Federal Emergency Management Agency Independent Study Program

Note: FEMA IS courses should not be confused with TEEX courses.

Overview
The Federal Emergency Management Agency operates an online Independent Study program offering approximately 120 courses online for free. These are typically downloadable PDFs or Word documents, with a knowledge test at the end. Tests are unproctored, untimed, and open book. Completing seven specific FEMA will result in the award of the FEMA Professional Development certificate via US mail:


 * The Professional Development Series includes seven Emergency Management Institute independent study courses that provide a well-rounded set of fundamentals for those in the emergency management profession. Many students build on this foundation to develop their careers.

Of the more than 100 FEMA courses, certain ones are acceptable as transfer credit at Charter Oak State College (or, with some hassle and great expense, Excelsior College). Thomas Edison State University no longer accepts FEMA credits. Each school has unique rules regarding FEMA courses, but in a nutshell, you can get anywhere from 0 to 32 credits from free FEMA courses, depending on your school and degree program. Each accepted course is worth one credit.

Charter Oak accepts a limited amount of FEMA credits for free. Charter Oak will allow up to 9 FEMA credits if you are getting a related degree (criminal justice, cyber security, public safety administration). For people pursuing a non-related degree, Charter Oak will allow up to 3 FEMA credits. FEMA credits on an ACE transcript does not count against the cap.

Excelsior requires you to first transfer the FEMA courses into Frederick Community College for $88 per credit (Effective May 1, 2017), and then transfer from Frederick to Excelsior. As the fee is per credit, this can add up fast and be quite costly. Always check the school policy before moving forward, and check the DegreeForum.net boards for specific questions.

In addition to COSC, Excelsior, and Frederick, the following Colleges may be of interest to those pursuing an Emergency Management degree. Red Rocks Community College of Colorado, Clackamas Community College (Located in Oregon), and Guam Community College all have (or had, at one point) programs utilizing FEMA courses for credit. These specific programs are catered to students from their respective states. Clackamas Community College's offering is also available to Emergency Managers in five other states and they have articulation agreements with several 4 year colleges for Bachelors level studies.

Resources

 * FEMA Independent Study website
 * FEMA Professional Development Series
 * Site for paying to transfer FEMA credits to Frederick Community College
 * Student Transcripts and Official Transcripts instructions page; includes a link to download the transcript request form.
 * FEMA Test Answers Study Guides