Public Safety Academy Assistance (PSAA) Program - Appropriation III

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE ON PSAA APPROPRIATION GRANT FUNDS:

November 14, 2025

Dear Law Enforcement Community,

Beginning November 14, 2025, the Commission will accept applications under the Public Safety Academy Assistance (PSAA) Program – Appropriation III phase to assist with the expense of training employed recruits to become licensed law enforcement officers.

The 2026 State of Michigan budget contains $10 million for PSAA Appropriation III grants. Unlike in past years, the appropriation was provided through the Department of Treasury’s revenue sharing budget rather than directly to the Commission. As a result, the Commission is coordinating with the Department of Treasury to access the funds. While the Commission will begin accepting and processing applications as of November 14, 2025, payments will not be made until the memorandum of understanding and accounting procedures are finalized with the Department of Treasury. We anticipate that process will take a few more weeks at the most.

The PSAA Program provides funds to agencies for recruit salaries and benefits, academy tuition and other associated approved expenses. To be eligible for the scholarship, the agency must complete all screening requirements for a law enforcement officer, including a comprehensive background investigation, and hire the individual as an employed recruit.

Agencies are eligible to receive a combined total of 35 scholarships across all three programs: the original PSAA Program – Appropriation I, Appropriation II and the current Appropriation III. Scholarship applications will be accepted and available for recruits who started an academy on or after October 7, 2025. As a reminder, these are limited, competitive grant funds; therefore, an application for funds is not a guarantee a scholarship will be awarded.

For further questions or concerns, please contact MSP-MCOLES-Grants@michigan.gov.

Respectfully,

Timothy S. Bourgeois
Executive Director
Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards

Applying for funds:

An eligible law enforcement agency and academy must complete the below process to be considered for this grant:

Agency:

1. Complete the standards screening and Candidate New Hire process in MITN. If your agency requires assistance with the MITN New Hire transaction process, please view the Hiring Employed Recruits Guidance before calling or emailing the MITN Help Desk.
2. Complete the agency portion of the PSAA Program Application.
3. Forward the PSAA Program Application and Candidate New Hire documentation to the intended training program no later than 10 days prior to the start of the academy session.

Academy:

1. Enroll the recruit in the academy session.
2. Complete the academy section of the PSAA Application.
3. Forward the PSAA Application and New Hire Candidate documentation to MSP-MCOLES-Grants@michigan.gov.

When all materials have been received by MCOLES, the application will be considered "complete" and "active." The application will be placed in the queue while funding is available.

Distribution of funds:

Upon scholarship application approval by MCOLES, the employing agency will be provided with grant funding up to the $20,000.00 stipend for the employed recruit’s salary and academy costs.  The employing agency will be responsible for making payments to the basic law enforcement training program, as well as the Talogy Group for the initial licensing exam registration fee.  If the recruit withdraws from the academy session or resigns from the agency prior to the full $20,000.00 (or total grant award amount), the balance shall be returned to MCOLES and applied back to the scholarship fund.  If an invoice for additional allowable expenses is included, the approved amount will also be paid at this time.

An important note: in a situation where a recruit withdraws or resigns from an academy session, the Agency must complete and submit the PSAA Notification of Recruit Separation form, in addition to the normal notification process. 

Also following application approval by MCOLES, the Agencies would not also receive Training to Locals (TTL) reimbursements for employed recruits funded through this program.  Recruits in excess of the 30 maximum scholarships per agency or those not funded by this program will remain eligible for TTL reimbursements to the agency.