Chicago Police and Firefighter Training Academy Scholarship

Several annual scholarships awarded to Chicago high-school sophomores interested in careers in law enforcement, public safety, criminal justice and/or fire science and wanting to pursue a two-year program at the Chicago Police and Firefighters Training Academy (CPFTA).

Full Description

The Chicago Police and Firefighter Training Academy (CPFTA) program offers training and funding to students willing to pursue careers in law enforcement, public safety, criminal justice and/or fire science. It is a two-year program training up to 250 public and private high school students annually. Their main goal is to comprehensively train highly qualified applicants for the Chicago’s police and fire academies.

Each year they offer several scholarships to promising Chicago high-school sophomores interested to attend the two-year program. The candidates must not have a history of felonies, gang affiliations or drug-use and their parents must officially endorse their application.

The deadline for the applications is May 9, 2024.

Who's eligible?

  • Applicants must be high-school sophomores from the city of Chicago
  • They must have a GPA of at least 2.3 and a 90% attendance of courses
  • They must be drug-free and should not have past felony arrests, convictions or gang affiliations
  • Their parents must submit a parental consent form to endorse their application

How to Apply

By no later than May 9, 2024, 5 p.m. candidates should complete the online application. After submitting this application, they will be emailed a Consent Form which they should print, fill in, and sign. The Consent Form should be sent by post to CPFTA, together with the following additional information/documents:

  • Two reference letters (one from a school official and the other from a community leader)
  • The results of a recent physical examination
  • A copy of their driver’s license or state identification card
  • A copy of their high-school transcripts

Two or three weeks after the application is submitted, the Chicago Police Department will send by post to the candidates a packet including a Personal History Questionnaire, a background investigation form and an authorization for release of personal information form which must be completed and signed by the applicants which they must bring with them at the interviews.


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