Fire Services Administration

Types of Degrees Fire Services Administration Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many fire services administration graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	1,148
Associate Degree	131
Master’s Degree	79
Basic Certificate	39
Undergraduate Certificate	22
Doctor’s Degree	8
Graduate Certificate	4

What Fire Services Administration Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, fire services administration 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 Services Administration Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in fire services administration should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas:

• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• 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.
• Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
• 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.

Skills for Fire Services Administration Majors

When studying fire services administration, 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:

• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• 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.
• Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.

Abilities for Fire Services Administration Majors

Fire Services Administration majors often go into careers where the following abilities are vital:

• 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 Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.

What Can You Do With a Fire Services Administration Major?

People with a fire services administration degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Compliance Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Forest Fire Fighting and Prevention Supervisors	7.1%	$76,330
Loss Prevention Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Municipal Fire Fighting and Prevention Supervisors	7.1%	$76,330
Regulatory Affairs Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Security Managers	8.0%	$107,480

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Fire Services Administration?

This major tends to be male dominated. About 91% of recent graduates are men.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of fire services administration majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	12
Black or African American	45
Hispanic or Latino	81
White	835
International Students	15
Other Races/Ethnicities	160

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in Fire Services Administration. About 1.3% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Fire Services Administration

Some careers associated with fire services administration require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. 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 services administration have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	0.4%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	15.5%
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)	9.1%
Some College Courses	8.0%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	15.6%
Bachelor’s Degree	42.0%
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.	1.1%
Master’s Degree	6.5%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.	1.2%
First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession.	0.6%
Post-Doctoral Training	0.0%

Online Fire Services Administration 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)	13	2
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	55	12
Bachelor’s Degree	3	1
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	7	3
Post-Master’s	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	1	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Fire Services Administration

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to fire services administration.

Major	Number of Grads
Fire Science	8,414
Fire Prevention & Safety Technology/Technician	3,312
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.