Best Security programs in Texas, ranked by enrollment
Install, program, maintain, and repair security and fire alarm wiring and equipment.
23 schools in Texas run programs that feed this job, graduating 1,974 people a year. The job pays a median of $52,270 in Texas across about 10,260 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Texas that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
1 programs in Texas that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Texas (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 Texas page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 46.0302In Texas → | 1,974 | 100.0% | 23 | $39,766 | $9,500 |
Top 23 schools in Texas
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 4 of the 23 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tulsa Welding School - Houston Houston, TX Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 393 | Electrician | — | 70% | $34,116 | — |
| 2 | Southern Careers Institute - Brownsville Brownsville, TX Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 231 | Electrician | $25,267 | 68% | $17,794 | — |
| 3 | St Philip's College San Antonio, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 193 | Electrician | — | 28% | — | — |
| 4 | Tulsa Welding School - Dallas Campus Irving, TX Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 183 | Electrician | — | — | — | — |
| 5 | Southern Careers Institute - San Antonio San Antonio, TX Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 168 | Electrician | $25,267 | 61% | $30,890 | — |
| 6 | Lamson Institute San Antonio, TX Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 132 | Electrician | $36,261 | 80% | $26,614 | — |
| 7 | Lincoln College of Technology - Grand Prairie Grand Prairie, TX Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 128 | Electrician | — | 73% | $31,422 | — |
| 8 | Austin Career Institute, LLC Austin, TX Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 124 | Electrician | — | 86% | $19,574 | — |
| 9 | Texas State Technical College Waco, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 70 | Electrician | $76,445 | 46% | — | — |
| 10 | Dallas College Dallas, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 58 | Electrician | — | 32% | — | — |
| 11 | Collin County Community College District McKinney, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 53 | Electrician | — | 20% | — | — |
| 12 | Brazosport College Lake Jackson, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 37 | Electrician | — | 56% | — | — |
| 13 | South Plains College Levelland, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 37 | Electrician | — | 29% | — | — |
| 14 | Laredo College Laredo, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 31 | Electrician | — | 30% | — | — |
| 15 | El Paso Community College El Paso, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 30 | Electrician | — | 24% | — | — |
| 16 | Austin Community College District Austin, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 27 | Electrician | — | 20% | — | — |
| 17 | Las Vegas College - Houston Career Institute Houston, TX Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 15 | Electrician | — | — | — | — |
| 18 | Texarkana College Texarkana, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 15 | Electrician | — | 47% | — | — |
| 19 | Lee College Baytown, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 14 | Electrician | — | 53% | — | — |
| 20 | Paris Junior College Paris, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 13 | Electrician | — | 38% | — | — |
| 21 | Trinity Valley Community College Athens, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 10 | Electrician | — | 27% | — | — |
| 22 | Houston City College Houston, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 7 | Electrician | — | 17% | — | — |
| 23 | Grayson College Denison, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 5 | Electrician | — | 40% | — | — |
All 23 schools in Texas
Every school in Texas 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tulsa Welding School - Houston | Houston | Private for-profit | 393 | 1 |
| Southern Careers Institute - Brownsville | Brownsville | Private for-profit | 231 | 1 |
| St Philip's College | San Antonio | Public | 193 | 1 |
| Tulsa Welding School - Dallas Campus | Irving | Private for-profit | 183 | 1 |
| Southern Careers Institute - San Antonio | San Antonio | Private for-profit | 168 | 1 |
| Lamson Institute | San Antonio | Private for-profit | 132 | 1 |
| Lincoln College of Technology - Grand Prairie | Grand Prairie | Private for-profit | 128 | 1 |
| Austin Career Institute, LLC | Austin | Private for-profit | 124 | 1 |
| Texas State Technical College | Waco | Public | 70 | 1 |
| Dallas College | Dallas | Public | 58 | 1 |
| Collin County Community College District | McKinney | Public | 53 | 1 |
| Brazosport College | Lake Jackson | Public | 37 | 1 |
| South Plains College | Levelland | Public | 37 | 1 |
| Laredo College | Laredo | Public | 31 | 1 |
| El Paso Community College | El Paso | Public | 30 | 1 |
What security and fire alarm systems installers earn in Texas
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $60,070. Texas pays below the national figure.
Concentrated here: Texas employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.
Metro areas in Texas
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 Security and Fire Alarm Systems Installers page.
How to become a Security
Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- 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 Texas
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 2 majors mapped to Security and Fire Alarm Systems Installers2 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 46.0302Electrician
- 47.0110Security System Installation, Repair, and Inspection Technology/Technician
Common questions
Answers for people weighing security and fire alarm systems installers programs in Texas.
What degree do you need to become a Security?+
High school diploma or equivalent is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Electrician, which awarded 1,974 degrees in Texas in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Security?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Electrical and Power Transmission Installers. Together they graduate about 1,974 people a year in Texas.
How much do security and fire alarm systems installers earn in Texas?+
The median is $52,270 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 13.0% below the U.S. median of $60,070. 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 security and fire alarm systems installers growing?+
BLS projects a +10.4% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, much faster than average, with roughly 9,400 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Texas?+
23 institutions in Texas reported graduates from at least one of the 1 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 security and fire alarm systems installers work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Alarm Technician, Service Technician, Installation Technician, Fire Alarm Technician (Fire Alarm Tech) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 49-2098.
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
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