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Fire Protection at Columbia Southern University

Orange Beach, AL · Private for-profit · Bachelor's Degree
87 /100
DegreeWorth Score (Base Case)
88
Optimistic
87
Base Case
82
Pessimistic
Earnings $82,718/yr (21% vs median)
AI Risk Moderate (34% exposed)
Job Market Very Large (150,900 openings/yr)

How AI Changes the Outlook

Three scenarios based on how aggressively AI disrupts the career paths available to Fire Protection graduates.

Optimistic
No Disruption		 Base Case
Gradual AI		 Pessimistic
Aggressive AI
10-Year Earnings $887K $808K $685K
Earnings Multiple 38.2x 34.8x 29.5x
Viable Career Paths 6 of 6 6 of 6 6 of 6
DegreeWorth Score 88 87 82

10-Year Earnings Projection

*Year 1 uses actual reported earnings. Scenarios diverge as AI impact compounds over time.

4-Year Tuition
$23,232
Median Debt at Graduation
$20,895
3.0 months of Year 1 earnings
Reported Earnings (5 Year)
$87,912
6% growth from Year 1

Career Paths

Where Fire Protection graduates typically work. Raw data — no blending. The scenarios above model how these factors interact. This field has roughly 150,900 combined openings per year.

Career Path Wage Openings/yr Growth AI Risk
Managers, all other $136,550 106,700 +4.5% 47%
First-line supervisors of firefighting and prevention workers $92,430 6,500 +3.4% 42%
Fire inspectors and investigators $78,060 1,500 +3.8% 29%
Career/technical education teachers, postsecondary $61,490 8,800 +0.7% 49%
Firefighters $59,530 27,100 +3.4% 14%
Forest fire inspectors and prevention specialists $52,380 300 +14.6% 22%

Compare & Explore

Fire Protection at Other Schools

Southern Illinois University-Carbondale ($104,017) Waldorf University ($97,731) Purdue University Global ($89,622) University of Florida ($86,740) University of Florida-Online ($86,740) Anna Maria College ($81,637) Oklahoma State University-Main Campus ($75,503) American Public University System ($73,302)

Other Majors at Columbia Southern University

Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions ($83,927) Quality Control and Safety Technologies/Technicians ($78,532) Natural Resources Conservation and Research ($74,546) Homeland Security ($62,313) Computer/Information Technology Administration and Management ($61,894) Criminal Justice and Corrections ($60,461) Business Administration, Management and Operations ($58,468) Human Resources Management and Services ($53,843)

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the DegreeWorth Score for Fire Protection at Columbia Southern University?
This program scores 87/100 in the Base Case scenario, factoring in earnings, AI disruption risk, job market size, and earnings multiple. The score ranges from 88 (optimistic) to 82 (pessimistic) depending on AI's impact.
How does AI affect Fire Protection career prospects?
We model three scenarios: Optimistic (no disruption), Base Case (gradual AI adoption), and Pessimistic (aggressive AI displacement). In the base case, Fire Protection graduates retain 6 of 6 viable career paths. 10-year earnings range from $685,130 (pessimistic) to $886,685 (optimistic).
How many job openings are there for Fire Protection graduates?
The career paths mapped to Fire Protection have roughly 150,900 combined job openings per year nationally, making this a very large job market.
Is Fire Protection at Columbia Southern University worth it?
In the Base Case, this degree earns 34.8x its in-state tuition over 10 years. Even in the Pessimistic scenario, the multiple is 29.5x. The spread between scenarios tells you how sensitive this degree is to AI disruption.
Data: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (earnings, debt), Bureau of Labor Statistics 2024-2034 (employment projections), OpenAI GPTs-are-GPTs research (AI task exposure), Felten et al. AIOE. Scenarios use a continuous weighting function combining AI exposure and BLS job growth projections. "Earnings Multiple" is total 10-year projected earnings divided by tuition — not a discounted financial ROI. Last updated 2025.