Firefighting Admission Information
Are you ready to start or advance your firefighting career? Get all the details and enroll today!
Two Pathways to Firefighting Success
How to Apply
After you’ve been admitted to San Jac, follow these steps to prepare for the program. By the way, if you haven't applied to San Jac, you'll need to do that first.
Please note that a meningitis vaccination or booster is required if you're younger than 22.
If you have any questions or just want to talk to someone about the program, please reach out to us.
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Submit and Evaluate Transcripts
Send official high school and/or college/university transcripts to our records management office. You can take classes at San Jacinto College for one (1) semester without submitting your official transcript. However, financial aid will not be awarded until all official transcripts are received. All foreign transcripts must be evaluated by an approved third-party evaluator.
Firefighter AAS Degree Students:
If you have taken college classes at another school that are part of your degree plan, be sure to transfer the credits and have them evaluated. You may also receive college credit by certification. To find out which of your courses will transfer, make an official request for San Jacinto College to evaluate your transcripts. Schedule a virtual appointment or call 281-998-6150 for assistance.
Transcripts must be received and on file with San Jac before students may submit an evaluation request. -
Complete Placement Testing
Even if you qualify for an exemption, placement testing is strongly recommended. Students with very low reading scores may struggle, as the program requires the ability to understand large amounts of technical information.
If you have significant reading comprehension challenges or scored low on the reading placement test, consider taking a developmental reading course before starting the program. Meet with an advisor to explore your options.
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Claim Student Login and New Student Orientation
When you apply to San Jac, you'll get a student account. You'll need this to sign up for orientation and classes.
All first-time in college students are required to attend new student orientation before registering for classes at San Jac. Claim your student account and sign-up for orientation.
Note: There is no separate orientation for the Firefighter Training Academy. -
Meet with Advising
As part of our mission in ensuring student success, all students who are new to San Jacinto College will need to meet with an admissions advisor.
Firefighter Academy Students:
You do not need to be registered in any developmental courses for the Firefighter Training Academy. Confirm with your advisor that your major is Fire Prot-Firefighting Certificate of Technology, program code 4FIREFTG.
If you or your advisor have any questions, please contact the fire technology program. -
Register for your Classes
Once all admission requirements have been met, you may register for classes. Registration can be completed online through the student portal.
Firefighter AAS Degree Students: Make sure you review the required courses. We also have general course information outlined in the about the program section.Firefighter Academy Students: Review the plan of study to understand what classes to take. Enrollment is limited, and classes fill quickly. Cadets must register for all courses required for their academy class. Approval to register for second-semester courses will be granted once the academy begins.
Cadets who register incorrectly or incompletely may lose their enrollment spot or preferred class placement. Therefore you are encouraged to speak with the staff before registering.
There are three academies offered each year.
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Paying for Your Classes
Please make sure you pay for your classes by the required deadlines.
Firefighter Academy Students: Cadets who do not pay their tuition by the deadline risk losing their spot in the Firefighter Academy.
San Jacinto College has financial help available. For the Firefighting AAS degree, you may even be exempt from paying any tuition.Take a moment to explore our financial resources that can help pay for college.
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Physical Required for Firefighter Academy
No sooner than thirty (30) days before the start of the academy, and not during class time, all cadets must undergo a physical exam that meets the standard enclosed in the packet we will provide to you. Physicals completed without using our packet will not be accepted. Military, athletic, volunteer firefighter, or any other physicals will not be accepted.
Physical packets must be signed by a MD, DO, PA-C, or NP. San Jacinto College does not pay for, or reimburse for, the cost of the physical exam. Physical exam packets will be emailed to registered cadets once we are close to the thirty-day window. If you complete your exam prior to the start of classes bring it with you the first day of class, otherwise you will need to have the exam within two weeks of the first day of class.
Important Information for the Firefighting AAS Degree
Texas provides a tuition and fee exemption for eligible firefighters. The exemption covers tuition and certain fees for courses in a firefighting degree plan. To qualify, you must be a full-time firefighter with a TCFP-regulated department, or meet other firefighter eligibility requirements, and maintain satisfactory academic progress. If you are unsure if you qualify for the exemption, you should contact the Fire Protection program via email: fire.academy@sjcd.edu.
If eligible for the exemption, any course listed in the Firefighting AAS degree plan is covered. San Jacinto College did away with all fees so the exemption covers the entire cost of covered courses. The only out-of-pocket course expense is likely the cost of the textbook(s). Before purchasing fire course textbooks you should check with the instructor as many departments can provide the textbooks. To take advantage of the exemption you need to follow this process each semester:
- Register for classes
- Provide a current employment verification letter to any San Jac business office. These letters are typically generated by your department’s training division or fire chief’s office. You must provide a letter each semester.
- The business office will verify you meet the satisfactory academic progress and excessive course hours requirements. The business office will then contact the fire program to verify eligibility via the TCFP website and that the courses registered for are covered by the exemption.
- If all requirements are met the exemption is applied.
- If the business office tells you that you are ineligible due to excessive hours please contact the Fire Protection program via email: fire.academy@sjcd.edu.
Texas provides a tuition and fee exemption for eligible firefighters. The exemption covers tuition and certain fees for courses in a firefighting degree plan. To qualify, you must be a full-time firefighter with a TCFP-regulated department, or meet other firefighter eligibility requirements, and maintain satisfactory academic progress. If you are unsure if you qualify for the exemption, you should contact the Fire Protection program via email: fire.academy@sjcd.edu.
