Program Purpose
To encourage persons employed as fire fighters or active members of volunteer fire departments to take college courses designed to help them in their work.
Eligibility Requirements
Students must be:
- Employed as a paid fire fighter by a political subdivision of the State of Texas or
active members of volunteer fire departments who hold an accredited advanced certification
(or the equivalent), under the State Firemen's and Fire Marshal's Association of Texas
volunteer certification program, or
- A Phase V (Firefighter II) certification (or the equivalent) under the Texas Commission
of Fire Protection's voluntary certification program under Section 419.071, Govt.
Code.
- A Phase V (Firefighter II) certification (or the equivalent) under the Texas Commission
of Fire Protection's voluntary certification program under Section 419.071, Govt.
Code.
- Enrolled in courses offered as part of a Fire Science Curriculum. At Collin College,
the approved degree programs consist of the following:
- Basic Firefighter Certificate
- Fire Officer Certificate
- Certificate, Paramedic
- AAS - Emergency Medical Services Professions
- AAS - Fire science
- Enrolled in classes for which the college receives tax support (i.e., a course that does not depend solely on student tuition and fees to cover its costs).
Continuation Awards
- To receive a continuation award, the student must meet the institution's financial aid satisfactory academic progress (SAP) requirements. Specifically, students must maintain a financial aid GPA of at least a 2.0 to remain eligible. (Financial aid GPA includes grades for developmental courses).
- In addition, students cannot have been reported by the institution as having excessive hours according to Education Code 54.014. SAP is run at the end of each semester.
Award Amount
Tuition and laboratory fees for courses offered as part of a fire science curriculum. No funds may be used to pay tuition for continuing education classes for which the college receives no state tax support.
Application Process
- Each semester, provide the financial aid office proof of employment as either a paid fire fighter or an active member of a volunteer fire department, and enroll in the courses of a Fire Science Curriculum. The letters must always have a current date. They cannot be just copies of older letters.
- Learn how to submit a request for the Firefighter exemption in Workday.
Volunteer Firefighters
Certification letters for volunteer firefighters only need to be submitted once. However, proof of employment for both paid firefighters and volunteer firefighters must be submitted each semester in which the student wishes to receive the exemption.
Important Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) Notice
Each subsequent semester, your exemption may be posted prior to SAP running for that semester. If, upon the SAP program running you are not meeting the SAP requirements, the exemption will be removed from your account and you will be responsible for paying your tuition and fees out-of-pocket.
Additional Information
To read more about this program check out: