Fire Services Administration Degrees (2026 stats)
TL;DR
Fire Services Administration maps to BLS occupations averaging about $94,010, with roughly 1,970,970 workers nationwide in those roles. About 1,383 bachelor's completions in IPEDS 2023; median in-state published tuition is about $3,992.
Key Statistics
Fire Services Administration: what the data shows
Common questions about fire services administration degrees, answered from IPEDS, College Scorecard, BLS OEWS, and O*NET in this repository—not program marketing copy.
What is a fire services administration degree?
A Fire Services Administration program is classified under NCES CIP 43.0202 in the Fire Protection field family (43.02).
A program focusing on the principles, theory, and practices associated with the management of fire operations, firefighting services, and community fire issues. Includes instruction in fire protection history and theory, incident command leadership, administration of public fire organizations, labor relations, emergency medical services management, fire emergency response strategies and mitigation, legal and regulatory responsibilities, budgeting, public relations, and organizational leadership
IPEDS counted 1,383 completions for this CIP in the survey year in our extract.
Types of fire services administration degrees and related programs
Other NCES program codes in the 43.02 family with pages on EDsmart Data:
- Fire Prevention and Safety Technology/Technician (CIP 43.0201)
- Fire Science/Fire-fighting (CIP 43.0203)
- Fire Systems Technology (CIP 43.0204)
- Fire/Arson Investigation and Prevention (CIP 43.0205)
- Wildland/Forest Firefighting and Investigation (CIP 43.0206)
How long does it take to get a fire services administration degree?
Award levels reported to IPEDS for CIP 43.0202 in our file:
- 91 Associate (5.6% of IPEDS total)—about two years of full-time study
- 1,383 Bachelor's (85.0% of IPEDS total)—typically four years
- 154 Master's (9.5% of IPEDS total)—one to two years beyond a bachelor's
Time to completion depends on enrollment intensity and transfer credits; figures above describe credential type, not calendar time for every student.
What degree do you need?
For Dispatchers, Except Police, Fire, and Ambulance (top mapped occupation), O*NET incumbent surveys in our career profile report these education credentials most often: Some college (29%), High School or Equivalent (27%), Bachelors Degree (22%). Bachelor's awards account for a majority of IPEDS completions for CIP 43.0202, but occupation data show multiple pathways.
O*NET education distributions describe incumbent workers, not minimum legal or employer requirements.
What jobs can you get with a fire services administration degree?
Our degree→occupation mapping links Fire Services Administration to the BLS roles below. Employment is U.S. OEWS; median wage is national May 2024 where published in our extract.
| Occupation | U.S. employment | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Dispatchers, Except Police, Fire, and Ambulance | 211,000 | $48,880 |
| Forest Fire Inspectors and Prevention Specialists | 2,780 | $52,380 |
| Securities, Commodities, and Financial Services Sales Agents | 472,300 | $78,140 |
| Fire Inspectors and Investigators | 14,050 | $78,060 |
| Security and Fire Alarm Systems Installers | 81,510 | $59,300 |
| Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel | 1,189,330 | $66,260 |
See Careers & Jobs for mean wages and industry context.
Is a fire services administration degree worth it?
College Scorecard national medians for the Fire Protection bachelor's program family: median debt $5,376, median earnings $86,436 four years after enrollment. Debt-to-earnings proxy: 0.08.
About 3.0% of graduates in this field family were not working and not enrolled one year after completion in Scorecard's national program medians.
Among schools reporting in our Scorecard extract, median published in-state tuition is $3,992 and median net price is $7,999.
We do not score "worth" on opinion—compare debt, earnings, wages for mapped occupations, and completion data above against your cost and career target.
Institutions
Information about the types of higher education institutions that grant degrees in Fire Services Administration and the types of students that study this field.
Tuition Costs for Common Institutions
$3,992 Median In-State Public
$28,440 Median Out of State Private
Tuition costs for Fire Services Administration majors are, on average, $3,992 for in-state public colleges, and $28,440 for out of state private colleges.
Tuition costs comparison for Fire Services Administration programs.
Degrees Awarded Over Time
100,000 Total Degrees Awarded in 2023
This chart shows the number of degrees awarded in Fire Services Administration from 2015 to 2023.
Historical trend of degrees awarded in Fire Services Administration.
Top 5 Schools by Enrollment
| # | School | State | Enrollment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ivy Tech Community College | IN | 58,267 |
| 2 | Ivy Tech Community College | IN | 58,267 |
| 3 | Liberty University | VA | 50,012 |
| 4 | University of Maryland Global Campus | MD | 49,664 |
| 5 | Miami Dade College | FL | 46,182 |
Schools with the largest enrollment offering Fire Services Administration programs.