If eligible for the exemption, any course listed in the Firefighting AAS degree plan is covered. San Jacinto College did away with all fees so the exemption covers the entire cost of covered courses. The only out-of-pocket course expense is likely the cost of the textbook(s). Before purchasing fire course textbooks you should check with the instructor as many departments can provide the textbooks. To take advantage of the exemption you need to follow this process each semester:
- Register for classes
- Provide a current employment verification letter to any San Jac business office. These letters are typically generated by your department’s training division or fire chief’s office. You must provide a letter each semester.
- The business office will verify you meet the satisfactory academic progress and excessive course hours requirements. The business office will then contact the fire program to verify eligibility via the TCFP website and that the courses registered for are covered by the exemption.
- If all requirements are met the exemption is applied.
- If the business office tells you that you are ineligible due to excessive hours please contact the Fire Protection program via email: fire.academy@sjcd.edu.
Do you already have additional TCFP certifications? If so, you may be able to receive course credit instead of repeating the course. The approved electives chart below provides a listing of courses and their matching TCFP certifications. You must complete three (3) non-developmental credit hours at SJC before a credit by examination application can be initiated.
You must earn at least 25% of the credit hours required for the degree through instruction at San Jacinto College and credit by certification hours do not count towards this requirement. The credit hours will count in hours used for financial aid decisions. You must request to have the credit posted. Currently there is a $20 fee per course. To receive credit, you should contact the Fire Protection program via email: fire.academy@sjcd.edu.
| Course | Title | Certification |
| FIRS 2450 | Hazardous Materials Technician | TCFP HAZMAT Technician |
| FIRT 1342 | Fire Officer I | TCFP Fire Officer I |
| FIRT 1343 | Fire Officer II | TCFP Fire Officer II |
| FIRT 1408 | Fire Inspector I | TCFP Inspector I |
| FIRT 1440 | Fire Inspector II | TCFP Inspector II & Plan Examiner |
| FIRT 1450 | Fire Investigator | TCFP Fire Investigator |
| FIRT 2305 | Fire Instructor I | TCFP Instructor I |
| FIRT 2357 | Fire Officer III | TCFP Fire Officer III |
| FIRT 2370 | Fire Officer IV | TCFP Fire Officer IV |
The San Jacinto College Firefighting AAS degree consists of 60 credit hours. The first
24 hours are the fire academy courses. If you took the Firefighter Training Academy
at San Jacinto College (or a similar program at another Texas college) you should
be good to go without having to repeat these 24 hours.
If you have your Texas Commission on Fire Protection (TCFP) Basic Fire Suppression
certification you should be able to receive credit for these 24 hours though our credit
by certification process. The remaining 36 credit hours are made up of 18 hours of
fire courses and 18 hours of general education courses.
Be sure to review the catalogue for more information.
Important Information for the Firefighter Training Academy
The San Jacinto College Firefighter Training Academy includes seven firefighting courses offered over two college semesters.
San Jacinto College is certified by the Texas Commission on Fire Protection (TCFP) to conduct Basic Fire Suppression courses, also known as fire academies. The TCFP regulates paid and career fire departments across the state, and a TCFP Firefighter Basic certification is required to work as a paid firefighter in Texas.
After successfully completing the academy, cadets take the TCFP Basic Fire Suppression certification exam. To earn certification, cadets must also complete basic medical training.
Graduates of the academy earn 24 semester credit hours, which apply toward the AAS degree in Firefighting.
Important:
Cadets who are not already certified as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) or higher
must also complete EMT classes. While cadets are strongly encouraged to finish EMT
training before starting the Firefighter Training Academy, those beginning in the
fall semester should enroll in the academy first.
For more information on EMT classes, contact the EMT program director.
This option runs for 18 weeks, beginning in the summer semester and ending midway through the fall semester.
Cadets attend classes four days a week, Monday through Thursday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. during both the summer and fall semesters. Additional Friday classes will be scheduled as needed to meet required instructional hours.
A detailed class schedule will be provided on the first day of the academy.
This option runs for 24 weeks, beginning in the fall semester and ending midway through the following spring semester.
Cadets attend classes three days a week, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. during the fall semester. In the spring semester, cadets attend firefighting classes four days a week, Monday through Thursday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Holidays or college closures may require attendance on alternate days. Cadets will be notified in advance whenever possible.
If space allows, cadets who begin under this option may switch to the next available option in the spring semester.
This option runs for 32 weeks, beginning in the fall semester and concluding at the end of the following spring semester.
Cadets attend classes three days a week, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. during the fall semester. In the spring semester, cadets attend firefighting classes two days a week, Monday and Wednesday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Holidays or college closures may require attendance on alternate days. Cadets will be notified in advance whenever possible.
If space allows, cadets who begin under this option may switch to the previous option in the spring semester.
You will need to purchase the following textbook and bring it with you to the first day of class.
- Fundamentals of Fire Fighter Skills and Hazardous Materials Response, Fifth Edition (Includes Navigate Premier Access) Published by Jones & Bartlett Learning ISBN: 9781284283051
Please note the following:
- Electronic-only books are strongly discouraged because of potential damage of electronic devices during training. Likewise, rented textbooks are also discouraged as you will need the books to study for fire department hiring tests after the Fire Academy. Books may be purchased at the Barnes & Noble bookstore on the Central Campus. The bookstore will price-match certain other retailers, e.g., Amazon. Contact the bookstore for details.
- We will have the Fundamentals of Fire Fighter Skills textbook available to loan the first day of class so don’t pay for expedited shipping.
- Total textbook costs (including recommended books), purchased new, are approximately $130. It is strongly recommended that cadets purchase their books as soon as possible to ensure they have them for the first day of class.
Don't let costs keep you from applying!
