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A program inspired by a Kansas University professor, endorsed by the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and aimed at correcting the U.S. intelligence community's weaknesses is accepting applications.

The first class of Pat Roberts Intelligence Scholars is being sought in the wake of a blistering report blaming the Central Intelligence Agency for false and unfounded assessments relied on by President Bush and Congress to justify going to war in Iraq.

"I am convinced that this is the right approach and that the modest investment required by this initiative will pay large dividends in terms of recruiting analysts with critical skills that the labor market does not readily provide," said Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

For college undergraduate and graduate students who are selected, it would mean as much as $50,000 in scholarship money.

The ROTC-style program is the brainchild of Felix Moos, a KU professor of anthropology, and is part of an effort to attract qualified candidates to the field of intelligence-gathering, especially in targeted areas of the world, including Afghanistan, the Middle East, Korea and China.

"It's very hard to get students to want to study unattractive languages," said Elizabeth Bancroft, executive director of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers. "It's very hard to motivate people to want to go to these countries where trouble is brewing."

The program was suggested by Moos to Roberts, who shepherded the measure through Congress, which approved $4 million for the pilot project.

After completing their degrees, scholarship recipients are committed to working for the CIA for 18 months for each year of scholarship they receive.

Candidates for the scholarships may attend any institution and must be full-time students, U.S. citizens, and pass the same security background checks given to other CIA employees. They also must possess advanced expertise in certain regions, languages or other disciplines.

Roberts has been at the forefront of the Intelligence Committee's report on intelligence failures in Iraq. He said recent events showed the need for better-trained intelligence operatives.

Opinion: Intelligence training plan could provide vital insight to U.S. (11-29-03) Pat Roberts Intelligence Scholars Program Association of Former Intelligence Officers Central Intelligence Agency

"I also believe that this program could have a significant impact on improving the analytical depth and quality of the intelligence community, something our recent report shows is an area where we need critical reforms," Roberts said.

Moos did not return phone calls seeking comment.

But in an earlier interview with the Journal-World, he said, "The idea was that since our analysis in intelligence isn't always complete, we really need a new generation of young analysts who have a much broader and different training.

"They need language training and knowledge of different cultures," Moos said. "If America's going to be engaged in Afghanistan, Iraq and North Korea, we need a new generation who thinks along really different lines."

Bancroft, with the Association of Former Intelligence Officers, said the money would offer incentives for students who might otherwise be interested in international business to pursue intelligence-gathering.

"This is trying to compensate," she said. "The intelligence community is trying to attract people who are going to pick the less seductive studies."

Bancroft said time would tell if the program and others like it would lead to better intelligence gathering.

"We're really experimenting," she said. "We don't know what will work. I applaud anybody who's willing to attract people to the field."