Georgia Military College commemorated Peace Officers Memorial Day on May 15 by honoring fallen officers and announcing a new tuition discount for any law enforcement officer who wants to attend the college. Officers will get a 10 percent discount on their tuition at the college, which also includes its online courses, WMAZ reported.
There have already been some officers who have signed up to take advantage of the discount. One officer told WMAS the discount will allow him to set a good example for his family and community by finishing college.
Georgia Military College joins a number of colleges and universities that have started offering discounts in recent years for police officers. With the cost of college rising, these discounts can make it easier to pay for college.
Colleges That Offer Discounts to Police Officers
Northwestern College, which has a campus in Bridgeview, Illinois, and offers online courses, gives a 15 percent discount for police, first responders, firefighters, and paramedics who are pursuing a degree or a certificate program. The college also offers specific scholarships that police officers may be able to land.
At Columbia College in Columbia, Missouri, law enforcement officers can take advantage of the Partners in Law Enforcement and Partners in Corrections programs. For these programs, students who have gone through a qualifying police or corrections academy are awarded a maximum of academic credit. That can help those students finish their degrees sooner and potentially save thousands of dollars.
Loyola University in New Orleans gives a discount to officers who work for regional police and sheriff’s departments. These officers must be in school and working towards their first bachelor’s degree, and their major must be in a criminal justice field. On top of this, there are also many criminal justice scholarships for law enforcement officers to explore.
Liberty University offers online programs at a discount for emergency response personnel. It offers a 25 percent discount for law enforcement, emergency services, fire safety, rescue work, and Civil Air Patrol senior members. It covers people who have worked in those fields, whether they were paid or volunteers, as long as it has been in the past five years.
What If There Isn’t a Discount?
If a police officer is planning to attend a college or university that doesn’t offer a discount for emergency responders or law enforcement officers, they might want to consider applying for a scholarship instead. There are a variety of scholarship websites students can check out, including CollegeScholarship.org, which offers a number of scholarship options. LendEDU offers some tips on how to find scholarships.
If a law enforcement officer wants to obtain a criminal justice degree, many colleges offer grants and discounts specifically for people entering that field.