Educating the Blue

A Partnerships Between MNPD and Nashville State

Metropolitan Nashville Police Department and Nashville State Community College have a unique local partnership, Educating the Blue, that opens a pipeline to an MNPD career for NSCC students and provides MNPD officers with the opportunity to earn their associate degree in one year. 

It is a one-plus-one concept, with one year of college classroom instruction and one year of MNPD Academy training. 

Nashville officers must have: 

Officers with associate degrees receive a 3% salary supplement. Officers with bachelor's degrees receive a 6% salary supplement. 

The Council of Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County passed a resolution, sponsored by Councilmembers Jennifer Gamble, Tonya Hancock, Sharon Hunt, Russ Pulley, Joy Styles, and Brett Withers, approving the reciprocity agreement. 

Outside of Davidson County, if an applicant can show proof of “post-certification,” they may also be eligible for this program. 

Why Nashville State?

Getting Started – Application 

Sworn personnel will need to complete an application to Nashville State for the semester of admittance, submit a copy of the POST certificate, and complete 30 hours under the Educating the Blue program. College credit can be earned on-ground or online.

Checklist

  1. Go to First Time Degree Seekers
  2. Click on the Apply Now link to create an account and start the process of applying.
  3. Choose Law Enforcement as your major and Police Administration as your concentration.
  4. Once you have successfully been accepted into Nashville State and given an "A" number, send a copy of your POST certificating to Karen Stevenson at Karen.Stevenson@nscc.edu.

Curriculum

Required Courses 

Upon successful completion of the above curriculum, NSCC will award officers with Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) credit for the following courses: