If you are currently attending college, have your Police Academy (PA) transcript forwarded to your school to be listed on the school’s official transcript.  Unless you are currently enrolled most schools will not list your PA earned credits on their transcript.  There are schools which provide a service called “credit banking” that list on an official transcript, educational credits you earned from various sources, e.g., FEMA, Corrections, Police Academy, and accredited professional training (see list below).  Members of the Service are advised to refer to Operations Order 13-2008 for further information and to keep their Online Education Profiles updated to avoid unnecessary delays in the future.

Military transcripts are accepted by the Department’s Educational Tracking Unit (ETU) directly from official military branch personnel departments only, not the MOS’ military unit. Credit banking military credits is unnecessary.  The ETU accepts multiple transcripts from the various accredited schools attended.

Contact the Training Records Unit to have your PA training records placed on an official PA transcript, and forward it to the school of your choice or to the credit banking service you select.  Once the school has listed the education credits earned at the PA on an official transcript, have that transcript forwarded directly to the Education Tracking Unit.  Following are steps to convert, Police Academy education credit into college credit, to assist you to meet the Education Requirement for Promotion (ERP):

                                    Education Tracking Unit c/o

                                    NYPD Police Academy

                                    235 E.20^th Street Room 808

                                    New York, NY  10003

• Log onto the NYPD’S FINEST Intranet homepage
• Select WORK
• Locate the APPLICATIONS heading
• Click on the blue area beneath “Online Computer Systems to Help Get the Job Done” (this area will change color when touched by cursor)
• Select PERSONNEL APPLICATIONS
• Select “Education Tracking Login”
• First time users select “New visitors click here to register”
• Follow instructions listed (do not enter dashes in SS#)
• Use proper format for dates (mm/dd/yyyy-4 digit year)
• For optimal results select an eight (8) character password formatted like the one indicated here (Abc12345) at least one capital letter, two lowercase letters and five (5) numbers
•  Upon navigating to the entry page, select the appropriate state and enter college attended, degree earned, major/minor, credits earned, date of graduation and military branch, if applicable.  To complete your record update, have an official transcript forwarded to the ETU from a college, university or other accredited higher education institution (including the United States military branches) to the address indicated below.

Training Records Unit                         P.A. Room 833                       212.477.9750

Excelsior College                                Excelsior.edu                          888.647.2388

Frederick Community College            Frederick.edu                          301.846.2400

Thomas Edison State College             Tesc.edu                          888.442-8372

FEMA                                                 training.fema.gov

PREPARING FOR THE APPLICATION PROCESS

Preparing for the application process can be overwhelming.  Do not despair. The following page provides a detailed explanation of how to master the process.  If you have difficulties with the application process, the Scholarship Unit staff will be happy to assist.

Undergraduate Programs

Enrolling in a program of any type involves a process in which you are expected to complete a detailed application form and, in many instances, requires that you provide transcripts from schools previously attended. Once you’ve completed the application, you will need to report the credits that you have received from other colleges or as a result of your Police Academy Recruit Training or In-Service Training to the school you are applying to.    

The best advice for completing a college or university application is to have the institution’s academic advisor review the application to ensure its accuracy.  Additionally, most colleges require that you submit letters of recommendations from either former teachers or current employers.  It is important that you make note of application deadlines, especially if you intend to apply for financial aid; which will require an additional set of applications.

The Training Records Unit will assist you in obtaining recruit school credits and in-service course credits by sending you a Transcript Request Application.  The Transcript Request Application requires specific information such as appointment date, year of recruit school attendance, as well as the company number.  In order for a college or university to accept recruit school credits, an official transcript generated by the Training Records Unit must be sent directly to the academic institution in which the member is currently enrolled.  The institution will determine how many credits they will accept; credits are not automatically granted for completed NYPD training programs.  This is another process that takes time. It is recommended that all individuals requesting recruit credits and/or credits for specific in-service courses and any other accredited courses taken in the Department call the Training Records Unit, located at the Police Academy, Room 833 for an application. The Training Records Unit can be reached at 212. 477.9750.

