Chemical Engineering

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.

The degrees this program covers

The programme and the major are the same thing: a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering, with master’s and doctoral degrees above it. Several programmes brand it chemical and biomolecular engineering, which is the same degree with a bioprocess emphasis. ⚠ ABET accreditation under the ENGINEERING commission is what employers screen on and what carries the four-year route to Professional Engineer licensure — verify the specific programme by name.

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.

Chemical Engineer

Chemical engineers design and run the processes that turn raw materials into products at scale — reactors, separations, heat and mass transfer, and the control and safety systems around them. It is the engineering discipline built on chemistry, and the only one that requires organic chemistry. ⚠⚠ In Florida it is taught at just FOUR institutions in THREE cities, and neither UCF nor FIU awards the degree — which makes where you start your degree the most consequential decision on this page.

Environmental Engineer

Environmental engineers design the systems that keep water, air and land usable — drinking water and wastewater treatment, stormwater, air-pollution control, landfills and the clean-up of contaminated sites. ⚠ It is the engineering discipline most bound up with regulation: the calculation decides what is possible and the permit decides what is allowed.

Materials Engineer

Materials engineers work out why materials behave as they do and choose or design them to meet a requirement — metals, ceramics, polymers, composites and semiconductors — and they are who finds out why something broke. ⚠ It is the smallest engineering occupation on this site, and in Florida it is mostly a graduate degree.

Careers that name this program, but not as a route

Chemist and Chemical Technician

⚠ A different decision rather than a harder version of the same one: heavier mathematics, the FE exam and PE licensure, and a higher bachelor's-level ceiling. Four Florida institutions award it.

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.

Environmental Engineering 7 Florida schools

Treatment processes, reaction kinetics and mass transfer are chemical engineering subjects, which is why chemical graduates are hired into remediation and water treatment. ⚠ It is also the nearer degree geographically for many students: seven institutions award it against four for chemical.

Materials Science and Engineering 4 Florida schools

Polymers, coatings, electrochemistry and semiconductor processing are the shared ground, and a materials master’s on a chemical bachelor’s is a standard combination.

Biomedical Engineering 8 Florida schools

Drug delivery, biomaterials and bioprocessing sit between the two. ⚠ If the pharmaceutical or device industry is the goal, read both before choosing — the chemical degree is the more transferable of the two at bachelor’s level.

Chemistry and Biochemistry 10 Florida schools

⚠⚠ The comparison students most often get wrong. A chemist studies what substances are and do; a chemical engineer designs the plant that makes them at scale. ⚠ Engineering carries the FE exam and PE licensure, a far heavier mathematics load, and a higher bachelor's-level ceiling — chemistry's ceiling is reached mainly through the doctorate instead.

Florida public institutions offering this program

4 institutions awarded a credential in this field in 2023, at these levels: Bachelor's, Doctorate (research/scholarship), Master's. 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.

Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University

Bachelor's · Doctorate (research/scholarship) · Master's

Florida State University

Bachelor's · Doctorate (research/scholarship) · Master's

University of Florida

Bachelor's · Doctorate (research/scholarship) · Master's

University of South Florida

Bachelor's · Doctorate (research/scholarship) · Master's

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.