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Columbus, Indiana has 11 accredited schools offering fire science programs, with tuition ranging from $3,675 to $29,310 per year for indexed programs. Columbus has a population of about 51,970. In Indiana, the top-earning fire science-related role is First-Line Supervisor of Firefighting and Prevention Workers at a median $88,310 annually (BLS, May 2025).
The accredited institutions listed below are the closest in our directory that offer fire science programs near Columbus, ranked by BOC Score and straight-line distance from Columbus city center. The list is rebuilt from federal IPEDS data on every site update.
Every school list on this site is ordered by the BOC Score, computed from the most recent school-level data published by the U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard and IPEDS). To qualify, a school must be currently operating and accredited by an agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Each eligible school is then scored on five measures, percentile-ranked against schools at the same credential level:
Schools without enough outcome data appear after ranked schools, without a score. On this page, schools are ordered by distance from Columbus. Advertising never affects these rankings. Read the full methodology.
Source:Accreditor: Higher Learning CommissionIPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source: IPEDS / College Scorecard (2023 cohort). Browse all Indiana schools on the Indiana fire science page.
Columbus is part of the Columbus, IN metro area (BLS area code 18020). Where MSA-level wages are published, the table below shows MSA medians; otherwise it falls back to Indiana statewide.
| Occupation | Median Wage | Source | COL-Adjusted (US=100) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Firefighter | $43,510 | Columbus, IN | $46,785 |
| First-Line Supervisor of Firefighting and Prevention Workers | $88,310 | IN statewide | $94,957 |
| Fire Inspector and Investigator | $73,340 | IN statewide | $78,860 |
| Emergency Management Director | N/A | IN statewide | – |
Source: BLS, May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes wage data at the metro (MSA) and state level – not by individual city.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Regional Price Parity (US=100) | 93.0 (below U.S. average) | BEA RPP 2024 |
Our directory has 11 accredited schools offering fire science programs near Columbus. The closest is Ivy Tech Community College in Indianapolis, IN (43.1 miles), and the farthest of the schools shown is Sinclair Community College (99.3 miles). 7 of the highlighted schools are flagged as offering distance education.
Based on BLS OEWS May 2025 wage data, the top-paying fire science-related roles near Columbus are: First-Line Supervisor of Firefighting and Prevention Workers ($88,310), Fire Inspector and Investigator ($73,340), Firefighter ($43,510). These reflect MSA-level medians where published, with Indiana statewide fallback for occupations not reported at the metro level.
Seymour, IN is 18.0 miles from Columbus and has its own set of local fire science programs – see the city’s page. For online programs, distance matters less; for hybrid or in-person formats, comparing both can help.
Confirm institutional accreditation via the U.S. Department of Education database (U.S. Dept. of Education database), and check for any program-specific accreditation listed by the school.
Compare every accredited online degree program with city-level data for Columbus:
Data verified: August 11, 2026. Salary, employment, and tuition figures on this page are sourced from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS May 2025; Employment Projections 2024–2034) and the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (2023 cohort). The source agency and data year are cited inline with every statistic.
Back to Best Fire Science Schools in Indiana: Online Programs (2026)
