Degrees at a Distance Program

The Department of Homeland Security operates the Degrees at a Distance Program (CFDA 97.103) to support curriculum development, regional meeting support, program marketing, course material printing, and institutional agreements between the National Fire Academy and two-year colleges and universities participating in distance-learning fire science degree programs. The program enables fire service personnel to earn bachelor's degrees or pursue college-level fire-related coursework without attending on-campus classes.

This program is not actively accepting new applications. The most recent grant award was disbursed on September 30, 2011—over fifteen years ago. Twenty Project Grants were awarded across the program's history between 2007 and 2011, with activity concentrated in 2010 (seven awards) and declining thereafter. No grant opportunities have been posted recently.

All awards under the program came from the Department of Homeland Security as Project Grants exclusively. The portfolio records negative dollar obligated amounts across all awards, which indicates a data anomaly in the source and prevents reliable assessment of typical award magnitudes or total obligated funding. Individual awards from 2007–2011 ranged from under $300 to approximately $10,000 in nominal terms before the data sign reversal.

Representative recent awards include Project Grant EMW2011CAK00085 (September 30, 2011), Project Grant EMW2011CAK00074 (September 30, 2011), and Project Grant 2010RB63K007 (August 13, 2010), all supporting Degrees at a Distance Program activities.

Pursuit of funding under this program is not recommended. The program has not issued new grant opportunities for over fifteen years, and no current solicitation is open. Organizations interested in fire service distance-learning curriculum support should monitor the National Fire Academy for any program revival or successor initiatives under alternative funding vehicles.