Basic Operations Firefighter Academy (320 hours)

New Accounts

Fire Departments or municipalities need to set up an account prior to registering students for NIPSTA’s Basic Operations Firefighter program. Account set up is simple and quick.  Please visit our Account Set-up and Registration page, found under the About NIPSTA menu. 

Registration Deadline

The deadline for registration is one (1) week prior to the start of the program. If space is available, last minute requests may be accommodated by contacting firetraining@nipsta.org

If you have an employee name, you may proceed to the registration page, add the new student name to your department account roster, select the appropriate academy session, select the student(s), then proceed to the check-out page. If you have not set up an account for your department, you must do so first by clicking on the "Log-in/Create Account" button found at the center/left of the page. 

Register Here

Confirmation

You will receive a confirmation invoice or receipt immediately after completing the registration process. Confirmed registrations will be added to the course roster in chronological order. A maximum of thirty (30) candidates will be enrolled; additional registrations will be assigned to a waiting list in the order received.

Reserving Spots

For fire departments that are in the process of hiring a new employee, and do not have a name and date of birth at the time of registrations, please use the following procedure:

1. Choose the appropriate fire academy session.

2. You will need to establish a new member account on your department roster for each position held by choosing "Add Account Member" at the bottom of the "Account Members" list visible to the right.

3. Under First Name - enter your fire department name.

4. Under Last Name - enter TBD. If you are reserving more than one spot enter TBD1, TBD2, etc.

5. Save new account member(s).

6. Choose the new account member(s) you wish to enroll and add them to your "cart". 

7. Follow the prompts, proceed to "checkout", and complete your transaction.

Only paid TBDs can be confirmed. In the event that a session reaches max enrollment, and a waiting list is established, unpaid TBDs will be moved to the waiting list. This to accommodate departments with employee info (name & DOB). Maximum enrollment for NIPSTA’s BOF academy is 30.

Substitutions

Departments may substitute for a confirmed candidate by editing their member account roster, or emailing the Fire & Tech Rescue Director. 

Cancelations

A department may cancel a confirmed reservation at any time for any reason prior to the start of a session. Cancellations after the start of a session will result in a 50% refund of the paid tuition (75% for NIPSTA members). Unpaid reservations canceled after the start of a program will result in a cancelation fee of 10% of the tuition cost.

Register Here

Montgomery G.I. Bill Information

The State of Illinois Department of Veteran’s Affairs has identified NIPSTA’s Basic Fire Academy course eligible for reimbursement for a veteran’s federal VA education benefits. If you qualify for “G.I. Bill” education benefits, you may apply for VA reimbursement benefits for this course. This reimbursement will come directly to you, normally after you have completed the course.

• If G.I. Bill recipients wish to pay for the course directly at the time of registration, they will receive an invoice at checkout that can be submitted to the Department of Veteran’s Affairs. 

• If the G.I. Bill recipient’s fire department will be paying, they may pay via purchase order at checkout, and the G.I. Bill recipient will need to coordinate reimbursement with their fire department.

Notification

Students are responsible for notifying the NIPSTA Executive Director and submitting all applicable paperwork at least four (4) weeks prior to the beginning of the program. Failure to notify NIPSTA and submit the paperwork for approval by the deadline may preclude Candidates from utilizing this benefit.

NIPSTA is not responsible for communicating with the Veteran’s Administration on behalf of the Candidate. Candidates who are denied benefits after the start of the process will be 100% responsible for immediately providing tuition payment in its entirety or will be dropped from the program. Candidates are responsible for immediately notifying their sponsoring departments if their G.I. benefits have been denied.

For assistance, please contact Andy Pieper with the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs, Veteran’s Education and Training Section (V.E.T.S.). He can be reached at 847-948-6692 or contact by email to help you through the process.