Fire Protection at Red Rocks Community College

Red Rocks' Fire Protection associate's degree faces an unusual earnings puzzle that comparable programs across the country don't explain. While first-year earnings of $56,004 align with what similar fire protection programs nationally produce, the drop to $49,545 by year four runs counter to how public safety careers typically progress. Fire protection roles generally see steady advancement through certifications and experience, making this dip worth investigating—it could reflect graduates shifting to different roles, variations in local department hiring, or simply the limitations of a small sample size that forced earnings suppression.

The debt picture looks manageable at an estimated $10,370, yielding a 0.19 debt-to-earnings ratio that's well within reasonable territory for a technical associate's degree. Fire protection is fundamentally a skills-based field where the credential opens doors to municipal departments and private fire safety positions, and debt under $11,000 shouldn't create significant financial strain for most graduates entering the profession.

The real question is what drives that four-year earnings decline in this program's data. Before committing, talk directly with the program about where their recent graduates actually work and whether they're staying in fire protection roles. If graduates are consistently employed in the field, local department pay scales and hiring patterns should tell you whether that mid-40s figure is realistic for Colorado Springs-area opportunities or whether the available data simply doesn't capture this program's true outcomes.