A fire protection engineering degree is an engineering degree whose subject is fire protection itself.
The programs our research verified in the US sit at the University of Maryland (B.S. and graduate), WPI and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, with online master's options at all three; Oklahoma State runs the related engineering technology degree.
Here are the programs, what our research verified of their cost, length and admission requirements, and the path to the PE exam.
What is a fire protection engineering degree?
A fire protection engineering degree teaches the engineering behind fire protection.
Where our research verified the foundation coursework graduate admission asks for, it is what WPI's online M.S. admission requirements list: heat transfer, fluid mechanics, thermodynamics and calculus through differential equations.
The engineering-side accreditation our research verified for an FPE bachelor's is from ABET's Engineering Accreditation Commission.
The University of Maryland's B.S. in Fire Protection Engineering is accredited by that commission under the program criteria for Fire Protection and Similarly Named Engineering Programs.
Read program names carefully.
Many community-college "Fire Protection Technology" associate degrees are fire-service degrees rather than engineering programs — one verified example follows IFSAC standards and expects students to be volunteer fire department members or have turnout gear.
If you are comparing this degree against the work itself, the fire protection engineer career guide covers what FPEs do, who employs them and what the pay data shows.
Fire protection engineering programs in the US: B.S., M.S. and online
University of Maryland.
The B.S. in Fire Protection Engineering is a 120-credit program accredited by ABET's Engineering Accreditation Commission.
At graduate level, UMD lists an on-campus M.S. of 30 credits including thesis, a 30-credit non-thesis Master of Engineering taught both on campus and online, a 12-credit graduate certificate on campus and online, and combined B.S./M.S. and B.S./M.Eng options.
One boundary to know: UMD's FPE program does not confer a Ph.D. at this time, per the department's own degrees page.
Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
WPI's online M.S. in Fire Protection Engineering runs 10 courses for 30 credit hours.
Admission to that online M.S. requires a B.S. in engineering, engineering technology or the physical sciences, with prior coursework in heat transfer, fluid mechanics, thermodynamics and calculus through differential equations.
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
Cal Poly offers a 30-semester-unit M.S. in Fire Protection Engineering delivered online.
Its admission requirements are the program's own — confirm them with the program before you apply.
This is not a national inventory.
Our research verified the programs above but compiled no complete count of US fire protection engineering programs, so treat the list as a starting map rather than the whole field.
Check each school's current catalog, and confirm accreditation claims on ABET's own accredited-program search, before you apply or plan coursework around a program.
Programs change their details
Related degrees that lead into fire protection engineering
An FPE bachelor's is not the only route in: WPI's online M.S. admits a B.S. in engineering, engineering technology or the physical sciences, provided you arrive with the foundation coursework named above.
That is WPI's stated rule — our research did not verify UMD's or Cal Poly's admission requirements.
Oklahoma State University runs the named undergraduate alternative our research verified, a B.S. in Fire Protection and Safety Engineering Technology (FPSET).
It is accredited by ABET's Engineering Technology Accreditation Commission — an engineering technology accreditation, not the Engineering Accreditation Commission accreditation UMD's B.S. in Fire Protection Engineering carries.
OSU describes FPSET as the first ABET-accredited undergraduate FPSET program and one of only a few in the nation, offered both on campus and online.
The catalog lists 125 total credit hours for the FPSET bachelor's in its 2026-27 edition.
The same college catalog shows two more fire-focused options: a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering with a Fire Protection Systems option, and an M.S. in Engineering Technology with a Fire Safety and Explosion Protection option.
All classes in that master's program are offered both in person and online.
The engineering-versus-engineering-technology line matters when you compare programs, because a "fire protection" label can sit on either side of it.
How any one program's degree counts toward a particular FPE master's admission, or toward a state board's education requirement, is that program's and board's call — confirm with them directly.
For the route those degrees feed — the FE exam, the experience years and the PE — the how to become a fire protection engineer guide walks the sequence in order.
What a fire protection engineering degree costs and how long it takes
Length, in the units the catalogs publish: the University of Maryland's B.S. is 120 credits, and Oklahoma State's FPSET bachelor's is 125 credit hours in the 2026-27 catalog.
At graduate level, UMD's M.S. is 30 credits including thesis, its M.Eng is 30 credits and its certificate is 12; WPI's online M.S. is 10 courses and 30 credit hours; Cal Poly's M.S. is 30 semester units.
Our research did not verify a start-to-finish duration for any of these programs, so confirm how long each takes with the school.
Cost is where the verified record is thinnest.
Cal Poly is the exception: from fall 2026 its fee is $1,232 per unit — $36,960 for the full 30 units before other fees.
Per-credit tuition for UMD's and WPI's programs was not verified in our research, so price those two from each school's own tuition pages.
Scholarship support does move at the program level.
UMD's FPE program reported that in fall 2021, more than half of its incoming FPE students received scholarship support — a dated, single-program statistic rather than a national picture.
From the degree to the PE: the NCEES Fire Protection exam
The degree is the entry point; the license above it is the PE, and the exam for that license is the NCEES PE Fire Protection exam, with each state licensing board setting eligibility and the rest of its licensure requirements.
The exam is computer-based at Pearson VUE centers and is administered one day per year — the next test date listed is April 13, 2027.
It runs 85 questions in an 8.5-hour exam inside a 9.5-hour appointment, and the $400 exam fee is payable directly to NCEES.
NCEES says the exam is designed for engineers with at least four years of post-college work experience, and that licensing boards set eligibility and may charge separate application fees.
On exam day, NCEES provides an electronic reference handbook and the specified design standards; personal copies are not allowed.
State rules can reach the title itself.
In California, Fire Protection Engineering is a "title act" PE discipline: only a person licensed by BPELSG in that branch may use the title, while practice acts apply only to civil, electrical and mechanical engineering.
Career information, not licensing, legal, code, inspection, engineering or safety advice. Program, exam and licensure details change — confirm them with each program, with NCEES and with your state licensing board.
Confirm exam and licensure details before you act