Police Corp to pay for college

[Shadow82]

Hi there,
I am a college junior and now part of the ROTC program at my college. Unfortunatly with the war going on money is tight and I will probably not be able to get a scholarship through the Army. So I must look for other options. I have always wanted to be a police officerand the police corp program has interested me for quite some time. Basically I was wondering what you all know about the program and what your opinions are.
Thanks alot
-Alex

[drunkhunter]

I don't know if the numbers are the same in NJ as they are in GA, but here, a candidate can get up to $30,000 in direct money or as loan repayments. The candidate then has to work for four years at a selected department. All four years must be in a position that has direct dealings with the public such as the patrol division. You can not move into detectives or special units unless the special unit is something like a street crimes unit. You can be promoted, but you have to stay in a front line function.

You may also want to look into getting a Perkins Student Loan. You can get up to $16,000 with a Perkins loan. For every year you work as a cop, $4000 of the loan gets canceled. Since you are already going to have to work for 4 years under the PC, you could pay off the Perkins loan at the same time.

The canidates here in GA also go through a special academy, and it appears that they get a very high level of training.

[ 03-22-2003, 10:21 AM: Message edited by: drunkhunter ]

[Joseph]

That's about the same way it works down here also. We talking quite a while ago but when they promoted me to a Sgt. as long as I stayed on the street they picked up the tab. I had my four years in by then. By the next promotion I was out of school.

[Delta_V]

It would be best for you to talk with the people in the Police Corps for the state you are interested in, as the application and selection processes differ from state to state.

For example, in Kentucky you apply and test to get into the program, and once you are accepted into the program you start applying to specific agencies. This differs from Florida, where you go through a joint Police Corps/Agency selection process and are selected by a specific agency for entry into the program.

I was told by a Police Corps staff member that Congress is supposed to raise the reimbursement amount from $30,000 to $40,000, but don't know when that's going to happen.

[Rimfire]

Texas: http://www.texaspolicecorps.com/

[Shadow82]

appreciate the help... could someone elaborate more on the Perkins loan "cancellation" program. I have never heard of this. I do have some money taken out in Perkins Loans and I would like to hear more. Thanks

[CodeZeroOn1]

On a sidenote:
If you can get tution reimbursement put into your contract at work take it!

We had the chance one contract ago and those guys turned it down. Many of them now wish they could afford to go to or go back to college either to finish their degree or work on another degree.
They still can, only they have to pay for it themselves. Had they agreed to it in the contract the PD would have picked up the bill for them.

Some people just can't see the forest for the trees in front of them.