Hillsborough College Fire Science (Certificate): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Certificate in Fire Protection
- Public college
- Tampa, FL
- About 87 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Hillsborough College fire science graduates earn more than graduates of most fire science programs nationally, $50,331 in their first year. Debt is high. The typical graduate leaves with $14,735 in federal loans, more than at 80% of fire science programs in the country. Two other Florida programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Florida and national columns are the medians across all fire science certificate programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Hillsborough College graduates earn more than the national figure and about the same as the Florida median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Florida fire science program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Florida medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
What graduates earn over time
Pay rises about 35% between the first and fifth year.
Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $156 a month, or 3.7% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
96% of graduates (27 of 28) were working in Florida one year after graduating. Prices in the Tampa area are about 1% above the national average, so a $50,331 salary here buys what about $49,887 buys in a typical US city.
Careers this field leads to
These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to fire science, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Firefighters
$58,550Median pay in Florida. 24,570 people work in this job in Florida. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 26,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: postsecondary nondegree award.
First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention Workers
$98,560Median pay in Florida. 9,540 people work in this job in Florida. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 6,600 openings a year. Typical education to start: postsecondary nondegree award, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.
Fire Inspectors and Investigators
$75,660Median pay in Florida. 1,060 people work in this job in Florida. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 1,600 openings a year. Typical education to start: postsecondary nondegree award, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.
Forest Fire Inspectors and Prevention Specialists
$51,690Median pay in Florida. 100 people work in this job in Florida. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 13% from 2025 to 2035, with about 400 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.
About Hillsborough College
Fire Science ranks 4th of 11 certificate programs at Hillsborough College by first-year earnings. The top three are Criminal Justice ($62,249), Medical Laboratory Science ($61,237), and Electrician Training ($54,584).
Other fire science certificate programs near Tampa
Common questions
The median graduate earns $50,331 one year after graduating and $68,028 five years after. The median across fire science certificate programs in Florida is $46,952.
The median federal loan balance is $14,735, which ranks 4th lowest of 5 fire science certificate programs in Florida. That works out to about $156 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 29% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 18%. Compare the cost with other Florida programs before deciding.
Most do. 96% (27 of 28) were working in Florida one year after graduating.
About this data
- Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid (grants or loans).
- Earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school. Graduates who went straight to further study are not included.
- Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
- Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of Florida comparisons when their main campus is in another state.
- Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.
- School-level numbers like tuition, admission rate, and graduation rate are for the whole school, not the fire science program.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
- Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
- NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024