The Naval Postgraduate School does not directly take applications from potential students for admission, in contrast to civilian institutions. The governments of each country must legally sponsor and nominate all international students. Requests for an evaluation of academic records should be made through the proper channels in the prospective student's Ministry of Defense in order to be admitted into a specific curriculum at NPS. The Ministry of Defense will then coordinate the request through the Office of Defense Cooperation (ODC) at the U.S. Embassy in the country. In order to be admitted to the designated curriculum, the ODC will send the necessary academic records to NPS for a formal examination. NPS should ideally receive academic records four to six months before the desired start date.

The academic prerequisites are clear-cut and easy to understand. A minimum of a baccalaureate degree or its equivalent is required of all admitted students. This coursework needs to have been finished at an accredited college or institution with a minimum grade point average of C+ (2.30 on a 4.0 scale). A minimum grade point average of 2.6 is required for courses in the Department of National Security Affairs. For evaluation, a clear copy of the official transcript from each college and university the prospective student attended must be provided in English. 

Each completed course's title or subject area, the number of units or credit hours gained for each course, the grade or score obtained for each course, the date of each degree and certificate award, and the name of each degree should all be listed on transcripts. Transcripts should also specify the minimal passing grade in accordance with the grading scheme or scale in use. Calculus and calculus-based physics must be successfully completed in order to be considered for technical or engineering programs. The Special Operations/Irregular Warfare and Department of Defense Management curriculum require college-level algebra to be completed successfully. An application package containing the most recent Graduate Record Examination (GRE) results is required of prospective Ph.D. students.