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Coast Guard feature story by Petty Officer 3rd Class Eric D. Woodall.
MIAMI – U.S. Coast Guard Rear Adm. Peter J. Brown, the assistant commandant for response policy, visited Florida International University on March 4 to speak with Honors College students about the Coast Guard’s College Student Pre-Commissioning Initiative.
“It’s a way for college students to get their junior and senior year of college paid for,” said Brown.
The Coast Guard partnered with FIU to increase engagement for the Coast Guard’s overall officer recruiting effort and provide more tuition-saving options and academic solutions to FIU students and professors.
The CSPI scholarship program funds tuition for up to two years of college as a well as books, fees, full time Coast Guard salary, housing allowance and medical benefits. CSPI candidates are enlisted in the Coast Guard while enrolled in school and get a guaranteed slot in the Coast Guard’s Officer Candidate School upon graduation. Students enrolled or accepted for enrollment in a full-time bachelor’s degree program at a CSPI designated college or institution can apply for the program.
“We’re making an effort for our recruiting offices to get to students at the community colleges, and to freshmen and sophomores at FIU so they can apply for the program,” said Brown.
Brown said he asked to be connected with FIU because he understands how important relationship building is with our neighbors to the south. He particularly wanted to work with a Hispanic serving institution.
Brown signed a Memorandum of Agreement with Mark Rosenberg, the president of FIU, in 2014 giving an overall strategic vision for the partnership.
A full service university is a great opportunity for the Coast Guard and others to engage with academia, industry and government in Central America, South America and the Caribbean, said Brown.
To learn more about CSPI and other Coast Guard scholarship programs, contact your local Coast Guard recruiting office or visit gocoastguard.com.