As a result of rapid changes in firefighting and the administrative duties currently experienced in the field, academic degrees are available to those who have chosen firefighting as a career, to enhance their knowledge base as well as to prepare them for organizational leadership positions. The U.S. Fire Administration's Fire and Emergency Services Higher Education (FESHE) leaders have produced, through consensus, a standardized undergraduate curriculum that is national in scope, content, and outcomes. This program's objectives are: Creation of degree programs that teach critical thinking skills by requiring a significant number of general education courses rather than mostly fire science courses, Development of associate degree programs that are transferable to baccalaureate programs, Establishment of a model fire science curriculum at the associate level that universally standardizes what students learn and facilitates the application of these courses toward certification goals, and Collaboration between fire certification and training agencies and academic fire programs.