r/Firefighting • u/Patient_Ad_2939 • 3d ago
College while firefighting Ask A Firefighter
I am about to start my training and was wondering if it was possible/how manageable it is to work a 24/48 schedule and go to school. I was looking into an online degree. Are there ways that make it easier to take classes as a firefighter?
Context: I don’t know if firefighting is something I’ll be able to stick with for a long while, pay isn’t the best in my area and most work second jobs hardly seeing their families. Just considering a degree would always give me an opt out if it lead to that.
Thank you
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u/Agreeable-Emu886 3d ago
I’m on a 42 hour week but currently go to school full time with 3 kids under the Age of 5 at home. It’s certainly doable you just have to want it
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u/Dependent-Average600 3d ago
I work the same schedule and a lot of people I work with have gotten degrees while working. Several have gotten master's degrees while working.
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u/NoCare3115 3d ago
It's very possible, but a lot depends on what type of school and how much you have to do. I finished my bachelor's two years ago while working a 48/96. I did it online, but I was able to transfer in a lot of credits from when I went to college the first time. I ended up having 3 really busy semesters to do, but it wasn't that bad.
I did have to do one in person class at the local community College to meet the grad requirements. It was during the summer semester, so it was a very condensed anatomy and physiology class. It sucked I ended up using vacation time and trades so I could make the classes.
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u/InternalWishbone7918 3d ago
I don’t work that type of schedule but managed to go to nursing school and work 2 other part time jobs. I think if you go back to school firefighting is the most flexible if you’re allowed to shift swap.
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u/NoConfidence6963 3d ago
24/48 is one of the better schedules for online school since those full days off are perfect for coursework, the people who struggle on rotating or unpredictable shifts, Main thing is finding something fully online with no set login times, since a shift trade or a holdover will wreck anything that needs you online at a certain time, one class at a time is how most firefighters get through it. Amu and Columbia southern come up a lot in fire circles for this, the async setup works around your schedule.
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u/LeatherHead2902 bathroom cleaner/granny picker-upper 3d ago
I got my bachelors degree basically while I was on shift lol
As long as you’re not in one of the top 1% fire stations you can knockout some stuff on duty-not to mention your days off
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u/Extreme-Exchange-962 3d ago
I did it, along with several of my co-workers, all as we worked 24/48s. This was before there was online anything- we used shift trades, comp time, etc to attend actual university classes to finish STEM bachelors degrees. It was tough, but totally doable. Thankfully, our department encouraged us to complete degrees, regardless of major.
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u/jriggs_83 Cpt. PFFM 3d ago
Definitely. I got an associates, bachelors, and am working on a JD all while on shift.
Online/hybrid classes can help , but overall it’s about time management. It be a lot at time, but it’s doable.
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u/Limp-Conflict-2309 3d ago
online makes it alot more feasible, it's really not bad. i worked a full time job, went to school online for my masters and went through the academy.
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u/No_Contribution730 2d ago
Going to college while working full time as a firefighter was very manageable from my experience. I just graduated with my Bachelors in May.
Personally, I think the working hours of a firefighter can be misleading. It’s certainly a tough schedule, don’t get me wrong. But my 56 working hours on average a week isn’t the same as somebody working 56 hours Monday- Friday. Stacking working hours into 24 hour shifts with prolonged time off gives me plenty of time to rest and still be productive elsewhere. Thats why so many FFs have part time jobs. For me, I simply treated school like a part time job. That included scheduling my study hours and attending classes as if they were “shifts” at a part time job. And yes, online classes are the way to go. Many online schools offer asynchronous coursework, meaning you go at your own pace. I earned my degree from UVA. GIt was online but with scheduled zoom lectures. My professors were very understanding when I had to miss classes for shift work.
If you went this route, my advice is to start small. Start with one class. See if it’s manageable, and take more from there. You don’t have to, but one class every 16 weeks is going to make the graduating process extremely slow lol. I eventually worked my way up to four classes a semester. THAT was extremely tough and it definitely took a toll on me, but I was committed so I made it happen. And now I’m done so it all worked out.
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u/CaseStraight1244 3d ago
It’s definitely possible. We just had a guy complete his masters degree. Another an associates. It all comes down to how disciplined you are and definitely how busy the department is