WASHINGTON, March 16, 2005 - A tiny college located in the hometown of
ex-Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge is negotiating a no-bid
contract to train intelligence analysts for the sprawling agency. In
doing so, the agency is short-circuiting a selection process that would
normally include a host of bigger and better known institutions already
working in that field such as George Washington University and
Georgetown University.

Late last month, the Department of Homeland Security filed notice it was
entering into negotiations on a sole source basis with Mercyhurst
College in Erie, Pa., to develop and run an intelligence analyst
certificate program for the department. Mercyhurst is a liberal arts,
private, Catholic school located on the eastern shore of Lake Erie. The
school has an enrollment of about 3,100.

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