Top 5 Most Affordable Tuition
| # | School | State | Tuition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Antelope Valley Community College District | CA | $1,124 |
| 2 | Antelope Valley Community College District | CA | $1,124 |
| 3 | Yuba College | CA | $1,128 |
| 4 | Yuba College | CA | $1,128 |
| 5 | Lake Tahoe Community College | CA | $1,131 |
Schools with the lowest tuition costs for Fire Services Administration programs.
Top 5 Lowest Net Price
| # | School | State | Net Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | College of the Sequoias | CA | $480 |
| 2 | College of the Sequoias | CA | $480 |
| 3 | College of San Mateo | CA | $536 |
| 4 | College of San Mateo | CA | $536 |
| 5 | Wiregrass Georgia Technical College | GA | $614 |
Schools with the lowest average net price for Fire Services Administration programs.
Graduation Rates
Graduation rate data is not available for this degree program.
Graduation/completion rates for Fire Services Administration programs across institutions.
Where students complete this major (IPEDS)
Bachelor's-level completions (IPEDS Completions, award level 5) summed by institution state. State is taken from IPEDS Directory (HD2023) for each reporting institution.
Geographic concentration
The largest number of reported bachelor's completions for Fire Services Administration is in AL (925 completions). That state represents about 66.9% of U.S. bachelor's completions reported for this CIP in the IPEDS file we use.
Among states, the highest concentration relative to all bachelor's degrees awarded in-state is AL (1.37% of that state's bachelor's completions).
Top states by count of bachelor's completions for this CIP (IPEDS).
| State | Bachelor's completions (this CIP) | % of U.S. total (this CIP) | % of state's all bachelor's |
|---|---|---|---|
| AL | 925 | 66.9% | 1.37% |
| IN | 92 | 6.7% | 0.09% |
| IA | 51 | 3.7% | 0.11% |
| OR | 44 | 3.2% | 0.10% |
| WV | 44 | 3.2% | 0.12% |
| CA | 38 | 2.8% | 0.01% |
| IL | 35 | 2.5% | 0.03% |
| NC | 33 | 2.4% | 0.03% |
| OH | 25 | 1.8% | 0.02% |
| VA | 25 | 1.8% | 0.02% |
| NY | 18 | 1.3% | 0.01% |
| CO | 15 | 1.1% | 0.02% |
| WI | 12 | 0.9% | 0.02% |
| MA | 11 | 0.8% | 0.01% |
| KY | 6 | 0.4% | 0.01% |
| NV | 3 | 0.2% | 0.01% |
| NH | 2 | 0.1% | 0.00% |
| RI | 2 | 0.1% | 0.01% |
Related specializations
Other NCES program codes in the 43.02 CIP family with dedicated pages on EDsmart Data.
- Fire Prevention and Safety Technology/Technician CIP 43.0201
- Fire Science/Fire-fighting CIP 43.0203
- Fire Systems Technology CIP 43.0204
- Fire/Arson Investigation and Prevention CIP 43.0205
- Wildland/Forest Firefighting and Investigation CIP 43.0206
Degree Levels (IPEDS)
Completions reported to IPEDS for CIP 43.0202 in the survey year used in our extract (1,628 total across levels below).
- 91 Associate (5.6% of IPEDS total)
- 1,383 Bachelor's (85.0% of IPEDS total)
- 154 Master's (9.5% of IPEDS total)
Source: IPEDS Completions (c2024_a), summed by award level for this CIP.
Careers & Jobs
Occupations linked to this major in our degree→career mapping, with wages and employment from processed BLS career profiles in this repo.
Across these BLS occupations, employment-weighted mean pay is about $94,010. Figures are national OEWS estimates for the occupation—not earnings of Fire Services Administration graduates alone.
Related occupations (BLS OEWS)
| Occupation | Mean annual wage | U.S. employment |
|---|---|---|
| Dispatchers, Except Police, Fire, and Ambulance | $56,746 | 211,000 |
| Forest Fire Inspectors and Prevention Specialists | $102,607 | 2,780 |
| Securities, Commodities, and Financial Services Sales Agents | $108,560 | 472,300 |
| Fire Inspectors and Investigators | $102,823 | 14,050 |
| Security and Fire Alarm Systems Installers | $73,613 | 81,510 |
| Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel | $96,116 | 1,189,330 |
Open each occupation for full career profile charts and industry breakdowns on EDsmart Data.
Program outcomes (College Scorecard)
National medians across bachelor's programs in the Fire Protection CIP family (1 programs reporting debt). Not specific to every Fire Services Administration graduate.
