From New York to Haiti: A National CCRS Student Success Story

Here at the National CCRS office, we don’t always realize the effect that our evaluations of learning experiences have on students’ lives. Recently, however, we learned about Jose Abreu and wanted to share his success story as he continues his path toward improving his education and opportunities in life.

Jose Abreu has much experience in Criminal Justice as a police officer and detective in New York City and Florida and through his service in the U.S. Marine Corp. The Weston, Florida resident is a Desert Storm Veteran who currently holds an Associate’s Degree in Criminal Justice with a total of 18 years of experience in the field of Corrections, Law Enforcement, and Private Investigations.

Currently an International Law Enforcement Professional in Haiti, Jose supervises a unit, collects, collates, identifies and analyzes patterns and trends in crime in various regions in Haiti. To sum it all up, you do not want to get on his bad side! Of course this is only when he is on duty at work; Jose is a happily married man with five children at home.

Credit: Getty Images

Even though Jose has an impressive resume with much experience, he is finding it hard to obtain a higher paying job in his field. A contributing factor to this professional standstill is the fact that Jose does not have his Bachelor’s degree, and most of the positions of interest to him require one. So, Jose enrolled at Ashford University where he has already completed three classes. During the assessment to have his credits evaluated, the school noted that he had attended the New York City Police Department’s training academy, a National CCRS member organization since 1974! His advisor at Ashford University found the NYCPD course information on the NCCRS Online Course Credit Directory and Jose was granted 24 credits to apply towards his Bachelor’s degree!

Jose states:

“This translates into 8 classes and $9,400 that I do not have to spend, and this also saves me 40 weeks of school. With the credits I have from my prior colleges and the credits I received which were facilitated by the National CCRS, I plan to have my degree within the next year and ten months. A bachelor’s degree coupled with my experiences will allow me to obtain a decent or a high paying job which I will use for the betterment of my family.”

Jose started school in January 2012 and plans to graduate in October 2013 while maintaining a spot on Dean’s List throughout his schooling. Due to his academic accomplishments, after his graduation from Ashford University he plans to obtain a new job as an Investigator for the International Criminal Court in Hague, The Netherlands.

NCCRS applauds Jose’s accomplishments and is proud to partner with the New York City Police Department in extending the benefit of college credit recommendations to their employees and students. National CCRS is here to help students achieve their educational goals, one credit recommendation at a time. Send us your Student Success Story (S-Cubed) at nccrs@mail.nysed.gov!

Written by Simone Arrington, @NCCRS Marketing Intern, @SimoneArrington