Programs

Nursing programmes prepare people to care for patients across every setting Florida has, from a practical-nursing certificate at a technical college through an associate degree leading to RN licensure to a baccalaureate and beyond. One programme, several entry points.

Engineering technology programmes prepare technicians and technologists who build, install, test and maintain what engineers design — electronics, mechanical systems, industrial automation, quality, drafting and civil works. It is the largest applied-technical family in the Florida College System.

Mechanical engineering programmes teach the analysis of forces, motion, energy and materials, and the design of the machines and systems that use them. It is the broadest engineering discipline and the one that closes the fewest doors.

Electrical engineering programmes teach the behaviour of electricity, electronics, signals and computing hardware, and the design of the systems built from them — power generation and distribution, communications, control, and the embedded computers inside almost everything else.

Civil engineering programmes teach the analysis and design of the built environment — structures, foundations, transportation, water supply, drainage and coastal works — together with the public responsibility that comes with putting a seal on the drawings.

Aerospace engineering programmes teach flight — aerodynamics, propulsion, structures, control and orbital mechanics — and the design of the aircraft and spacecraft built from them. In Florida the industry is unusually close: the Space Coast launch complex, and the defence, avionics and simulation firms around Orlando.

Industrial engineering programmes teach the design and improvement of systems that combine people, machines, materials and information — production lines, supply chains, hospitals, airports and theme parks. It is the engineering discipline least tied to one industry, and the one whose graduates most often end up running operations.

Chemical engineering programmes teach the design and operation of processes that transform materials at scale — reactors, separations, heat and mass transfer, process control and process safety. It is the engineering discipline built on chemistry, and the only one that requires organic chemistry. ⚠⚠ In Florida it is offered at only FOUR institutions in THREE cities, and two of those four share one joint college, so where you start matters more here than in any other engineering discipline.

Biomedical engineering programmes apply engineering to medicine — instrumentation and imaging, biomaterials and implants, biomechanics, and tissue and neural engineering. It is Florida’s newest and fastest-growing engineering discipline. ⚠⚠ It is also the one where the bachelor’s degree is least often the end of the story: fewer than half of employers treat it as sufficient, and two Florida universities award the degree at graduate level only.

Computer science programmes teach how computation works and how to build software that is correct, efficient and maintainable — algorithms, data structures, operating systems, networks, languages and the discrete mathematics underneath them. It is the largest computing programme in Florida by any measure, and the one with the widest spread of entry points.

Data science programmes teach how to get a defensible answer out of data — statistics and study design, programming, machine learning, and handling data at a scale that breaks a spreadsheet. It is among the newest programmes in the Florida catalogue, and it is still settling: the same subject is awarded under two federal codes and a range of names.

Law programmes lead to the Juris Doctor, the professional degree behind admission to the Florida Bar. It is a graduate programme: you arrive holding a bachelor’s degree in whatever subject you chose, and the J.D. takes three years of full-time study after it.