Biologist and Biological Technician
SOC 19-1029
⚠⚠⚠ Begin with the arithmetic. Florida awards about 5,000 biology bachelor's a year; the biological-scientist occupations hire roughly 13,800 people a year NATIONALLY, and two-thirds of those openings are technician roles at a $57,510 median. ⚠⚠ That is not an argument against the degree — it is an argument for knowing what it is FOR. In practice a Florida biology bachelor's is a preparation for professional school, a research doctorate, teaching or a laboratory career that starts at technician level, and the state's own enrolment data already shows it.
Marine Biologist and Wildlife Biologist
SOC 19-1023
⚠⚠⚠ The numbers first, because nobody puts them in front of Florida students: 19,500 zoologists and wildlife biologists nationally, about 1,400 openings a year across all fifty states, and a FLORIDA median of $52,750 against $76,780 nationally — the widest gap this site has measured. ⚠⚠ Florida awards 98 marine biology bachelor's a year at three institutions, and roughly 5,000 biology bachelor's, many of whom want the same jobs. This page is about what to do with that, not about talking you out of it.
Pharmacist
SOC 29-1051
⚠⚠ One route: the Doctor of Pharmacy, awarded in Florida's public system by UF, FAMU and USF (about 412 a year). ⚠⚠ Admission turns on two or more years of prerequisite science, not a bachelor's degree: UF's minimum is an associate degree, and more than half of Pharm.D. applications nationally come from people without a bachelor's. Median pay is $140,910 nationally and $135,970 in Florida. BLS expects retail demand to be limited as prescriptions move online and by mail.
⚠ Biology — general biology and microbiology are on UF's critical-tracking list (BSC2010/2011, MCB3020), and BLS names anatomy and physiology. The same caution applies: AACP does not report majors.
Environmental Scientist and Specialist
SOC 19-2041
Measuring and protecting water, air, soil and habitat, and making the case in front of a regulator. ⚠⚠⚠ Two things a Florida student should know before choosing the major. FIRST, environmental SCIENCE and environmental STUDIES are different degrees leading to different jobs, and the state's largest producer teaches the studies one. SECOND, Florida pays this occupation $21,390 below the national median — a far wider gap than architecture's $3,040 or interior design's $6,330 — so choosing the employer matters more here than almost anywhere else.
⚠ Biology, General — named because the ecology sequence is genuinely shared: PCB3043 General Ecology and its laboratory and BSC3052 Conservation Biology are biology numbers, and habitat, wetland and restoration employers hire from both degrees. ⚠⚠ A biology degree with the environmental electives is a stronger preparation for field ecology than an environmental studies degree with none.
Police Officer
SOC 33-3051
Police officers patrol, respond, investigate, arrest and testify — and carry the state's authority to use force. ⚠ A Florida median of $74,470, reached through a certified ACADEMY rather than a degree: Florida requires a high school diploma, not a bachelor's. ⚠⚠ This page covers patrol, investigation and corrections together, because they share one state certification system. ⚠⚠⚠ And it answers the question 6,939 Florida credentials a year raise: if the job does not require a degree, what is the degree for?
Biological sciences — ⚠ not an obvious feeder, but the one that matters for FISH AND GAME WARDEN, the single role in this family that requires a bachelor's up front, in wildlife science, biology or natural resources.
Registered Dietitian Nutritionist
SOC 29-1031
Dietitians assess nutritional status and design the medical nutrition therapy that treats kidney disease, diabetes, cancer, critical illness and failure to thrive. ⚠ A median of $76,400 with 8% growth. ⚠⚠⚠ And the thing a Florida student must not get wrong: since 1 January 2024 the national credential requires a GRADUATE DEGREE, while the Florida licensing statute still says a bachelor's — three sources disagree about what this career needs, and this page sets out which one binds.
Biological sciences — 15 Florida public institutions and the largest science footprint in the state. Named because the metabolism and biochemistry that dietetics rests on are taught here, and because a biology degree plus ACEND coursework is a viable route.
Speech-Language Pathologist
SOC 29-1127
Speech-language pathologists diagnose and treat disorders of speech, language, voice and swallowing — in children who are not talking, in stroke patients who have lost words, in people who cannot safely swallow. ⚠ A median of $97,870 and 17% growth, among the best combinations on this site. ⚠⚠⚠ But the bachelor's is NOT a terminal degree: Florida awards 513 of them a year into 298 master's places, and 89% of the profession holds a master's. This page covers the assistant, the pathologist and the audiologist, because the bachelor's only reaches the first.
Biological sciences — the anatomy, physiology and neurology this profession rests on, and a common undergraduate route for applicants who decide on the field late.