Accredited Online Colleges (AOC) recently ranked UW Oshkosh as one of the best online Colleges in Emergency Management in the country.

“We strive to meet or exceed industry standards in preparing the future leaders of the fire and emergency response industry” UWO Fire and Emergency Response Management (FERM) Outreach Program Manager Cindy Brun said.

Emergency management degrees are for students that wish to pursue a career in an organization that responds to large-scale emergencies and disasters ranging from natural disasters to domestic terrorism.

Disasters of this magnitude often require the coordination of several agenc

ies, including medical, fire and law enforcement, so oversight of these operations is crucial to a successful emergency response.

AOC takes into consideration the number of associated programs offered as well as their variety, the courses’ student-to-faculty ratio, affordability and quality of the degree when assembling the rankings.

UWO ranked 19th out of 30 of the top accredited colleges offering the degree in the nation.

“The program has been ranked highly by numerous sources, including OnlineU.org and EndureF.net. It was also the first program of its kind to be implemented in the state of Wisconsin,” the AOC website states.

In July of 2020, the FERM program placed eighth on both OnlineU.org and EdureF.net’s “Most affordable online Fire Science bachelor’s degree” rankings.

UWO currently offers FERM degrees with an emphasis in either Fire Services Management or Emergency Management, with a projected completion of two years or less. The program aims to prepare students academically as a firefighter or EMS upon completion.

For more information on the FERM program offered by the university, visit their website on the UWO Online Degree Programs page.