Intelligence Community: Actions Needed to Improve Planning and Oversight of the Centers for Academic Excellence Program
Fast Facts
The Centers for Academic Excellence is a federal grant program designed to encourage highly-qualified college students with diverse backgrounds to pursue careers at U.S. Intelligence Community entities like the CIA. From 2005-2018, 29 colleges received 46 grants totaling about $69 million.
The Intelligence Community doesn't know if the program is achieving its goal of increasing diversity in its applicant pool. In addition, Intelligence Community entities are unclear about their responsibilities in the program and need to improve their participation in the program.
We made 7 recommendations to address these and other issues.
Intelligence Community Centers for Academic Excellence: Minority Designation for the 29 Primary Grant Colleges (Fiscal years 2004 through 2018)
Pie chart showing 34% no minority designation; 66% minority designation; and the breakdown of the minority designation by type.
Highlights
What GAO Found
The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) has not sufficiently planned and overseen the Intelligence Community (IC) Centers for Academic Excellence (CAE) program—intended to create an increased pool of culturally and ethnically diverse job applicants for the IC—after the program transitioned from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) to DIA in 2011. Specifically, DIA has not applied most of GAO's key practices of sound planning in overseeing the program (see table), thus challenging decision makers' ability to determine the program's return on investment.
Defense Intelligence Agency Application of Key Practices of Sound Planning
|
Key planning practice |
Application of key planning practice |
|
Mission statement |
Maintained original program mission statement. |
|
Results-oriented goals |
Did not establish results-oriented goals. |
|
Strategies to achieve goals |
Developed documentation and awarded grants, but did not document an overall strategy. |
|
External factors that could affect goals |
Identified some external factors, but did not develop a process to evaluate these factors. |
|
Use of performance measures to gauge progress |
Did not consistently define, collect, or report comprehensive performance measures. |
|
Evaluations of the plan to monitor goals and objectives |
Did not comprehensively assess the performance of colleges' programs or overall program success. |
Source: GAO analysis of Intelligence Community element documents and GAO key practices for sound planning. | GAO-19-529
Specifically, while DIA has developed some short-term goals and plans for the program, DIA has not established results-oriented program goals or an overall strategy that details the agency resources and processes required to achieve the program's mission. Similarly, DIA collected some data for the program and required colleges to provide reports on significant program accomplishments, but these data are not complete or reliable and have not been used to comprehensively evaluate the program's success. As oversight responsibility for the IC CAE program transitions back to ODNI in fiscal year 2020, ODNI will not be able to determine the extent to which the program has been successful in achieving its mission without establishing and documenting goals with targets and milestones; developing strategies to achieve those goals; and defining, collecting, and reporting comprehensive performance measures.
Selected IC elements are participating in the IC CAE program to varying degrees, but DIA has not established a process for monitoring and assessing IC elements' participation or clearly defining IC elements' role in the program. The IC CAE program is a collaborative effort that allows IC elements to participate in college events, such as IC CAE recruitment events. However, not all IC elements participate in the program. As IC CAE program manager, DIA has engaged with IC elements in a variety of ways, but this engagement has not resulted in consistent participation among the IC elements. Moreover, program documentation has not clearly defined IC elements' roles and responsibilities for participation. Without a process for monitoring and assessing IC elements' participation and clearly defining roles and responsibilities, ODNI will neither be able to identify reasons for the lack of IC element engagement nor ensure that IC elements are taking advantage of the IC CAE program and its goal of creating a diverse pool of applicants for the IC.
Why GAO Did This Study
A trusted, diverse workforce with the right expertise is critical to ensuring the IC achieves its mission of delivering distinctive, timely insights with clarity, objectivity, and independence. ODNI established the IC CAE program in 2005 to educate highly qualified students of diverse backgrounds and encourage them to pursue careers in the IC. ODNI and DIA have provided 29 colleges a total of 46 IC CAE grants through fiscal year 2018, totaling approximately $69 million through fiscal year 2021.
This report evaluates the extent to which (1) DIA has planned and overseen the IC CAE program since 2011 and (2) selected IC elements are participating in the IC CAE program and have clearly defined roles.
GAO reviewed IC CAE documentation related to DIA program planning and oversight from 2011 through 2019 and applied key practices of sound planning to evaluate DIA's management of the program. GAO interviewed selected IC elements and IC CAE college officials and reviewed related documentation to assess program planning and implementation.
Recommendations
GAO is making seven recommendations to the Director of National Intelligence, including that ODNI establish and document results-oriented goals and strategies for the IC CAE program; define, collect, and report comprehensive performance measures; and clearly define the roles and responsibilities of the IC elements for participation in the program. ODNI concurred with the recommendations but did not identify steps it plans to take to implement them.
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Office of the Director of National Intelligence |
Priority Rec.
