Graduate School, USDA

The Graduate School, USDA is a non-appropriated fund instrumentality (NAFI) government entity created in 1921 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to provide adult continuing education. Its mission is to develop people and to make government more efficient and effective—offering a wide variety of classes and programs, ranging from government-based specialties such as governmental accounting and auditing, human capital management and acquisition to foreign languages, economics, leadership and landscape design. The School annually serves 200,000 participants in nearly 1,000 courses, including 300 evening and weekend courses.

It is a non-degree granting, continuing education institution headquartered in Washington, DC and is only loosely affiliated with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The organization is composed of several branches, including:

*Daytime Courses—classes targeted to the needs of the governmental and non-governmental organizations

*Night and Weekend Courses—noted for its foreign language classes

*Global Solutions—The International Institute, as "the global arm of the Graduate School," administers grant programs on behalf of the International Visitor Leadership Program of the U.S. Department of State, the Fulbright Teacher and Administrator Exchange Programs of the U.S. Department of State, the Open World program of the Library of Congress), the Pacific Islands Training Initiative and the Virgin Islands Training Initiative of the U.S. Department of the Interior, the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), and USAID staff development.

* The Center for Leadership and Management conducts leadership and management courses, long term leadership programs, and leadership effectiveness assessments.

See also

*List of colleges and universities in Washington, D.C.

External links

* [http://www.grad.usda.gov/ the Graduate School, USDA (official website)]
* [http://www.exchanges.state.gov/education/ivp/ the U.S. Department of State - International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP)]
* [http://exchanges.state.gov/education/fulbright/ the U.S. Department of State - Fulbright Program]
* [http://www.openworld.gov/ the Open World Leadership Center - the Library of Congress]