Six months after suspending its college credit requirement, the Pennsylvania State Police is seeing a continued increase in cadet applications.
The agency's latest cadet selection cycle saw 1,830 eligible candidates for the trooper exam, WPMT-TV reports. The amount of applications marked another strong increase, and the state police found that 41% of the eligible candidates would have been excluded if the college credit requirement still applied.
“We’re pleased to see this increase in applications from women and men with the passion and determination to be part of something bigger than themselves, individuals willing to go above and beyond to serve and protect, with character and strong moral fiber not exclusive to those with a college education,” said Col. Christopher Paris, the agency's commissioner.
The state police dropped its 60 college credit requirement by order of Gov. Josh Shapiro in August. The agency received 1,545 eligible applications in the two months following the elimination, compared to 1,374 eligible application over six months during the hiring cycle that still required college credit.
Of those applications since the college credit requirement was waived, 1,074 applicants took the trooper exam, with 1,054 advancing to the next step. According to the state police, 624 of those candidates would have been disqualified because they had no college credit.
Feb. 7 is the deadline to take the trooper exam. The next application cycle begins Feb. 12.