Other sources of credit may be achieved through life experience, which for some institutions (i.e., Empire State, Excelsior College) may translate into college credits.

Graduate Programs

For those applying to graduate school, the process is very much the same as applying to undergraduate programs.  In addition to application forms, transcripts, and recommendations, many graduate schools also require standardized test scores.  Programs in the humanities generally require applicants to have taken the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), and law schools require the Law School Aptitude Test (LSAT), (see Appendix A).  Most schools offering graduate-level scholarships to this Department require these scores.

Generally, students who have taken the GRE and/or LSAT exams during the past five years are not asked to take the test again.  If test scores are more than five years old, or if the test has not been taken, the student/applicant will have to arrange for testing.  Each school will set its own deadline for obtaining scores.  The Scholarship Unit has application forms for many of these examinations or the applications may be obtained directly from the testing service.

Tests such as the GRE and LSAT are made up of pages containing vocabulary tests, reading comprehension tests, analytical questions, writing samples, and depending on the test, mathematics.  There are many ways to prepare for these exams.  Several continuing education programs in the CUNY system offer preparatory classes, and there are also several privately run schools that specialize in this type of test preparation.  If time or money is an issue, workbooks with sample tests and practice questions are available in bookstores.  If you have access to the internet, there are several relatively inexpensive tutorial programs available on-line.   Regardless of the method, taking the time to prepare will increase the probability of doing well.  Above sources are cited in Appendix B.

Continuing Education Programs

The application process for continuing education programs is generally easier.  Since there are no degrees involved and the studies are less formal, students simply sign up for courses.  Some of the more difficult certificate programs may require a formal application process, but even these are less time-consuming than traditional, degree-granting programs.  Registration is also a much faster process; often students can register for courses a few weeks, or days before classes begin.

Now that we’ve discussed the basics; let’s take a look at the educational opportunities offered by this Department, the City of New York, and other resources.

ELIGIBILITY GUIDELINES FOR ALL SCHOLARSHIPS:

• Scholarship applicants must have completed a minimum of three (3) years of satisfactory Department service, at the time of application.
• Applicants must have a grade point average of 3.0 or higher.
• Must not be a former Transit or Housing Police Department scholarship recipient.
• Must not have attended the FBI National Academy, Southern Police Institute, Naval Postgraduate School, or received any prior NYPD sponsored scholarship involving an extended leave of absence with pay.
• Scholarships are awarded as equitably as possible to qualified candidates.  Prior scholarships (traditional and non-traditional), educational leaves, and other awards will be considered in the selection process and will be cause for disqualification.
• Members are permitted to receive more than one award; however, once a member exceeds $2500 in educational benefits, that member will now be deemed ineligible for future scholarship awards.

Selection and Award Criteria:

• In consideration for awards, awardees must agree in writing to remain in the Department for two (2) years after their final semester of being awarded the Educational Leave Scholarship or New York University Scholarship.
• Awardees granted a paid leave of absence for the Harvard University, SUNY at Albany, Hunter College, or the Raymond Kelly Scholarships, must agree in writing to remain in the Department for four (4) years after final semester of award.
• Applicants must be accepted by the school offering the scholarship in accordance with their academic standards and application process.  The Scholarship Committee makes the final determinations for all awards, except for New York Law and St. John’s School of Law. The Law schools select the awarded member.
• All awardees are required to supply a transcript upon completion of each school semester, and proof of enrollment for the following semester.  A UF49 must be submitted if awardees are declining their awards, or are unable to fulfill their educational commitments.
• Awardees must sign a release granting Department access to academic records.

Application Information:

• Completed application package must be sent directly to the Scholarship Unit.

Department   Mail                     U.S. Mail

Scholarship Unit                          Scholarship Unit

NYPD Training Bureau               NYPD Training Bureau

Police Academy                         235 E. 20^th St. Rm 803B                                                                                                           New York, N.Y. 10003

For further information contact: Scholarship Unit – 212.477.9212

Note:   Active Scholarship Programs are all announced via Department Bulletins  and the Finest system.