Albany, NY - October 12, 2016 - The Firemen’s Association of the State of New York (FASNY) has announced an October 28th 2016 application deadline for 2016 Spring semester tuition reimbursement through their historic educational initiative, the Higher Education Learning Plan (HELP). This statewide community college tuition reimbursement program is geared towards recruiting and retaining volunteer firefighters throughout New York State.
“The FASNY HELP program has helped recruit hundreds of dedicated firefighters serving communities across the State. The FASNY HELP program exemplifies a ‘win-win’ situation for the student volunteers and the fire departments, helping meet local departments’ staffing needs and providing better educated first responders,” said FASNY President Ken Pienkowski.
Under FASNY HELP, any active volunteer firefighter in good standing, and who hasn’t already achieved a college degree, is eligible for up to 100% tuition reimbursement. The reimbursement is in exchange for maintaining good grades and fulfilling service requirements in one of New York’s volunteer fire companies. There is no restriction on the type of academic courses that the HELP student-volunteer can pursue, either on a full-time or part-time basis. FASNY HELP also covers online courses taken through Empire State College.
Eligible student-volunteers must maintain acceptable levels of training and volunteer activity while attending school and fulfill a service requirement after they complete their course of study. They must attend a chartered NYS community college; Empire State College’s inclusion in the program has expanded students’ location options.
Due to a variety of factors, many volunteer fire departments are experiencing the need to recruit and retain more members. Tuition reimbursement can be an effective incentive for people to volunteer in their local community. The deadline to apply for tuition reimbursement for the 2016 Fall semester is October 28th. For more information on the FASNY HELP program, please visit online
About FASNY
Founded in 1872, the Firemen’s Association of the State of New York (FASNY) represents the interests of the approximately 110,000 volunteer firefighters and emergency medical personnel in New York State.