Fire Prevention and Safety Technology/Technician

Types of Degrees Fire Prevention and Safety Technology/Technician Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many fire prevention & safety technology/technician graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Associate Degree	1,681
Basic Certificate	1,186
Undergraduate Certificate	400
Bachelor’s Degree	45

What Fire Prevention and Safety Technology/Technician Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, fire prevention and safety technology/technician majors were asked to rate what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important in their occupations. These answers were weighted on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most important.

Knowledge Areas for Fire Prevention and Safety Technology/Technician Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in fire prevention and safety technology/technician should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas:

• Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
• Building and Construction - Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.

Skills for Fire Prevention and Safety Technology/Technician Majors

When studying fire prevention and safety technology/technician, you’ll learn many skills that will help you be successful in a wide range of jobs - even those that do not require a degree in the field. The following is a list of some of the most common skills needed for careers associated with this major:

• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Complex Problem Solving - Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.

Abilities for Fire Prevention and Safety Technology/Technician Majors

As you progress with your fire prevention and safety technology/technician degree, there are several abilities you should pick up that will help you in whatever related career you choose. These abilities include:

• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).

What Can You Do With a Fire Prevention and Safety Technology/Technician Major?

People with a fire prevention and safety technology/technician degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Fire Investigators	7.3%	$62,510
Municipal Fire Fighting and Prevention Supervisors	7.1%	$76,330

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Fire Prevention and Safety Technology/Technician?

This major attracts more men than women. About 84% of the graduates in this field are male.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of fire prevention and safety technology/technician majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	0
Black or African American	1
Hispanic or Latino	3
White	38
International Students	3
Other Races/Ethnicities	0

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Fire Prevention and Safety Technology/Technician, too. About 6.7% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Fire Prevention and Safety Technology/Technician

Some degrees associated with fire prevention and safety technology/technician may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to fire prevention and safety technology/technician have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	0.8%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	30.0%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	17.5%
Some College Courses	23.5%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	18.2%
Bachelor’s Degree	9.6%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	0.8%
Post-Doctoral Training	0.0%

Online Fire Prevention and Safety Technology/Technician Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	65	4
Certificate (2-4 Years)	1	0
Associate’s Degree	162	20
Bachelor’s Degree	0	0
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	1	0
Post-Master’s	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Fire Prevention and Safety Technology/Technician

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to fire prevention and safety technology/technician.

Major	Number of Grads
Fire Science	8,414
Fire Services Administration	1,431
Wildl&/Forest Firefighting & Investigation	150
Other Fire Protection	96
Fire/Arson Investigation & Prevention	69
Fire Systems Technology	61

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020

More about our data sources and methodologies.