turning Fireschool credits into real credits

[Kristmatt]

My husband graduated from Goodfellow Fire school last July. We are looking into transfering his certificates into college credits. I was told that Columbia southern university was good to go through for this. We submitted all his certificates and are waiting to hear back on how many credits he qualifies for. Has anyone else done that? What was the total they gave you?

Thank you
Kristina

[KenNFD1219]

I used my fire department certifications when I applied to Charter Oak State College
They gave me credit for FFIII, Instructor I and II, Officer I, and Safety Officer (14 credits total). I also picked up credits for National Fire Academy courses (16) plus EMT (4) for a total of 34 credits hours just for my fire department training. In order to receive credit, the course must be accredited by ACE. There may be other criteria too. I am not sure how military training will translate into credits, I am assuming the training is accredited by IFSAC which should help.

[E2L1R6]

If your husband is AF, then he will get college credit for the courses with the community college of the air force. You should be able to look'em up through the AF portal.

[DeputyMarshal]

I used my fire department certifications when I applied to Charter Oak State College

Just another plug for COSC -- they have an excellant program that more firefighters should consider taking advantage of.

[fyrmandantheman]

College Education

This is me personally, so nobody take offense. When it comes to a college education you should do a bit of research. CSU is an accredited university, but only nationally. The vast majority of schools in the US only accept credits from regionally accredited universities, but some do accept national credits. Granted if the degree is completed through CSU, then no big deal, unless a graduate degree is pursued from there. There are many schools that offer BS in Fire Science (Management, technology, public fire administration) many different ones available.

When it comes to the credits awarded through the fire school, you will have to go to ACENET and see what ACE recommends for the certifications he received. I recently sent in my certs and ACE recs to get credits, they are all lower level classes though, and my CCAF is already complete, so they did not help me at all.

www.IFSAC.ORG has a link to many accredited university programs. Plus being military, UMUC has a degree, AMU and many others with regionally accredited degrees. Just have to do some research and find what fits for you.