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Fire Protection at Western Illinois University

Macomb, IL · Public · Bachelor's Degree
61 /100
DegreeWorth Score (Base Case)
61
Optimistic
61
Base Case
59
Pessimistic
Earnings $41,432/yr (-39% 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 $475K $417K $343K
Earnings Multiple 7.9x 7.0x 5.7x
Viable Career Paths 6 of 6 6 of 6 6 of 6
DegreeWorth Score 61 61 59

10-Year Earnings Projection

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

4-Year Tuition
$59,808
Median Debt at Graduation
$20,931
6.1 months of Year 1 earnings

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) Columbia Southern University ($82,718) Anna Maria College ($81,637) Oklahoma State University-Main Campus ($75,503)

Other Majors at Western Illinois University

Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing ($74,490) Construction Management ($70,789) Engineering, General ($66,112) Engineering Technology, General ($64,762) Computer and Information Sciences, General ($62,578) Accounting and Related Services ($49,900) Agriculture, General ($48,509) Human Resources Management and Services ($47,467)

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the DegreeWorth Score for Fire Protection at Western Illinois University?
This program scores 61/100 in the Base Case scenario, factoring in earnings, AI disruption risk, job market size, and earnings multiple. The score ranges from 61 (optimistic) to 59 (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 $343,169 (pessimistic) to $474,971 (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 Western Illinois University worth it?
In the Base Case, this degree earns 7.0x its in-state tuition over 10 years. Even in the Pessimistic scenario, the multiple is 5.7x. 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.