Fire Protection at Clover Park Technical College

Fire protection programs nationally produce solid first-year earnings around $56,000, and comparable programs suggest Clover Park's graduates would enter this range with manageable debt near $10,370. That's a debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.19—meaning roughly two months of gross pay to cover the full loan balance. For a two-year technical credential leading to firefighting or fire prevention careers, this represents a relatively clean financial picture.

What makes this estimate more reliable is that fire protection is a fairly standardized field with consistent training requirements and public-sector hiring across the country. The national benchmark of $56,004 reflects outcomes from over 400 programs, and Washington's strong public safety job market—particularly in the Tacoma-Seattle corridor—could push earnings higher. Still, without specific data from Clover Park's own graduates, you're working with educated assumptions rather than proven track record.

The practical consideration: if your child is committed to firefighting or fire safety careers, the estimated debt load is low enough that it won't derail their finances even if actual outcomes fall somewhat short of the national average. However, you should verify Clover Park's job placement rates and connections to local fire departments, since employment outcomes in this field depend heavily on competitive civil service hiring processes and physical testing requirements.