Helpful information for online students
Thank you for reaching out regarding the FPST program! Our program dates back to 1937 and is the oldest of its kind in the nation and the first accredited program! Our program prepares graduates to work in a variety of fields focusing on risk control. Graduates work in the design and construction, manufacturing, energy, government (from municipal, state, and federal), healthcare, and many other industries. Our graduates’ typical roles are fire protection engineer, safety specialist, industrial hygienist, or designer. Graduates have the capability to sit and test for the Fundamentals of Engineering (and eventually the Professional Engineering) examination, the Certified Safety Professional, NICET exams, and the Certified Fire Protection Specialist. Our program provides vast opportunities and flexibility in career paths as well as the capability to pivot in the industry and take on new roles. More information can be found about our program and graduates here: https://ceat.okstate.edu/det/fpset/why-osu-fpset.html
Our program has a rigorous curriculum, but employers boast about our graduate’s readiness to “hit the ground running”. Our program is a minimum 125 credit hours and includes Math, Physics, Chemistry and Engineering Science requirements in addition to the Fire Protection and Safety Engineering Technology classes. The online program offers each FPST course 1 time a year in the fall or spring semester allowing for general education and pre-requisites to fill in the other courses and summer courses. If you enter the program with transfer credits, it may result in not being able to be a full-time student every semester due to online course rotations and pre-requisite requirements. The FPST online course rotation can be found on the FPST student community (which you would have access to after being admitted to the university and enrolled in courses). Note that the availability of online courses in other departments (commonly MATH, PHYS, or CHEM) may be restricted as well – though these can many times be taken elsewhere and transferred in (see information on transfer credits below).
Program admissions requirements can be found here: https://ceat.okstate.edu/ursp/admission-requirements.html.
If you have additional questions, please contact that office.
It should be noted that our degree program starts at Engineering Calculus (MATH 2144). Some students may have to take additional math classes to prepare themselves for Calculus. This is based upon what math classes were taken at previous institutions or your placement on the ALEKS exam with the Math Department.
If you have transfer credits or you plan to take some classes at a local community college, you may review them at the following site: https://go.okstate.edu/admissions/transfer/transfer-guides.html
If you cannot find the university where you took classes, it may require the specific department to review your classes for transferability (this means that the MATH department will review the MATH classes you took elsewhere to see what classes are equivalent here at OSU). However, the departments will typically not do this until after you have applied to OSU and been accepted. The FPST department may be able to review any Fire Science or Safety type courses that you have taken elsewhere. Note that unfortunately, professional certificates (i.e. Firefighter 1 or NICET level 2, etc.) or on the job experience cannot count towards course credits per University policy.
Information about paying for your college education can be found here (including tuition estimators for online programs): https://go.okstate.edu/scholarships-financial-aid/. If you have additional questions, please contact that office.