F.B.I. Plans to Lower Recruiting Standards

[wing2000]

...to fill an anticipated 5,000 positions by September......

The Trump administration is preparing to lower the recruitment standards for F.B.I. agents, eliciting alarm from many agents who worry that the move will undermine the agency’s primary mission of conducting complex investigations and tracking threats to national security.

Under a plan pushed by the director, Kash Patel, and his deputy, Dan Bongino, the F.B.I. will start welcoming new classes of recruits who will receive less training and no longer be required to have a college degree, according to people familiar with the plan who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe it.

The shift comes as the agency anticipates losing more than 5,000 employees by September, largely as a result of agents, analysts and others taking severance or early retirement packages offered by the Trump administration to try to reduce the budget.

Instead of spending about 18 weeks training at the academy in Quantico, Va., the group of agents, tentatively scheduled to start in October, will receive eight weeks, according to the people. And the agents will no longer need to fulfill a longstanding requisite for joining the bureau: a bachelor’s degree.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/21/us/politics/fbi-agent-recruitment-requirements-trump.html

 

[Tropical Wilds]

...to fill an anticipated 5,000 positions by September......

The Trump administration is preparing to lower the recruitment standards for F.B.I. agents, eliciting alarm from many agents who worry that the move will undermine the agency’s primary mission of conducting complex investigations and tracking threats to national security.

Under a plan pushed by the director, Kash Patel, and his deputy, Dan Bongino, the F.B.I. will start welcoming new classes of recruits who will receive less training and no longer be required to have a college degree, according to people familiar with the plan who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe it.

The shift comes as the agency anticipates losing more than 5,000 employees by September, largely as a result of agents, analysts and others taking severance or early retirement packages offered by the Trump administration to try to reduce the budget.

Instead of spending about 18 weeks training at the academy in Quantico, Va., the group of agents, tentatively scheduled to start in October, will receive eight weeks, according to the people. And the agents will no longer need to fulfill a longstanding requisite for joining the bureau: a bachelor’s degree.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/21/us/politics/fbi-agent-recruitment-requirements-trump.html

So much for the party of “we hate DEI.”

 

[wing2000]

Imagine, the quality of recruits who will be wielding an FBI badge with 8 weeks of training....

 

[Tropical Wilds]

Imagine, the quality of recruits who will be wielding an FBI badge with 8 weeks of training....

This really is a golden age for people excelling in mediocrity.

 

[Maria Billingsley]

...to fill an anticipated 5,000 positions by September......

The Trump administration is preparing to lower the recruitment standards for F.B.I. agents, eliciting alarm from many agents who worry that the move will undermine the agency’s primary mission of conducting complex investigations and tracking threats to national security.

Under a plan pushed by the director, Kash Patel, and his deputy, Dan Bongino, the F.B.I. will start welcoming new classes of recruits who will receive less training and no longer be required to have a college degree, according to people familiar with the plan who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe it.

The shift comes as the agency anticipates losing more than 5,000 employees by September, largely as a result of agents, analysts and others taking severance or early retirement packages offered by the Trump administration to try to reduce the budget.

Instead of spending about 18 weeks training at the academy in Quantico, Va., the group of agents, tentatively scheduled to start in October, will receive eight weeks, according to the people. And the agents will no longer need to fulfill a longstanding requisite for joining the bureau: a bachelor’s degree.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/21/us/politics/fbi-agent-recruitment-requirements-trump.html

I am beginning to think that there is a
"force" destroying the USA from the inside, an infiltrater with great influence over our president. I feel It's quite evil.

 

[iluvatar5150]

So much for the party of “we hate DEI.”

You can't have D.E.I. if you can't spell "D.E.I."

 

[durangodawood]

I am beginning to think that there is a
"force" destroying the USA from the inside, an infiltrater with great influence over our president. I feel It's quite evil.

I see ignorance, deliberately spread by quite clever power and influence hungry bad actors, targeting an unsettled, anxious, and sometimes just bored demographic.

 

[essentialsaltes]

What the whatting what?!?

Hastily trained high school graduates?

J Edgar Hoover's poodle skirt could power the Eastern seaboard right now.

 

[Richard T]

I am beginning to think that there is a
"force" destroying the USA from the inside, an infiltrater with great influence over our president. I feel It's quite evil.

That sure seems possible. Priming America for the end times. I just hope that part of the set up we are going through right now will lead to revival when the shoe does finally drop.

 

[durangodawood]

I am beginning to think that there is a
"force" destroying the USA from the inside, an infiltrater with great influence over our president. I feel It's quite evil.

Or maybe youre right.....

Stuck around St. Petersburg
When I saw it was a time for a change
Killed the Tsar and his ministers.....

 

[ThatRobGuy]

Apart from some specialized positions within the Bureau, why would one need a bachelors degree?

For instance, why would 6-7 years as a Detective for local or state police not be considered a valid qualification?

