Indian River State College Fire Science (Certificate): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Certificate in Fire Protection
- Public college
- Fort Pierce, FL
- About 86 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Indian River State College fire science graduates earn about what fire science graduates earn nationally, $47,206 in their first year. Where this program stands out is debt. The typical graduate leaves with $5,500 in federal loans, less than at 87% of fire science programs in the country. Strong value, but not one of the highest-paying fire science programs in Florida.
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, Indian River State College graduates earn less than the national figure and about $13,841 less than 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 15% 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 $58 a month, or 1.5% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
100% of graduates (22 of 22) were working in Florida one year after graduating. Prices in the Port St. Lucie area are about the same as the national average.
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 Indian River State College
Fire Science ranks 2nd of 6 certificate programs at Indian River State College by first-year earnings. The top three are Criminal Justice ($60,298), Fire Science ($47,206), and HVAC ($41,239).
Other fire science certificate programs near Fort Pierce
Common questions
The median graduate earns $47,206 one year after graduating and $54,187 five years after. The median across fire science certificate programs in Florida is $46,952.
The median federal loan balance is $5,500, which ranks the lowest of 5 fire science certificate programs in Florida. That works out to about $58 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 12% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 18%.
Most do. 100% (22 of 22) 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