The Chicago Police and Firefighter Training Academy (CPFTA) is a training program for students interested in careers in public safety, law enforcement, criminal justice, and fire science.
The two-year program was developed jointly by the Chicago Public Schools’ Department of Career and Technical Education (CTE), the Chicago Police Department (CPD), the Chicago Fire Department (CFD), and the City Colleges of Chicago (CCC). The program recruits and trains up to 125 public and non-public high school students each year. One of the immediate goals is to provide a pool of qualified applicants for the city’s police and fire academies.
The CPFTA program fulfills the two career education or elective credits that all CPS high school students need in order to graduate. The CPFTA curriculum allows juniors and seniors who are city residents to progress seamlessly from high school directly into any City College of Chicago to complete their associate’s degree.