A NYPD officer killed in the line of duty will be posthumously awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree in Religion, the Faith Evangelical College and Seminary announced Wednesday.

Officer Rafael "Ralph" Ramos was gunned down in Brooklyn on December 20 while he was sitting in his patrol car. His partner, Wenjian Liu, was also killed.

Ramos, 40, was attending online classes towards the degree so that he could become a chaplain. He planned to join the ministry full-time after he retired from the force. Faith College President Michael Adams said "it's only right" that the school honour Ramos' dream.

"Officer Ramos was a very good student, earnest, dedicated," Adams said in a statement. "He was just two courses away from completing his programme and he deserves to finish."

Ramos – a two-year veteran – was due to graduate from the NYPD's chaplain training programme on the day he was killed. Former NYPD chaplain and International Religious Freedom Ambassador-at-Large Rev Dr Suzan Johnson-Cook called the officer's death a tremendous loss.

"The chaplaincy would have been enormously complemented by an officer like Rafael Ramos," she said.

"He had the call, the commitment, and the courage to be an excellent chaplain, wherever he would have served. We are all poorer for his absence, but we know Officer Ramos rests in peace having done his duty to love God and to love his neighbour."

Officer Ramos is survived by his wife, Maritza, and two sons, Justin, 19, and Jayden, 13.

Viewing hours are from 2pm to 9pm on Friday, December 26 at Christ Tabernacle Church, 64-34 Myrtle Avenue, in the Glendale section of Queens. Officer Ramos' funeral is on Saturday at 10am.

Funeral arrangements for Officer Liu are pending as his family in China flies into the US.