Radiologic Technology

Radiography programmes train the people who produce medical images — positioning patients, setting exposures, protecting everyone in the room from unnecessary radiation, and knowing when an image is good enough for a radiologist to read. Two years, heavily clinical, and selective to get into.

The degrees this program covers

⚠ This is an associate-degree field and the data says so on both sides: 22 of the 23 Florida institutions awarding in it award the associate degree (349 of 425 credentials in 2023), and 61% of employers name an associate degree as the usual entry. ⚠⚠ But read the certificate rows carefully before choosing one. A short certificate in this series is usually an ADVANCED modality — computed tomography, mammography, interventional — taken by someone who is already a registered technologist, not a route in. The one bachelor's programme in the state is likewise a completion degree for people already working. ⚠ The entry credential is the two-year degree, and admission to it is competitive and cohort-based: applications open once a year, the prerequisites are taken first, and a place is not guaranteed by enrolling at the college.

Careers this program leads to

Each one sets out the courses along the way, the licence or certification at the end, and the sources behind it.

Diagnostic Medical Sonographer

Sonographers produce and interpret the ultrasound images physicians diagnose from — deciding in real time which views answer the clinical question, and recognising the difference between healthy and pathological tissue on a screen nobody else is watching. ⚠ A median of $96,590 on a two-year degree, second only to dental hygiene among the two-year routes on this site. ⚠⚠⚠ And a regulatory fact worth knowing before you enrol: Florida does NOT license sonographers, because the statute is written about radiation rather than about imaging.

Radiologic Technologist

Radiologic technologists produce the medical images physicians diagnose from — positioning patients, setting exposures and keeping the dose as low as the picture allows. ⚠ A median of $80,110 on a two-year degree, the best wage-to-training ratio on this site. ⚠⚠ Florida CERTIFIES the work under Chapter 468, admission is competitive and cohort-based, and the national registry requires an associate degree in any subject alongside an accredited programme.

Careers that name this program, but not as a route

Dental Hygienist

⚠ Not a route here — the two radiography credentials are separate and neither transfers. Worth comparing before you commit, because the programmes are near-identical in shape: two years, limited-access, heavy science prerequisites, at the same colleges. The difference is the setting and the schedule.

Licensed Practical Nurse

⚠ The comparison worth making before you commit. Two years either way, but radiography pays a higher median at entry ($80,110 against $64,400) and has almost no ladder above it, while nursing pays less at first and opens every level from RN to nurse practitioner.

Medical Laboratory Scientist

⚠ Not a route here — the credentials are separate and neither transfers. Named because it is the comparison a student in a health-science first year is actually making, and the arithmetic is uncomfortable: two years to $80,110 with patients, against four years to $62,930 without them.

Physical Therapist Assistant

⚠ Not a route here — separate credentials, neither transfers. Named because it is the other two-year limited-access programme at the same colleges and the comparison is close: radiography pays more at entry ($80,110 against $68,380) and is procedural and scheduled, where this work is longitudinal and physical.

Respiratory Therapist

⚠ The other two-year hospital programme at the same colleges, at nearly the same median wage, and it is not a route here — a radiographer wanting to become a respiratory therapist starts the programme from the beginning. Worth comparing before you apply: radiography is scheduled and procedural, respiratory therapy is on call to whatever is deteriorating.

Programs similar to this one

Neighbouring fields that share much of the same coursework, and often the same employers. ⚠ Read these before you commit to a major — which doors a neighbouring degree keeps open is the part no catalog tells you, and it is far cheaper to change now than later.

Nursing 78 Florida schools

⚠ The comparison most students in a health-science first year are actually making. Both are cohort programmes with clinical placements and competitive admission; nursing is far larger (78 Florida institutions against 23) and has a clear degree ladder above it, while radiography pays more at entry on the same two years and stops at the associate degree for most people.

Physical Therapy 24 Florida schools

⚠ The comparison worth running, because the two-year programmes look alike from outside and the days do not. Radiography is procedural and largely scheduled; a PTA spends the day coaching people through effort, repetition and discouragement. ⚠⚠ Radiography also pays more at entry ($80,110 against $68,380) on the same two years, so if the money is the deciding factor it points the other way.

Diagnostic Imaging and Sonography 22 Florida schools

⚠⚠ The entry point for most of this field, and the one to read first: 23 Florida institutions and 425 credentials against this programme's scattered modalities. ⚠ A great many sonographers, nuclear medicine and CT/MRI technologists began as registered radiographers and added the modality afterwards — which is exactly what those short certificates are for.

Medical Laboratory Science 14 Florida schools

⚠ The comparison that decides it for many people, and it is not about the science. Both are hospital diagnostic programmes at overlapping colleges — but a radiographer spends the day with patients and a laboratory scientist spends it with specimens and instruments. ⚠⚠ Radiography also pays substantially more at entry ($80,110 against $62,930) on a two-year degree rather than a four-year one, which is worth knowing before you commit four years.

Respiratory Therapy 18 Florida schools

The other two-year hospital programme at the same colleges, with nearly the same median wage ($80,110 against $82,280) and the same competitive cohort admission. ⚠ The honest split is what the day looks like: radiography is procedural and largely scheduled, respiratory therapy is on call to whatever is deteriorating. ⚠⚠ Radiography also stops at the associate degree for most people, while respiratory therapy has entry-level baccalaureate routes and a professional push toward them.

Dental Hygiene 18 Florida schools

The closest comparison on structure: a two-year, limited-access, cohort clinical programme at the same colleges, with a similar science load and the same competitive-admission arithmetic. ⚠ The differences are the setting and the hours — a hygienist works in a dental practice, usually on a predictable weekday schedule, while a radiographer works a hospital rota. Both take radiographs; the training and the credentials do not transfer between them.

Florida public institutions offering this program

23 institutions awarded a credential in this field in 2023, at these levels: Associate, Bachelor's, Certificate (<12 weeks), Certificate (12 weeks-1 year), Certificate (2-4 years). A school appears here if it awards anything in the field, however limited its offering — a technical college teaching only practical nursing has a nursing program. Listed alphabetically, not ranked.

Broward College

Associate

College of Central Florida

Associate

Daytona State College

Associate

Eastern Florida State College

Associate

Florida SouthWestern State College

Associate

Florida State College at Jacksonville

Associate

Gulf Coast State College

Associate

Hillsborough Community College

Associate · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Indian River State College

Associate

Marion Technical College

Certificate (2-4 years)

Miami Dade College

Associate

Northwest Florida State College

Associate

Palm Beach State College

Associate · Certificate (<12 weeks) · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Pasco-Hernando State College

Associate

Pensacola State College

Associate

Polk State College

Associate

Saint Johns River State College

Associate

Santa Fe College

Associate · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

South Florida State College

Associate

St Petersburg College

Associate

State College of Florida-Manatee-Sarasota

Associate

Tallahassee Community College

Associate

Valencia College

Associate · Bachelor's · Certificate (<12 weeks) · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Source: federal IPEDS completions data for 2023, first majors only — the most recent year published. ⚠ It records what was awarded, which is strong evidence of what is offered, but a program launched since 2023 will not appear here. Check the institution’s own catalog before applying.

Updated 21 September 2026. ⚠ Program pages describe a field of study, not one school’s degree — always read the catalog of the institution you are applying to.