Firefighter ducational incentive questions

[Captain Gonzo]

If you don't mind, I have a few questions to ask...

How many of you firefighters have college degrees or are presently attending college for a degree?

In what field is your degree in and what level degree have you earned?

Do you get educational incentives for having your degree?

Does your employer pay part of or all of your tuition towards a degree?

These questions are in reference to a thread started by Dalmatian 90 and the story about the Governor of Massachusetts wanting to fund educational incentives for firefighters.

Thank you, brothers and sisters!



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Firefighters: rising under adverse conditions to accept the challenge!
Captain Gonzo

[pyroknight]

I have a BS in BS (Biological Sciences). My department sets compensation on an individual basis, I believe education is a factor, but there is no specific amount for any specific amount of education. The department is paying 100% of my tuition, books, and fees for me to go to Nursing school.

[FF McDonald]

Captain Gonzo -

To answer your questions. I am not a "paid" firefighter - though I aspire to get hired with a metropolitan FD after graduating from school.

I am 25 years old, and currently attending Oklahoma State University - at their school of Fire Protection and Safety Engineering Technology. The program here culminates in a Bachelors of Science degree in Fire Protection and Safety Technology, and is currently ABET accredited. This degree would allow a graduate of this program to sit for their Professional Engineers licensure after being in their field for 6 years -- should the individual desire.

Currently- I receive no educational incentives from any employer. I do receive educational benefits from the Veterans Administration - and from the Marine Corps - but they are meager in comparison to the actual expenses incurred while attending a University.

To give you an example of some of the courses that we are required to attend, here is a partial listing:

• Trigonometry
• Calculus I, II
• Engineering design w/ CAD
• Statics
• Thermodynamics or Strength of Materials
• Water Supply Hydraulics for Fire Protection
• Fire Dynamics
• Structural Design for Fire and Life Safety

I hope this information helps you, and if you need more, please feel free to e-mail me.

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Marc

"In Omnia Paratus"

-- The opinions presented here are my own; and are not those of any organization that I belong to, or work for.

[This message has been edited by FF McDonald (edited 02-24-2001).]

[This message has been edited by FF McDonald (edited 02-24-2001).]

[Da Sharkie]

Hey Cap,

I have an Associates in Fire Science from QCC. I started it in the service and finished it up before I got on the job so it was all my own bucks and the GI Bill paying for it. I am presently working on my Medic adn also an associates in EMS. This is also my own cost. However, this Fall I will be taking classes over at Anna Maria for my BS in Fire Science and administration. My current job will have the town pay full tuition reimbursement, mileage, books, fees and supplies as long as we have receipts. We get 15% for a degree for an associates or bachelors in Fire Science only. The tuition reimbursement is for Fire Science degrees only and nothing else will qualify.

Another department I know of only gets $1300 per year for a degree so there are very few guys going after the degree due to a lack of incentive for them, which I personally disagree with. get the degree anyway, it will only help you understand the job better anyway.

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I didn't do it, nobody saw me do it. You can't prove anything.

[HallwaySledge]

Cap, I hold a BS in Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement Administration. I went to college immediately after high school and then began my fire service career, so my current department neither gave aid in obtaining my degree nor has a plan in place for aiding anyone who may wish to obtain one. I am currently full-time but am testing to change departments. My degree does get me points on certain exams but it is not uniform. As a matter of fact, one exam I am in the process of gives the same amount of points for a Bachelor's degree as for an Associate's, go figure.

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The opinions expressed herein are my own and do not reflect those of my Department or it's Administration.

[FireLt1951]

Well Cap here goes.I have a A/S in Fire Science,B/A in Public Administration with Specialty in Fire Admin.I also hold my FO I,II and III.We receive no incentive pay for college degrees.The city does reimburse us up to $800.00 a year for tuition.I also took the Haz-Mat A&O,RIT and Vehicle Extrication classes on my own.

[smokeater-n-hellraiser]

Cap,
I am currently working toward both a BS degree in Arson Investigation, and a BS degree in Fire Administration, with an automatic minor in CJ.
As far as incentives, there is always the Ma. bill for incentives. Currently I am not on a department though, so I am not sure if I will get any bonuses for having these degrees.
Again, no payment from the employer. It's all me and Uncle Sam.
I hope this helps. E-mail me if you want, and I can get you any course material or questions answered, if so desired. Peace.

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"I hate it when someone says something is impossible, because then I have to go and find a way to do it."
Stay safe, boys and girls. It's for keeps out there.

[Smoke286]

Hey Cap, your missing an "E"

[Quint1Medic]

Hey, Smoke - so are you

[Captain Gonzo]

Smoke...I know I'm missing the E..sometimes I type faster than I think and vice versa.

Our educational incentives are based on percentages of base salary. For 1 to 10 credits, there is a yearly premium of $10 per credit.

10 to 24 credits: 1.5%
25 to 39 credits: 3%
40 to 59 credits: 5%
60 credits: 10%
120 credits: 12%


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Firefighters: rising under adverse conditions to accept the challenge!
Captain Gonzo

[FEOBob]

I have an A.A.S. in Fire Science, and am enrolling to get a B.A. in Public Administration.
My department MAY pay full tuition (no books or other expences), depending on how many people are using this benifit. There are a set number of dollars available.
There is no monetary incentives for education in my department, though there is cert pay for paramedic and Haz Mat tech and spec, and soon for tech rescue as well.
We do get points on our promotional evaluations for education, although the most benefit from any one degree would be one percentage point.

[oldE6man]

We do not receive monetary incentives for college credits/degrees. Our department does pay for members to attend the University of the District of Columbia without charge.

Members DO receive points on promotional exams for educational credit. The formula is 1/30th of a point per credit hour (based on the Fire Science B.S. curriculum at UDC) up to a maximum of four points for a BS degree in Fire Science. These points are added to the raw point total (along with seniority points - max. 5) for the final score before Assessment Center.

[4iron]

We have about 100 line personnel.Today I would guess about 75-80 have an Associate Degree in Fire Technology.About 10-15 have B.S.degrees(in more ways than one!)I have an Associate +.We currently have 0 incentives.But I can see that changing with time.Most of the'old school boys'have retired-we are know a very young department(ave. age is about 35).The problem in the past is two fold:1)Old guys didn't go to college,therefore saw no reason to get pay incentives since it didn't effect them.2)When union contracts are bargained,if our comparative departments don't have incentives,it's hard for us to bargain them in our contracts,without giving up alot of benefits.
Hopefully this will change since a person MUST HAVE:An Associate in Fire AND a state Paramedic license to now get hired!

[Gill]

I have a BA in Mass Communication. I got my degree before I started full time in the fire service, but I worked part-time for a department that had a work study program that allowed me to work for them and attend college. I had to pay all of my school fees. My current department does give pay incentives, but not for people holding my degree. In order to get that incentive I'd have to have a degree in Fire Science, Business Administration/Management. Hope that helps.

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I LOVE THIS JOB!

[RJE]

BS in computer science, math, and theology (don't ask).

Actually, I'm not a FF anymore, and all of these came after, not before, but...

My old dept would pay (county tax-based funds) for any dept related training, including fire science or EMT classes. Typical tuition reimbursement @ 75% of what you paid, after the fact if you passed.

Dept. organized training (like going to weekend "extracation" classes (that's one I remember fondly!) were paid up front.

Of course, being volunteer, we didn't get any "extra" for having completed them, except the satisfaction that we'd be better prepared to do the job of the "unpaid professionals".