Opt-in Pilot Program. This opportunity allows members who are not currently eligible for the CEB, to include the Commandant's Career Level Education Board (CCLEB) and Commandant's Professional Intermediate Level Education Board (CPIB), to opt-in to be considered on the FY26 CEB. This pilot program is restricted to the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) programs outlined in paragraph 4. Major milestone timeline (read in two columns): Date Milestone Message release CEB questionnaire opens 09 July Reserve Component (RC) applications due 09 July RC Return to Active Duty (RAD) request due 09 July Applications/board correspondence due 23 July Final eligibility list published 05 August CEB convenes 2. Background. NPS is the premier education opportunity to earn a master's degree for Marine officers. This pilot program allows officers not normally eligible to be considered for CEB, to opt-in for consideration if they are qualified for academically rigorous NPS programs. Eligible officers may apply for opt-in, NPS and MMOA will review applicants to determine an officer's academic suitability. The board will consider only those applicants determined to be academically suitable for the programs outlined below. 3. Eligibility. Active Component (AC) and RC officers in the ranks of first lieutenant through major who meet the following criteria are eligible to apply. Note that the board will only consider those applicants determined to be academically suitable per paragraph 5.b.3. 3.a. Active Component. Active duty applicants must have completed minimum time-on-station requirements per reference (a) and be eligible for permanent change of station orders in 2026. 3.b. Reserve Component 3.b.1. RC officers must be willing to be appointed to the AC if selected for this duty in accordance with reference (d). 3.b.2. RC officers must submit a return to active duty (RAD) package in accordance with reference (e) along with their application NLT 09 July 2025 and will be approved for RAD if selected by the CEB. 3.b.3. RC officers must not have any reserve service obligation ending later than 30 April 2026. 3.c. Ineligibility criteria 3.c.1. Officers with a training PMOS or departing PMOS training. 3.c.2. Officers passed for promotion. 3.c.3. Officers who have previously received a service funded master’s degree from a source other than a Service School. 3.c.4. Officers with an approved lateral move in CY25 are ineligible for FY26 CEB selection and attendance due to PMOS training and assignment. 3.c.5. Officers with an approved separation or retirement date. 3.c.6. Restricted officers. 3.c.7. Marines holding a PMOS of 4402. 3.c.8. Marines in the Active Reserve Component (component codes B1 and B4). 4. Graduate Education Programs. The following AMOSs are associated with the corresponding disciplines and curricula at NPS available for this pilot program (read in three columns): AMOS DISCIPLINE CURRICULUM 8824 Electrical Engineering 590 8825 Modeling and Simulation 399 8826 Combat Systems Science and Technology 533 8834 Information Warfare Systems 595 8846 Computer Science 368 8848 Information System & Technology 370 8850 Operations Analysis 360 8866 Space Systems Operations & Engineering 566 3006 Contingency Contracting Officer 815 5. Application instructions 5.a. All officers must submit an AA form, endorsed by the first O-5 commander in the chain of command, requesting opt-in to the CEB. This Administrative Action (AA) form should be submitted via the CEB questionnaire no later than 2359 EST on 16 July 2025. 5.b. PMOS monitor concurrence. PMOS monitors will consider officers for appropriate career timing, PMOS health, current unit staffing levels, and continued service. Email correspondence must be included in the CEB questionnaire. 5.c. All officers applying to NPS via this pilot program are required to complete the FY26 CEB Questionnaire no later than 2359 EST on 09 July 2025. The questionnaire is located at https:(slash)(slash)www2.manpower.usmc.mil/application_cac/. 5.c.1 Officers are required to apply and submit undergraduate transcripts to NPS no later than 2359 EST on 09 July 2025. 5.c.2. NPS Admissions website is located at https:(slash)(slash) nps.edu/web/admissions/apply/. 5.c.3. After submitting the NPS application, applicants must order official transcripts from all attended undergraduate and graduate institutions for delivery from the institution(s) directly to NPS Admissions. Transcripts must come directly from the institution or their designated transcript exchange service. NPS does not accept transcripts submitted by the applicant. Officers that have previously applied to NPS must submit an additional application but are not required to resubmit transcripts. Officers can submit up to five applications for those curricula listed in paragraph 4 above. NPS will notify MMOA-3 of an officer’s acceptance to NPS with the curricula the individual may or may not qualify for. NPS does not provide an acceptance letter or status of acceptance to individual officers. Those officers who do not have the academic suitability for curricula in paragraph 4 will not be considered by the FY26 CEB. 5.c.4. All officers must verify copies of all undergraduate transcripts are in their official military personnel file (OMPF). 6. Coordinating Instructions 6.a. Officers applying to this pilot program must rank their top five preferences from paragraph 4 on the questionnaire. 6.b. Graduate education programs are not a service equivalent for professional military education (PME). Marines participating in graduate education programs are required to pursue completion of a PME program commensurate with their grade on their own initiative. 6.c. These graduate programs vary from 21-27 months of education followed by a three-year utilization tour. All programs listed incur a 48-month service obligation upon completion of the assigned curriculum. 7. Questionnaire 7.a. Direct questionnaire functionality and accessibility questions and issues to MMOA-3 at SMB_MMOA_GRAD_EDU@USMC.MIL. 7.b. Eligible officers must submit program preferences, applications, letters to the board, etc. via the questionnaire. The questionnaire is located at https:(slash)(slash)www2.manpower. usmc.mil/application_cac/ 7.c. The questionnaire is the official method for MMOA-3 to receive board correspondence. Once responses are submitted via the questionnaire MMOA-3 will receive an automatic notification of completion. 7.d. Do not submit more than 7 documents. 7.e. Each document must not exceed 800 KB and must be in .pdf format. 7.f. Name the file appropriately according to the program you are applying for i.e., “edipi_transcripts_lastname” or “edipi_monitorltr_lastname”. Condense all documents for a specific program application into one scanned PDF. 7.g. Board Correspondence. All correspondence to the board must originate from the officer being considered. 7.h. Subsequent MARADMINs will announce FY26 Graduate Education Program Results. These MARADMINs will serve as notification of orders for all primary selectees. 8. Program Points of Contact 8.a. Naval Postgraduate School Admissions Office Comm: (831) 521-2190 Email: admissions@nps.edu 8.b. Graduate Education Manager (MMOA-3) Maj Delaney Dumanovsky Comm: (703) 784-9284 Email: SMB_MMOA_GRAD_EDU@USMC.MIL 9. This MARADMIN is applicable to the Total Force. 10. Release authorized by MajGen Ryan S. Rideout, Director, Manpower Management Division.//