<p>I just graduated as an applied math major and will be starting a job with the Navy as a civilian in a couple of weeks. I applied to San Diego State's computational science master's program and was planning on pursuing it part-time while working full-time. However, a couple of people I've talked to have mentioned the Naval Postgraduate School as an option for pursuing a masters. They all recommend that I just work for a year before committing to graduate school, then giving NPS a shot because the Navy would be more accommodating schedule-wise to an NPS program. There are electrical engineering and systems engineering distance learning programs I would possibly be interested in pursuing. </p>
<p>My questions:</p>
<ol>
<li>What is the reputation of NPS outside of Navy/DoD? In case I wanted to leave and pursue something outside of those agencies, what sort of value is placed on a masters degree from there?</li>
<li>NPS is tailored to the needs of the DoD and the military. Am I pigeon-holing myself too much by obtaining a degree from that sort of institution?</li>
<li>How difficult is it to get sponsored to attend NPS as a civilian?<br></li>
</ol>