Graduate Certificate in Anticipatory Intelligence

Program Overview  

The Graduate Certificate in Anticipatory Intelligence at Utah State University is part of the nation's first graduate program in Anticipatory Intelligence. This compact 15-credit graduate certificate is designed to be completed with part-time study across one or two years and is built to complement career tracks or other graduate degrees across a wide range of STEM disciplines, social sciences, humanities, arts, and more. The Graduate Certificate in Anticipatory Intelligence is structured to equip graduates and professionals with actionable hard and soft skills in systems-level thinking and emergent security challenges, as well as sophistication in interdisciplinary analysis and synthesis relating to the complex security issues affecting their own professional field. The Graduate Certificate in Anticipatory Intelligence provides a concise foundational curriculum for graduates and professionals to become strategic thought leaders within their fields.

Students in the Anticipatory Intelligence program engage with instructors from a range of disciplinary backgrounds who bring a wealth of real-world experience in the security domain. Anticipatory Intelligence courses train students to be active participants in cross-disciplinary and cross-domain collaboration and equip them to connect their primary disciplinary expertise to real-world problem solving on emergent security issues. The Graduate Certificate in Anticipatory Intelligence offers strong a value-added benefit for graduates and professionals pursuing a wide range of professions in the private sector, public service, nonprofit work, and academia.

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Program Requirements

The Graduate Certificate in Anticipatory Intelligence is a competitive graduate credential built on a cohort model integrated alongside the Master of Anticipatory Intelligence (MAI) program. Candidates accepted into the Graduate Certificate program complete a minimum of 15 credit hours, moving through core courses as a cohort: all students start by taking CAI 5000 their incoming Fall semester and take CAI 5200 the consecutive Spring semester, with their elective course taken either concurrently or in a subsequent semester. The Graduate Certificate capstone project (CAI 6990) is individually designed in collaboration with an external partner organization and may be completed any semester (after CAI 5000) with approved faculty supervision. 

Required Courses:

• CAI 5000: American National Security Framework (3 credits)
• CAI 5200: Threats and Resilience in the Knowledge Century (3 credits)
      and
• CAI 6990: Graduate Capstone Experience (3 credits)

Elective Courses (Pick two):

• CAI 5010: Dynamics of Disruptive Technology (3 credits)
• CAI 6300: Art and Science of Anticipation (3 credits)
• CAI 6310: Strategic Culture and Analytics (3 credits)
• CAI 6400: Ethics and Emerging Technology (3 credits)
• CAI 6500: Strategic Intelligence (3 credits)
• CAI 6510: Russian Security Affairs (3 credits)
• CAI 6520: Chinese Security Affairs (3 credits)
• CAI 6530: Weapons of Mass Destruction (3 credits)
• CAI 6540: Future Space Security (3 credits) 
• CAI 6600: Biosecurity I (3 credits)
• CAI 6610: Biosecurity II (3 credits)
• CAI 6620: Food Security and Solutions (3 credits)
• CAI 6630: Water Security and Solutions (3 credits)
• CAI 5880: Critical Soft Skills (1-3 credits)
• CAI 6890: Special Topics in Anticipatory Intelligence (3 credits) 
• CAI 6900: Directed Readings and Research (3 credits) 
• CAI 6910-6940: Internships, Labs, or Field Experience (1-6 credits)
• IS 5820: Cyber Strategy in the Modern World (3 credits)

Current graduate students in other USU graduate programs may be able to use some CAI courses as electives in their programs (with approval from their program director and academic advisor). Some newer "stackable" USU graduate programs may also consider the Graduate Certificate in Anticipatory Intelligence eligible to pair with your current program. Speak with your academic advisor to explore these options. 

Applications Open Spring 2025

What is Anticipatory Intelligence?

• Anticipatory Intelligence is a multidomain approach to anticipating threats and opportunities emerging from the world's increasingly complex security environment. The goal of anticipatory intelligence is to reduce uncertainty and design resilience across future scenarios.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Q: I am a professional that has been out of school for some time. Am I at a disadvantage in applying for the Graduate Certificate? 
  A: Not at all. We actively invite applications from industry and government professionals, and we appropriately weight career experience in applications from working professionals. 
  
  Q: Are online or remote options available for the Graduate Certificate? 
  A: Because the Anticipatory Intelligence curriculum is highly interactive and built around intensive classroom and cohort collaboration, the Graduate Certificate is taught as a primarily in-person program on the USU Logan campus. 
  
