by our College Data Analytics Team
[Fire Science](/majors/protective-security-safety-services/fire-protection/fire-science/) degree programs vary widely in price and payoff across the country. A high-value program keeps cost low while graduates go on to earn well.
For its 2026 best-value ranking, College Factual looked at 2 schools to find the best return on investment for fire science students.
What’s on this page:
Below are the schools that deliver the strongest value in fire science, balancing cost against outcomes.
Leading the list is College Of Southern Nevada, our #1 best value for fire science in Nevada. Located in the city of Las Vegas, College Of Southern Nevada is a very large public university. The average in-state cost of tuition and fees is $4,358, compared with $13,024 for out-of-state students. Typical student debt for fire science graduates is $9,980. Early-career fire science graduates make about $35,850. Weighed against typical debt, the earnings make a compelling case for value.
The ranking above is published by College Factual (MF_RANKING_2025), 2026 edition. Schools are scored on the balance of cost (tuition and student debt) against student outcomes (post-graduation earnings) — a measure of return on investment, drawn primarily from the U.S. Department of Education (IPEDS and College Scorecard).
Ranking method: College Major Best Value · 2 schools evaluated.
*Averages shown above reflect the top 1 ranked schools only.
More about our data sources and methodologies.