- $5,376 median federal loan debt among completers
- $86,436 median earnings four years after enrollment (national program median)
- 0.08 debt-to-earnings ratio (Scorecard proxy)
- 3.0% of graduates not working and not enrolled one year out (program cohort)
Source: College Scorecard program-level outcomes aggregated by 4-digit CIP family.
Employment
Wages and industry mix below use BLS OEWS data for occupations linked to this major in our mapping—not a graduate earnings survey.
Yearly Income for Common Jobs
$94,010 Average Wage in Workforce
The average salary for Fire Services Administration majors is $94,010.
Average annual salaries of the most common occupations for Fire Services Administration majors.
Occupations by Share
1,970,970 2023 Workforce
The number of Fire Services Administration graduates in the workforce has been growing.
Various jobs filled by those with a major in Fire Services Administration by share of the total number of graduates.
Diversity
Demographic information for those who earn a degree in Fire Services Administration in the United States.
Workforce Age
N/A Average Age in 2023
This chart shows distribution of ages for employees with a degree in Fire Services Administration.
Age distribution for Fire Services Administration degree holders in the workforce.
Gender Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
1,383 Total Degrees Awarded
1,287 Male (93.06%)
96 Female (6.94%)
Gender distribution of Fire Services Administration degree recipients.
Race and Ethnicity Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
1,051 White (75.99%)
72 Hispanic or Latino (5.21%)
55 Black or African American (3.98%)
23 Two or More Races (1.66%)
9 Asian (0.65%)
Racial and ethnic distribution of Fire Services Administration degree recipients.
Degrees Awarded
The most common degree types awarded to students graduating in Fire Services Administration are Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree, and Associates Degree.
Distribution of degree types awarded in Fire Services Administration.
Skills
Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for those working in the Fire Services Administration field from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Required Skills
Fire Services Administration majors need many skills, but most especially Critical Thinking, Active Listening, and Reading Comprehension.
Rating of how necessary various skills are for Fire Services Administration majors.
Skills Bar Chart
This bar chart shows the same information as the radar chart, displaying the importance of each skill.
Skill importance ratings for Fire Services Administration majors.
About
A program focusing on the principles, theory, and practices associated with the management of fire operations, firefighting services, and community fire issues. Includes instruction in fire protection history and theory, incident command leadership, administration of public fire organizations, labor relations, emergency medical services management, fire emergency response strategies and mitigation, legal and regulatory responsibilities, budgeting, public relations, and organizational leadership
In 2023, 100,000 degrees were awarded across all undergraduate and graduate programs in Fire Services Administration.
CIP Code
43.0202 - Fire Services Administration
What the data shows
At the program-family level, College Scorecard reports median debt of $5,376 for bachelor's completers and median earnings near $86,436, a debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.08. Those figures describe national program cohorts in this CIP family—not every individual Fire Services Administration graduate.
Men earned 8.6% of 1,709 Fire Services Administration completions in the IPEDS file used here.
Mapped BLS occupations show employment-weighted mean pay of about $94,010. The largest mapped role by headcount is Dispatchers, Except Police, Fire, and Ambulance (211,000 U.S. jobs in OEWS).
Published tuition medians in College Scorecard land at $3,992 in-state at public colleges and $28,440 at private institutions for programs in this field.
Data Sources
This page uses data from the following sources:
- College Scorecard - U.S. Department of Education
- Institutional characteristics, costs, completion rates, and earnings data
- Data years: 2015-2024
- Source: collegescorecard.ed.gov
- Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)
- Employment and wage data by occupation
- Latest data: May 2024
- Source: bls.gov/oes
- O*NET Online - U.S. Department of Labor
- Occupational skills, knowledge, abilities, and work activities
- Database version: 28.0 (August 2023)
- Source: onetcenter.org
- IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System) - National Center for Education Statistics
- Institutional data, completions, enrollment, and financial aid
- Data years: 2015-2024
- Source: nces.ed.gov/ipeds
- Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS)
- Demographic and workforce data
- Latest data: 2023 ACS 5-Year Estimates
- Source: census.gov/acs
Data Processing: All data has been processed, cleaned, and aggregated for presentation. Where specific data points are unavailable, estimates are based on available data and clearly marked.
Last Updated: Data reflects the most recent available information as of January 2025.
Methodology
Data for this profile is sourced from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard dataset, IPEDS completion data, and Bureau of Labor Statistics employment data.
All financial figures are adjusted for inflation and represent the most recent available data. Employment and wage data are from the most recent Census Bureau ACS PUMS estimates.