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2025 Best Fire Protection Schools in the Great Lakes Region

17 Colleges in the Great Lakes Region
2,301 Fire Protection Degrees Awarded
$57,073 Avg Early-Career Salary
A degree in fire protection is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #118 out of 395 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.

For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 17 schools in the Great Lakes Region to determine which ones were the best for fire protection students pursuing a degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 2,301 degrees in fire protection annually.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great Fire Protection School

Best Fire Protection Schools in the Great Lakes Region The fire protection program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Fire Protection rankings. For our Best Overall Fire Protection School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.

You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.

Fire Protection Rankings by Degree Level

Associate Degrees in Fire Protection
Bachelor's Degrees in Fire Protection
Master's Degrees in Fire Protection

When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Fire Protection Schools in the Great Lakes Region list to help you make the college decision. If you'd like to restrict your choices to just one part of the country, you can filter this list by location.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

If you want to learn more about how we derive our rankings, see College Factual's Methodology.

Best Schools for Fire Protection in the Great Lakes Region

The schools below may not offer all types of fire protection degrees so you may want to filter by degree level first. However, they are great for the degree levels they do offer.

10 Top Great Lakes Region Schools in Fire Protection

1
Ivy Tech Community College crest
Ivy Tech Community College
Indianapolis, IN
Associate Degree Highest Degree Type
2nd Most Popular In IN
72 Fire Protection Degrees Awarded

Ivy Tech Community College is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a degree in fire protection. Located in the city of Indianapolis, Ivy Tech Community College is a public college with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #173 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Ivy Tech Community College is a great college overall.

There were about 72 fire protection students who graduated with this degree at Ivy Tech Community College in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in fire protection from Ivy Tech Community College

2
Associate Degree Highest Degree Type
2nd Most Popular In WI
35 Fire Protection Degrees Awarded

It's hard to beat Madison Area Technical College if you wish to pursue a degree in fire protection. Located in the large city of Madison, Madison College is a public college with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #223 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Madison College is a great college overall.

There were roughly 35 fire protection students who graduated with this degree at Madison College in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in fire protection from Madison Area Technical College

3
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
4th Most Popular In OH

University of Cincinnati - Main Campus is a great choice for students interested in a degree in fire protection. UC is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Cincinnati. A Best Colleges rank of #137 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UC is a great university overall.

There were about 9 fire protection students who graduated with this degree at UC in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in fire protection from University of Cincinnati - Main Campus

4
Associate Degree Highest Degree Type
2nd Most Popular In MI
35.7% Growth in Graduates

Macomb Community College is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a degree in fire protection. Located in the medium-sized city of Warren, Macomb Community College is a public college with a fairly large student population. This college ranks 12th out of 56 colleges for overall quality in the state of Michigan.

There were approximately 14 fire protection students who graduated with this degree at Macomb Community College in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in fire protection from Macomb Community College

5
Associate Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In WI
3.3% Growth in Graduates

FVTC is a large public college located in the suburb of Appleton. A Best Colleges rank of #387 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means FVTC is a great college overall.

There were approximately 30 fire protection students who graduated with this degree at FVTC in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in fire protection from Fox Valley Technical College

6
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
61 Fire Protection Degrees Awarded
$104,017 Median Starting Salary

SIUC is a fairly large public university located in the town of Carbondale. This university ranks 36th out of 85 schools for overall quality in the state of Illinois.

There were approximately 61 fire protection students who graduated with this degree at SIUC in the most recent year we have data available. Fire Protection degree recipients from Southern Illinois University Carbondale earn a boost of around $46,944 above the average income of fire protection graduates.

More information about a degree in fire protection from Southern Illinois University Carbondale

7
Purdue University Global crest
Purdue University Global
West Lafayette, IN
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
214 Fire Protection Degrees Awarded
$77,787 Median Starting Salary

Located in the small city of West Lafayette, Purdue University Global is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #284 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Purdue University Global is a great university overall.

There were about 214 fire protection students who graduated with this degree at Purdue University Global in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the fire protection major at Purdue University Global make $20,714 above the standard college grad in this field shortly after graduation.

More information about a degree in fire protection from Purdue University Global

8
Associate Degree Highest Degree Type
8th Most Popular In WI
78.6% Growth in Graduates

Located in the city of La Crosse, Western Technical College is a public college with a small student population. A Best Colleges rank of #292 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Western Technical College is a great college overall.

There were about 14 fire protection students who graduated with this degree at Western Technical College in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in fire protection from Western Technical College

9
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
3rd Most Popular In WI

Located in the city of Oshkosh, UW Oshkosh is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 34th out of 46 schools for overall quality in the state of Wisconsin.

There were about 13 fire protection students who graduated with this degree at UW Oshkosh in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in fire protection from University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh

10
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
3rd Most Popular In OH

BGSU is a fairly large public university located in the fringe town of Bowling Green. This university ranks 18th out of 91 colleges for overall quality in the state of Ohio.

There were approximately 17 fire protection students who graduated with this degree at BGSU in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in fire protection from Bowling Green State University - Main Campus

Best Fire Protection Colleges by State

Explore the best fire protection schools for a specific state in the Great Lakes Region .

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Michigan 322 50
Ohio 314 135
Illinois 304 289
Indiana 294 292
Wisconsin 273 88

View All Rankings >

Fire Protection is one of 4 different types of Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting programs to choose from.

Fire Protection Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
Fire Science 1,808
Fire Services Administration 342
Fire Prevention & Safety Technology/Technician 117
Other Fire Protection 23
Wildl&/Forest Firefighting & Investigation 11

View All Fire Protection Focus Areas >

Related Major Annual Graduates
Criminal Justice & Corrections 13,333
Security Science and Technology 604
Homeland Security 227
Other Homeland Security 211

View All Fire Protection Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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