That's what's used for the US Marshall's service.

The FBI making a degree a requirement didn't come about until the 80's if memory serves.

 

[NxNW]

Personally, I don't see how anything could go wrong.

 

[ThatRobGuy]

Personally, I don't see how anything could go wrong.

Explain to me, in your own words, why you'd prefer an FBI agent with a college degree and an 18 week training course, over a person who has actual law enforcement experience an an 8 week training course.

(to be clear, that whole 8 week vs. 18 week thing is pretty much trivial... like with most vocations, 8 vs. 18 weeks of in-class training have one thing in common... neither will be as valuable as actual experience and on the job training. 2 months vs. 4 months both = "By no means an expert".


I have a pretty solid theory, but I'll let you answer.

 

[ozso]

You can't have D.E.I. if you can't spell "D.E.I."

View attachment 369281

Gee, now what made you think to compare this to DEI?

 

[ozso]

...to fill an anticipated 5,000 positions by September......

The Trump administration is preparing to lower the recruitment standards for F.B.I. agents, eliciting alarm from many agents who worry that the move will undermine the agency’s primary mission of conducting complex investigations and tracking threats to national security.

Under a plan pushed by the director, Kash Patel, and his deputy, Dan Bongino, the F.B.I. will start welcoming new classes of recruits who will receive less training and no longer be required to have a college degree, according to people familiar with the plan who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe it.

The shift comes as the agency anticipates losing more than 5,000 employees by September, largely as a result of agents, analysts and others taking severance or early retirement packages offered by the Trump administration to try to reduce the budget.

Instead of spending about 18 weeks training at the academy in Quantico, Va., the group of agents, tentatively scheduled to start in October, will receive eight weeks, according to the people. And the agents will no longer need to fulfill a longstanding requisite for joining the bureau: a bachelor’s degree.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/21/us/politics/fbi-agent-recruitment-requirements-trump.html

Is there anything from the FBI itself or any other .gov source confirming this?

 

[ozso]

Apart from some specialized positions within the Bureau, why would one need a bachelors degree?

For instance, why would 6-7 years as a Detective for local or state police not be considered a valid qualification?

That's what's used for the US Marshall's service.

The FBI making a degree a requirement didn't come about until the 80's if memory serves.

The idea is Patel will be hiring teenagers McDonald's rejected.

 

[wing2000]

Is there anything from the FBI itself or any other .gov source confirming this?

It's not implemented....yet. Key word is "preparing." It's not too early to get your resume ready.

 

[ozso]

It's not implemented....yet. Key word is "preparing." It's not too early to get your resume ready.

So I can find "preparing" on an FBI or other .gov source?

 

[DaisyDay]

FBI director ‘dead serious’ about partnering with UFC, Dana White says

FBI Director Kash Patel was in attendance for UFC 313 on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena, where he discussed a partnership with the MMA organization to train agents.

www.reviewjournal.com

In one of his first conference calls with field office supervisors after being confirmed for the job last month, Patel reportedly discussed the potential of partnering with the UFC to help sharpen the combat and conditioning skills of FBI agents....

The Las Vegas resident is a longtime friend of prominent MMA manager Ali Abdelaziz, who represents a number of UFC fighters. One of them, Magomed Ankalaev, headlined Saturday’s card, and another, Justin Gaethje, fought in the co-main event. Patel and Abdelaziz sat together at Saturday’s card.

...Gaethje said last week he was aware of Patel’s idea and wasn’t sure how much assistance he could be, but expressed his willingness to participate.

“I just heard about it while I was training for this fight,” he said. “So I don’t know many details, and I don’t really even know how it would work. But I’d absolutely want to be a part of it in any way I can.”

It’s unclear if the plan would call for fighters to work with FBI agents or whether the organization would provide access to the UFC Performance Institutes in Las Vegas and abroad.

“I’m not sure what I can do,” Gaethje said. “I don’t think these guys have a lot of hand-to-hand combat in their job. I think if they’re going to learn anything, it would be the mindset. But I’ve never had bullets flying at me, so who knows how I’d handle that. It will be interesting.”
​

 

[iluvatar5150]

Apart from some specialized positions within the Bureau, why would one need a bachelors degree?

As is the case with most jobs, it’s something of a proxy for intelligence and the ability to follow a course of study under guidelines set by someone else.

For instance, why would 6-7 years as a Detective for local or state police not be considered a valid qualification?

Because a lot of local cops aren’t very good?

That's what's used for the US Marshall's service.

AFAIK, the role of the Marshals is more brawn while the FBI is more brains. Given the different roles, different requirements isn’t unreasonable.

[quote{The FBI making a degree a requirement didn't come about until the 80's if memory serves.
[/QUOTE]

That’s true of most jobs.

Gee, now what made you think to compare this to DEI?

I was responding to somebody else’s usage of the term. But I interpreted their comment as referring to diversity of intelligence.