The Director of National Intelligence should establish and document results-oriented goals that include specific targets or milestones for the IC CAE program. (Recommendation 1) |
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) concurred with this recommendation. In April 2024, ODNI shared overarching guidance for the Intelligence Community Centers for Academic Excellence (IC CAE) Program that included results-oriented goals. Specifically, ODNI provided the Intelligence Community Centers for Academic Excellence Strategy 2020-2023, developed in 2019, that included the 5 goals for the IC CAE program. Goals included showing return on investment for the IC CAE program and increasing IC engagement with school programs. Each of the overarching goals included objectives intended to be used as targets for achieving the objectives. ODNI officials also shared an... updated Business Operations Plan for the IC CAE program that documented the events throughout the year to advance the program's goals. Taken together, the strategic plan and business operations plan include results-oriented goals for the IC CAE program, specific activities to advance those goals, and planned milestones to meet through program activities to address the goals. Based on our review of the documentation, we believe that ODNI has met the intent of GAO's recommendation to ensure the documentation of results-oriented goals for the IC CAE program.
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| Office of the Director of National Intelligence | The Director of National Intelligence should establish and document strategies to achieve the results-oriented goals that are established for the IC CAE program. (Recommendation 2) | The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) concurred with this recommendation. In April 2024, ODNI shared overarching guidance for the Intelligence Community Centers for Academic Excellence (IC CAE) Program that included results-oriented goals. Specifically, ODNI provided the Intelligence Community Centers for Academic Excellence Strategy 2020-2023, developed in 2019, that included the 5 goals for the IC CAE program. Goals included showing return on investment for the IC CAE program and increasing IC engagement with school programs. Each of the overarching goals included objectives intended to be used as targets for achieving the objectives. ODNI officials also shared an...
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| Office of the Director of National Intelligence | The Director of National Intelligence should develop and document a process to identify and continuously evaluate external factors that could affect the program's ability to achieve identified goals. This should include, but not be limited to, a consideration of program branding and post-grant sustainment. (Recommendation 3) | The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) concurred with this recommendation. In an October 2022 response, ODNI noted that the Intelligence Community Centers for Academic Excellence (IC CAE) Program Office worked closely with schools' IC CAE advocates and program leads to develop a more inclusive brand and logo representative of the students the IC wants to attract as future intelligence professionals, which can be found on the program's public facing website. This included the development of new websites and promotional materials. According to officials, the schools reported a significant increase in attendance at IC CAE sponsored events and the ability to attract a...
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| Office of the Director of National Intelligence | The Director of National Intelligence should define and document comprehensive performance measures for the IC CAE program, collect and evaluate the completeness and reliability of information it receives from grant recipients and IC elements, and report this information on a regular basis. (Recommendation 4) | The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) concurred with this recommendation. According to documentation we reviewed in March 2025 ODNI developed a data collection framework for Intelligence Community Centers for Academic Excellence (IC CAE) grant-receiving schools and consortium partners in September 2024. This framework consists of a data template with defined reporting requirements aligned with program objectives. The Funding Opportunity Announcement which awarded six new grants in September 2024 included this data template. The data template documents performance measures ODNI will collect and evaluate from grant recipients, thereby defining and documenting...
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| Office of the Director of National Intelligence | The Director of National Intelligence should establish a requirement for and develop a plan to periodically evaluate the IC CAE program's performance through objective measurement and systematic analysis. (Recommendation 5) | The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) concurred with this recommendation. According to documentation we reviewed in March 2025, ODNI's Funding Opportunity Announcement for six grants awarded in 2024 included biannual reporting requirements aligned with the nine objectives of the Intelligence Community Centers for Academic Excellence (IC CAE) Program. Specifically, the Funding Opportunity Announcement outlines the biannual reporting requirements and process which includes specific performance measures and metrics on the program participants as defined by the IC CAE program office, thereby establishing a requirement for periodic evaluation of the IC CAE program's...
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| Office of the Director of National Intelligence | The Director of National Intelligence should develop a process for assessing why some IC elements are not participating in the IC CAE program and address these reasons in order to ensure the program is structured to meet the needs of IC elements. (Recommendation 6) | The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) concurred with this recommendation. In March 2025 documentation, ODNI reported that they leverage established intelligence community (IC) committees to assess why some IC elements do not participate in the Intelligence Community Centers for Academic Excellence (IC CAE) Program. Specifically, ODNI uses the IC Chief Human Capital Officer Council and relevant working groups such as the IC Recruitment Committee to engage with IC elements monthly. ODNI noted that these groups have led to increased understanding of the program and its objectives. In addition, ODNI leverages the council to address challenges smaller IC elements face...
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| Office of the Director of National Intelligence |
Priority Rec.
The Director of National Intelligence should clearly define IC elements' roles and responsibilities for participation in the IC CAE program to better facilitate interagency collaboration in support of the program. (Recommendation 7) |
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) concurred with this recommendation. In April 2024, ODNI shared the Intelligence Community (IC) Recruitment Committee Charter (ICRC), dated July 2021, to document establishment of roles and responsibilities for each of the IC elements participating in the IC Centers for Academic Excellence (IC CAE) program. The Charter outlines responsibilities of each IC element specific to involvement with and participation in the IC CAE program, among other programs. These responsibilities include a requirement that each IC element serve as the focal point for recruitment and outreach efforts across the IC, seek to enrich and expand...
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