Corrections Program

The Columbia College Partners in Corrections Program is designed to give students interested in becoming correctional officers at least 15 semester hours in course equivalencies for successful completion of the corrections basic training academy. To qualify, students must successfully complete a departmentally mandated corrections academy in any of the 50 states or U.S. territories. The academy must be a departmentally-mandated basic training academy with a minimum 275 hours in length. Academies complete 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 his or her 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.*

Core Equivalencies (9 sem. hrs)

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

General Electives (9 sem. hrs)

*The equivalency policy is based on the following provisions:

The academy must be one of basic correction and required for employment by the respective state in question and must have been completed within five years prior to applying for equivalencies.
Students who complete a basic corrections academy consisting of less than 275 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 basic training.
Students who complete a corrections academy of more than 275 hours, or those completing multiple corrections academies may be eligible to earn up to nine more hours of Criminal Justice credit by submitting additional evidence linking their training to specific Criminal Justice courses in the CJAD curriculum. To receive additional credit under this section, the additional training should be at least 20 hours for each additional hour of academic credit desired. For example, a student desiring 3 additional hours of course credit should demonstrate academy training of at least 335 hours.
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.

Note(s):

Completion of the corrections academy within the last 36 semester hours of a student’s degree program may reduce the number of hours applied under the Partners in Corrections Program.