# CIA feeder schools

> **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou.
>
> Cite as: "CIA feeder schools," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia-feeder-schools/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*John Kiriakou's correction to the assumption that Georgetown is the CIA's principal university pipeline — George Washington University, he says, sends more people to the agency than Georgetown does, the first applied intelligence master's programme in the country was at Mercyhurst College in Erie, Pennsylvania, and he himself teaches intelligence studies to a largely American cohort at the University of Salamanca in Spain, many of whom end up at the CIA.*

- **Best known:** Georgetown University
- **Sends more (per Kiriakou):** George Washington University
- **First applied intelligence master's:** Mercyhurst College, Erie, Pennsylvania
- **Kiriakou teaches at:** University of Salamanca, Spain

**CIA feeder schools** are the universities that supply the agency with recruits. Asked to do an episode on Georgetown's applied intelligence programme and how the CIA recruits from it, [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) accepted the premise but widened it: *"I'll go one better. It's way, way bigger than Georgetown's Applied Intelligence Program."*[1][2]

## Not Georgetown first

He grants Georgetown its reputation — *"Yes, Georgetown is a feeder school for the CIA"* — and then displaces it: *"but so is George Washington University. And in fact, GW sends more people to the CIA than Georgetown does."*[2]

## Mercyhurst

The institution he singles out is one he expects his audience not to know: *"there are schools like you've probably never heard of, like Mercyhurst College in Erie, Pennsylvania, that had the country's very first applied intelligence master's program."*[2]

## Salamanca

Kiriakou also teaches into the pipeline himself. He runs a graduate programme in intelligence studies at the University of Salamanca in Spain, and notes the apparent paradox of its location: *"even though it's in Spain, they're learning intelligence. They're mostly Americans, and a lot of them end up at the CIA."*[3]

## See also

- [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou)
- [CIA–Big Tech revolving door](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia-big-tech-revolving-door)

## Sources

1. John Kiriakou Podcast: Inside CIA Recruiting and My Most Shocking Prison Experience (2026-07-08), at 04:07. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHdQWVhiA04&t=247s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-07-08-the-jk-report-john-kiriakou-podcast-inside-cia-recruiting-and/
2. John Kiriakou Podcast: Inside CIA Recruiting and My Most Shocking Prison Experience (2026-07-08), at 04:37. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHdQWVhiA04&t=277s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-07-08-the-jk-report-john-kiriakou-podcast-inside-cia-recruiting-and/
3. John Kiriakou Podcast: Inside CIA Recruiting and My Most Shocking Prison Experience (2026-07-08), at 05:08. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHdQWVhiA04&t=308s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-07-08-the-jk-report-john-kiriakou-podcast-inside-cia-recruiting-and/

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From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia-feeder-schools/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt