Law Enforcement Program

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For students desiring to become law enforcement officers (or if already in law enforcement), Columbia College offers Partners in Law Enforcement. This collaborative initiative between Columbia College and the state’s police academies is designed to give students up to 24 semester hours in course equivalencies for successful completion of the academy. To qualify, students must successfully complete a minimum of 400 hours at a state certified, basic police academy. Academies completed over five years prior to applying for equivalency credit will not be considered unless the applicant can demonstrate adequate work experience in the field since completion of the academy. An approved demonstration of work experience is a letter on appropriate letterhead from a supervisor or human resources administrator confirming employment in the field. The letter should include employment dates/history and current position. The specific course equivalencies are listed below.¹

Core Equivalencies (12 sem. hrs)

Criminal Justice Lower-Level Electives (6 sem. hrs)

General Electives (6 sem. hrs)

The equivalency policy is effective based on the following provisions:

Basic law enforcement academies must be a minimum of 400 hours in length and must have been completed within the five years prior to applying for equivalencies;
Students who complete a basic law enforcement academy of less than 400 hours will be eligible to earn up to 12 semester hours of criminal justice credit in which one semester hour will be awarded for each 20 hours of training;
Students may not be awarded credit for both the Partners in Law Enforcement (PiLE) program and the Partners in Corrections (PiC) program. Students may not be awarded credit for one of the Partners programs and awarded criminal justice electives for other training.
If a student completes an acceptable academy for one of the Partners programs and then subsequently completes a state cross-over training program for the other, then as long as the original academy training meets the eligibility rules for acceptance, the students may choose which program (PiLE or PiC) for which to be awarded credit. Students cannot be awarded credit for both programs.
If a student has completed basic academy training for both programs but neither training meets the eligibility rules for PiLE or PiC, then the student may be eligible to earn up to 12 semester hours of criminal justice credit in which one semester hour will be awarded for 20 hours of basic law enforcement and corrections academy training. Total credit may not exceed 12 semester hours.
Students must have successfully completed 15 semester hours of college coursework at Columbia College before equivalencies may be applied. Students must notify the Office of the Registrar when they are eligible for credit to be applied.

Note(s):

¹ For catalog years prior to 2014 - 15, completion of a law enforcement/corrections academy within the last 36 semester hours of a student’s degree program may reduce the total hours applied under the PILE/PIC Program.