Fitchburg State University signed an agreement this week with a police training committee to allow criminal justice students to earn their bachelor’s and master’s degrees and a police certification in five years.
The first students to complete their bachelor’s degrees in the program are due to graduate next month and begin their master’s studies this summer. By next year, they’ll be eligible to work for municipal police departments in Massachusetts.
The arrangement has been in place informally for two years. Fitchburg State President Richard Lapidus and Daniel Zivkovich, the executive director of the state Municipal Police Training Committee, signed a memorandum of agreement on Tuesday to formalize the program.
Zivkovich said he believes the program is the first of its kind in the country.
“This program provides a set of skills that are not afforded to many other students interested in the policing world,” Lapidus said in a statement. “We’re not cutting any corners here. We’re just adding tools to the toolbox.”
Fitchburg State’s criminal justice program has nearly 100 students in its police concentration.
