Colleges to Become a Firefighter

Cogswell Polytechnical College

• Established in 1887, Cogswell Polytechnical College is a private, nonsectarian institution in Sunnyvale, California, a community 40 miles south of San Francisco. In 2010, U.S. News and World Report ranked the college 14th among all baccalaureate colleges in the western United States. Among the programs available for the college's approximately 220 students is a Bachelor of Science degree in fire science. Students can choose to major in fire administration or fire prevention and technology through the program. The program is sponsored by the National Firefighters Association and is offered in a distance education program, allowing students to complete the required coursework entirely online. Among the classes included in the curricula are fire dynamics, investigation analysis, fire prevention, human behavior, personnel management and fire safety law. Approximately 16 percent of students at Cogswell receive some type of financial aid while attending the school, according to the "2009 Barron's Profiles of American Colleges."

  Cogswell Polytechnical College
  1175 Bordeaux Drive
  Sunnyvale, CA 94089
  408-541-0100
  cogswell.edu

Oklahoma State University

• A public institution with more than 22,700 undergraduate and graduate students, Oklahoma State University is in Stillwater, a town 65 miles from Oklahoma City. The university offers a Bachelor of Science program in fire protection and safety designed for would-be firefighters. Students spend their first two years in the program completing prerequisite courses in calculus, communications, chemistry, physics and engineering. Students apply to the professional phase of the program during their sophomore years, and those admitted spend two years completing courses in risk management, hazards, investigations and legal aspects of fire science. A limited number of internships is available for students in the program. In addition to federal and state financial aid programs, the university offers work-study placements. Oklahoma residents receive discounted tuition rates.

  Oklahoma State University
  101 Whitehurst Hall
  Stillwater, OK 74078
  405-744-5358
  okstate.edu

University of New Haven

• Located five miles from New Haven, Connecticut, in the small town of West Haven, the University of New Haven is a private, nonreligious college with more than 5,200 undergraduate and graduate students. The university's Bachelor of Science in Fire Science program allows students to specialize in fire science technology, fire administration and fire investigation. All students in the fire science program take courses in fire chemistry and physics, fire prevention, hydraulics and water supply, building construction codes, fire detection and control, special hazards control and computer science. An internship is mandatory for graduation for all three specialties. Around 85 percent of freshmen and 73 percent of continuing students receive some type of financial aid. The university also offers a Master of Science program in fire science.

  University of New Haven
  300 Boston Post Road
  West Haven, CT 06516
  203-932-7319
  newhaven.edu