  Q: I am a current USU graduate student that would like to add the Graduate Certificate alongside my master's/PhD program. How much time do I need?
  A: You'll need to budget time for four (labor-intensive) courses alongside your current graduate work. Many students opt to take one CAI course a semester across two years while they complete their master's or PhD. You can also finish the Graduate Certificate after you've completed your primary degree – the certificate is a standalone credential not tied to your master's or PhD. 
  
  Q: What's the key difference between the Graduate Certificate and the Master of Anticipatory Intelligence? 
  A: The Graduate Certificate is a compact subset of the MAI curriculum designed for graduates and professionals who want to pursue a credential in Anticipatory Intelligence without committing to a full master's. Students in both programs take courses alongside each other and are part of the same graduate cohort. 
  
  Q: Where can I find the program costs for the Graduate Certificate? 
  A: The 2024-2025 USU Tuition & Fees table outlines resident and nonresident graduate program costs. The Graduate Certificate in Anticipatory Intelligence falls under the regular graduate tuition bracket.

Applying for the Graduate Certificate

Interested candidates from all disciplinary and professional backgrounds are welcome and encouraged to apply for the Graduate Certificate in Anticipatory Intelligence. Please note the following points of guidance:

• The Graduate Certificate program is competitive and the curriculum is rigorous. Applicants must have (or be about to graduate with) a bachelor's degree and should have a strong academic record (minimum GPA 3.0+). For current professionals applying to the MAI, work/career experience will be weighted appropriately in application review. Candidates from any disciplinary or professional background will be considered and should establish clearly in their application materials why they want to pursue a graduate credential in the field of Anticipatory Intelligence. A disciplinary quota system is used to ensure a blend of disciplinary backgrounds in each Graduate Certificate cohort.  
• Our ethos revolves around the concept that diversity in thinking is a necessity in taking on complex problem sets. We aim to cultivate this essential heterogeneity by recruiting widely from across academic disciplines, ethnic and racial backgrounds, neurodiverse perspectives, professional interests and trajectories, and life experiences. We are looking for candidates who are eager to bring their own active contributions to the program.
• Competitive candidates will have a strong interest in security issues across multiple fields and domains; an appetite for studying societal-level "wicked problems" that rarely have simple solutions; a high tolerance for complexity and ambiguity; and an eagerness to significantly stretch their paradigm and work collaboratively with dissimilar thinkers in interdisciplinary spaces. Competitive candidates will have a strong draw toward becoming big-picture analysts and synthesists that can help identify complex emergent threats to systems and help build resilient organizations and communities. 

Applications for the 2024-2025 cohort are no longer being accepted. Candidates interested in applying for the 2025-2026 cohort are encouraged to reach out to CAI Program Coordinator Tyler Doering. Because there is a disciplinary quota system for each cohort, early applications are highly encouraged once the application cycle opens. Interested candidates should apply through the USU School of Graduate Studies (SGS) and will need to supply the following materials:

• USU SGS application form – Fill out your personal, contact, and educational details. Select Graduate as your level of study when setting up an application account, and the Graduate Certificate in Anticipatory Intelligence as your intended program of study when you reach that stage of the form.
• Personal statement – Explain your interest in the field of Anticipatory Intelligence, why you want to pursue graduate study in this field, and the background and experiences that make you a strong candidate for this program. (1000 words max)
• Current résumé/CV – We encourage providing a broad picture of your background and qualifications, including education, work experience, volunteerism, research or project interests, languages and technical skills, foreign travel, extracurricular activities, and hobbies.
• Writing sample – Provide a 2-3 page sample of your academic or professional writing. This may be excerpted from a longer work (such a course paper, thesis or capstone work, professional report or publication, etc.).
• Transcripts – Submit your official undergraduate (and if relevant, previous graduate) transcripts from all higher education institutions attended. 
• Two letters of recommendations – Fill out the letters of recommendation request forms as prompted in the application. Your referees will then receive an email with instructions to submit their letters on your behalf. Recommendations must come directly from the referee, not the applicant, to be considered valid. 
• USU SGS application fee – You can pay the $55 non-refundable application fee online with a credit or debit card.

Note: You will need to 1) fill out the SGS application form, 2) pay the application fee, and 3) submission the application form before you will receive the link where you will submit the supplemental materials listed above. To see the process overview for SGS applications, visit the SGS Steps to Apply page. A limited number of application fee waivers are available in cases of financial hardship. If you encounter questions or issues during the application process, you can contact CAI Program Coordinator Tyler Doering.