Fire Protection at College of Southern Nevada

A debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.19 suggests this program could deliver strong value—if the estimated $56,000 first-year salary holds true for College of Southern Nevada graduates. Since this school's actual outcomes aren't publicly available due to small graduate cohorts, we're relying on what similar fire protection associate's programs produce nationally. That national median puts graduates near the middle of the pack, well below top programs that hit $75,000, but with manageable debt that represents less than three months of gross pay.

Nevada has only two schools offering fire protection degrees, and neither reports specific outcomes, making it difficult to assess how CSN compares locally. The Las Vegas fire service job market may differ significantly from national patterns—both in starting pay and hiring preferences. What works in your favor: fire protection is a vocational field where credentials directly translate to career access, and the estimated debt load is low enough that even if earnings fall short of projections, you're not facing a crushing burden.

The key question is whether CSN's specific program connects graduates to Nevada fire departments and whether those departments value this credential in hiring and advancement. Contact the program directly to ask about placement rates, local hiring outcomes, and relationships with Vegas-area fire services. The numbers look reasonable, but you're making decisions based on national patterns rather than confirmed local results.