Best First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting programs in Colorado, ranked by enrollment
Directly supervise and coordinate activities of workers engaged in firefighting and fire prevention and.
11 schools in Colorado run programs that feed this job, graduating 533 people a year. The job pays a median of $102,580 in Colorado across about 1,900 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Colorado that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
3 programs in Colorado that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Colorado (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Colorado page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 43.0203In Colorado → | 471 | 88.4% | 8 | $48,952 | $12,750 |
| 2 | CIP 03.0208In Colorado → | 37 | 6.9% | 2 | $37,946 | $24,125 |
| 3 | CIP 43.0202In Colorado → | 25 | 4.7% | 2 | $48,952 | $12,750 |
Top 11 schools in Colorado
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 1 of the 11 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Red Rocks Community College Lakewood, CO Public · 2 feeder programs | 219 | Fire Science/Fire-fighting | — | 32% | — | — |
| 2 | Pueblo Community College Pueblo, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 96 | Fire Science/Fire-fighting | — | 31% | — | — |
| 3 | Aims Community College Greeley, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 62 | Fire Science/Fire-fighting | $44,470 | 40% | — | — |
| 4 | Colorado Mountain College Glenwood Springs, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 47 | Fire Science/Fire-fighting | — | 27% | — | — |
| 5 | Colorado Northwestern Community College Rangely, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 28 | Environmental/Natural Resources Law Enforcement and Protective Services | — | 34% | — | — |
| 6 | Colorado Mesa University Grand Junction, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 22 | Fire Science/Fire-fighting | — | 41% | — | 82% |
| 7 | Metropolitan State University of Denver Denver, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 16 | Fire Services Administration | — | 32% | — | 99% |
| 8 | Pikes Peak State College Colorado Springs, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 16 | Fire Science/Fire-fighting | — | 21% | — | — |
| 9 | Northeastern Junior College Sterling, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 14 | Fire Science/Fire-fighting | — | 56% | — | — |
| 10 | Colorado State University - Fort Collins Fort Collins, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 9 | Fire Services Administration | — | 67% | — | 89% |
| 11 | Community College of Aurora Aurora, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 4 | Fire Science/Fire-fighting | — | 33% | — | — |
All 11 schools in Colorado
Every school in Colorado with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red Rocks Community College | Lakewood | Public | 219 | 2 |
| Pueblo Community College | Pueblo | Public | 96 | 1 |
| Aims Community College | Greeley | Public | 62 | 1 |
| Colorado Mountain College | Glenwood Springs | Public | 47 | 1 |
| Colorado Northwestern Community College | Rangely | Public | 28 | 1 |
| Colorado Mesa University | Grand Junction | Public | 22 | 1 |
| Metropolitan State University of Denver | Denver | Public | 16 | 1 |
| Pikes Peak State College | Colorado Springs | Public | 16 | 1 |
| Northeastern Junior College | Sterling | Public | 14 | 1 |
| Colorado State University - Fort Collins | Fort Collins | Public | 9 | 1 |
| Community College of Aurora | Aurora | Public | 4 | 1 |
What first-line supervisors of firefighting and prevention workers earn in Colorado
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $93,530. Colorado pays above the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in Colorado
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention Workers page.
How to become a First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting
Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0- Typical entry education
- Postsecondary nondegree award
- Work experience needed
- Less than 5 years
- On-the-job training
- Moderate-term on-the-job training
Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.
Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in Colorado
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 6 majors mapped to First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention Workers6 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 03.0208Environmental/Natural Resources Law Enforcement and Protective Services
- 43.0201Fire Prevention and Safety Technology/Technician
- 43.0202Fire Services Administration
- 43.0203Fire Science/Fire-fighting
- 43.0205Fire/Arson Investigation and Prevention
- 43.0299Fire Protection, Other
Common questions
Answers for people weighing first-line supervisors of firefighting and prevention workers programs in Colorado.
What degree do you need to become a First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting?+
Postsecondary nondegree award is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Fire Science/Fire-fighting, which awarded 471 degrees in Colorado in 2024-25, 88.4% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 3 programs to this occupation. The largest are Fire Protection, Environmental/Natural Resources Management and Policy. Together they graduate about 533 people a year in Colorado.
How much do first-line supervisors of firefighting and prevention workers earn in Colorado?+
The median is $102,580 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 9.7% above the U.S. median of $93,530. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for first-line supervisors of firefighting and prevention workers growing?+
BLS projects a +3.4% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 6,500 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Colorado?+
11 institutions in Colorado reported graduates from at least one of the 3 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do first-line supervisors of firefighting and prevention workers work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Fire Chief, Engine Boss, Fire Captain, Fire Battalion Chief among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 33-1021.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
Explore every U.S. college in one conversation
Clema turns plain-language questions into sourced answers across every U.S. institution — earnings, aid, acceptance, graduation, safety, and athletics from IPEDS, College Scorecard, and 10+ federal datasets, built in.
Free for teams up to 3 · No credit card