Xavier University of Louisiana, U.S. Coast Guard Sign Partnership Agreement
Representatives from Xavier University of Louisiana and the U.S. Coast Guard met October 2 to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) supporting outreach and engagement efforts between the New Orleans-based school and the agency.
Rear Adm. John Nadeau, commander of the U.S. Coast Guard Eighth District, and Xavier University President Reynold Verret met virtually to sign the agreement, which reinforces the relationship between the university and the Coast Guard through its College Student Pre-Commissioning Initiative (CSPI). The Coast Guard’s CSPI is a fully-funded scholarship program, which pays up to two academic years of college tuition, books and essential supplies for full-time students. The program includes curriculum in aviation and transportation management.
“We are so pleased to join the Coast Guard in this effort that will support the guard’s diversity goals,” Verret said in a statement. “Cultivating top talent from Xavier is one of our top priorities, and this is in direct alignment with Xavier’s mission and who we are. Xavier students understand the call to service.”
While enrolled in school, a CSPI student is also enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard as a non-petty officer (E-3). Besides tuition support, CSPI students receive full pay, allowances, entitlements and other benefits of an active-duty Coast Guard member.
“It is a pleasure of mine to sign an agreement like this,” Nadeau said in a statement. “The best that America is producing, the best that are out there, we need them in the Coast Guard. We understand that we need to have people who are representative of the American public we service, not only being diverse but also being inclusive.”
Students in the program will also have access to the Coast Guard’s Student Loan Repayment Program through the CSPI. The loan repayment program, geared toward college seniors or recent graduates, pays up to $60,000 of accumulated student loan debt, dependent on the number of years completed as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Coast Guard.
More information on the College Student Pre-Commissioning Initiative is available on the Coast Guard’s website, www.gocoastguard.com. To learn more about Xavier University of Louisiana, visit www.xula.edu.
