Amanda Forrester / news@whmi.com

First responders could receive help for tuition costs through Cleary University.

The university recently received a $35,000 grant from Motorola Solutions Foundation. The funds will be used toward tuition costs for first responders enrolled in their Cybersecurity Management BBA program.

“Motorola Solutions Foundation has a long-standing commitment to support organizations that align with our values of accountability, innovation and impact,” Karem Perez, Executive Director of the Motorola Solutions Foundation, said. “We are incredibly proud of the programs Cleary University offers that benefit our valued first responders and we especially are proud to include Cleary in our network of partners who support public safety education.”

Cleary’s program is designed for students who want to pursue a career defending organizational information technology systems. Students are provided a “complete and thorough education involving all aspects of cybersecurity management and what goes into protecting information and technological assets of the organizations for which they work.”

“The Motorola grant will further supplement the tuition costs for many of our first responders,” Tom Egan, Cleary Director of Development, said. “We are pleased to report that this is the second consecutive year we have received a grant from the Motorola Solutions Foundation to support our public safety students.”

Out of 730 organizations worldwide to apply for the grant, fewer than 100 were selected.

Cleary partnered with the Detroit Police Department more than four years ago to develop a Degree Completion Pathways program for officers, staff and first responders to complete their degree “quickly, easily, conveniently, flexibly and affordably.” The program has since expanded to cover public safety officers and first responders throughout Michigan and beyond. The university said more than 700 people have completed the program.

“Cleary is a place where education and success merge,” Erica Roland, a DPD sergeant who completed the program and was promoted, said. “Cleary gave me the courage, confidence, critical thinking skills and the tools to be an effective leader at my job.”

The program was designed to credit officers and staff for previous course work toward a degree, life and work experience and completed certifications and training. Cleary said the prior learning assessment process allowed veteran first responders to complete a bachelor’s degree in 12 months.

“It has been a dedicated vision of Cleary University to create programs that specifically meet the needs of workplaces and civic organizations, and we are so proud that our program has proven to be overwhelmingly successful, as acknowledged by organizations like the Motorola Solutions Foundation,” Cleary University President Alan Drimmer, PhD, said.

(photo credit: Cleary University)