Engineering Technology

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.

The degrees this program covers

Engineering Technology is mostly an ASSOCIATE-level family in Florida, with a smaller number of BACHELOR degrees and a large number of short certificates that stack toward them. ⚠⚠ It is NOT the same as an ENGINEERING degree, and the difference is worth two years: under s. 471.013(1)(a), Florida Statutes, a graduate of an approved engineering curriculum needs four years of experience before the PE examination, while a graduate of an approved engineering technology curriculum needs six. If a PE licence is your goal, read the Mechanical Engineer career path first.

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.

Civil Engineer

Civil engineers design, build and maintain the built environment — bridges, buildings, roads, water and wastewater systems, ports, drainage and coastal works. ⚠ It is the engineering discipline where a Professional Engineer licence matters most: much of the work legally requires one, because civil engineers sign off on things that fail publicly.

Computer Hardware Engineer

Computer hardware engineers design and test the physical machine — processors, boards, memory systems, embedded controllers and the peripherals around them. ⚠ It pays better than any other career on this site and it is small: about 76,800 people nationally, and a third of the occupation expects a master's degree.

Electrical Engineer

Electrical engineers design, develop and test electrical and electronic systems — power generation and distribution, control systems, communications, embedded computing, instrumentation and the electronics inside almost everything else. In Florida the work concentrates in aerospace and space launch, defence and simulation, utilities and grid modernisation, semiconductors and medical devices.

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.

Industrial Engineer

Industrial engineers design the systems that produce things — people, machines, materials, information and money working together. They lay out factories, set quality standards, schedule production, measure and improve work, and cut cost and waste out of processes. ⚠ It is the engineering discipline that most often leads into operations management, and the one least confined to manufacturing.

Careers that name this program, but not as a route

Automotive Service Technician

⚠ The step ABOVE the bay rather than a route into it: the associate degree in automotive service management technology is filed here, and it is how technicians move toward service management, warranty work or teaching.

Aviation Maintenance Technician

⚠ Where an A&P goes next without leaving aviation — avionics, non-destructive testing and aviation maintenance management are all filed in the engineering-technology series.

Civil Engineering Technician

Where the construction, drafting and surveying programmes that actually teach this work are filed — 76 institutions across the series.

Electrician

⚠ The step past the tools: electrical and electronics engineering technology degrees lead to controls, automation and estimating, and pair with the contractor's licence.

HVAC Technician

⚠ The route past the ceiling: building-systems and engineering technology degrees lead to controls, design and energy management, and they pair with the contractor's licence rather than replacing it.

Manufacturing and Mechatronics Technician

⚠ The degree route above the certificates — automation engineering, maintenance planning and supervision — and the usual way a technician's pay stops being hourly.

Welder

⚠ The step out of the booth rather than a route into it: manufacturing and engineering technology degrees lead to inspection, quality and fabrication supervision — which is where welders go when the physical work stops being sustainable.

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.

Mechanical Engineering 11 Florida schools

⚠ The difference that decides careers, and it is worth understanding before enrolling: an ENGINEERING degree is accredited by ABET’s engineering commission and leads to the PE licence on the standard timetable; engineering TECHNOLOGY prepares you to build, test and maintain, and carries a longer experience requirement if you later pursue licensure. Neither is lesser — they lead to different work.

Electrical Engineering 10 Florida schools

The engineering counterpart on the electrical side. Many technology graduates later complete an engineering degree; ask the receiving department which courses transfer BEFORE you start, because the mathematics and science sequences differ.

Civil Engineering 9 Florida schools

The engineering counterpart on the civil side, where the licence matters most — civil technology leads to surveying, inspection and construction management rather than to sealed design.

HVAC/R Technology 50 Florida schools

⚠ The step up: an associate degree in engineering or building-systems technology leads to design, controls, energy management and the contractor's licence route — which is where the money stops being hourly.

Mechanical Engineering Technology 13 Florida schools

The umbrella series — 76 institutions, and where to look for the neighbouring branches of the same family.

Welding Technology 47 Florida schools

⚠ Where the step up lives: manufacturing and engineering technology associate degrees take welders into inspection, fabrication supervision and quality — the usual route out of the booth without leaving the industry.

Electronics Engineering Technology 20 Florida schools

The umbrella series this sits in — 76 institutions across every engineering technology field, and the place to look if you want the family rather than this branch.

Automotive Technology 47 Florida schools

⚠ Where the next step lives: the associate degree in automotive service MANAGEMENT technology is filed under the engineering technologies series, and it is the usual route from the bay toward service management, warranty administration or teaching.

Aviation Maintenance Technology 13 Florida schools

Where an A&P goes next without leaving aviation: avionics, non-destructive testing and aviation maintenance management all sit in the engineering-technology series.

Electrical Technology 41 Florida schools

The step up: electrical and electronics engineering technology degrees lead to controls, industrial automation and estimating — and they pair with the contractor's licence rather than replacing it.

Advanced Manufacturing Technology 28 Florida schools

The degree route above the certificates — and the usual next step for a technician moving toward automation engineering, maintenance planning or supervision.

Civil Engineering Technology 8 Florida schools

The umbrella series, and where the construction and drafting programmes that actually teach most of this work are filed.

Industrial and Systems Engineering 6 Florida schools

The adjacent route, and relevant here because a sizeable share of people enter this occupation from the floor rather than from a degree. Engineering technology programmes are how many of them formalise what they already do.

Industrial Production Technology 19 Florida schools

The umbrella series — 76 institutions, and where the neighbouring branches of this family live.

Machining Technology 18 Florida schools

The degree route above the bench: CAD/CAM, manufacturing engineering technology and quality, and the step toward programming and process planning rather than production.

Florida public institutions offering this program

76 institutions awarded a credential in this field in 2023, at these levels: Associate, Bachelor's, Certificate (<12 weeks), Certificate (1-2 years), Certificate (12 weeks-1 year), Certificate (2-4 years), Master's, Postbaccalaureate certificate. 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.

Atlantic Technical College

Certificate (1-2 years) · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Big Bend Technical College

Certificate (1-2 years) · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Broward College

Associate · Certificate (1-2 years) · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Cape Coral Technical College

Certificate (1-2 years)

Charlotte Technical College

Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Chipola College

Associate · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

College of Central Florida

Associate · Certificate (1-2 years) · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Daytona State College

Associate · Bachelor's · Certificate (<12 weeks) · Certificate (1-2 years) · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Eastern Florida State College

Associate · Certificate (1-2 years) · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Emerald Coast Technical College

Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Erwin Technical College

Certificate (1-2 years) · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

First Coast Technical College

Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University

Bachelor's

Florida Gateway College

Associate · Certificate (1-2 years) · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Florida Gulf Coast University

Bachelor's

Florida International University

Bachelor's · Master's · Postbaccalaureate certificate

Florida Panhandle Technical College

Certificate (1-2 years) · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Florida Polytechnic University

Master's

Florida SouthWestern State College

Associate

Florida State College at Jacksonville

Associate · Certificate (1-2 years) · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Fort Myers Technical College

Certificate (1-2 years)

Fred K Marchman Technical College

Certificate (1-2 years)

George Stone Technical College

Certificate (1-2 years)

Gulf Coast State College

Associate · Certificate (1-2 years) · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Hillsborough Community College

Associate · Certificate (1-2 years) · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Immokalee Technical College

Certificate (1-2 years)

Indian River State College

Associate · Certificate (1-2 years) · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Lake Technical College

Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Lake-Sumter State College

Associate · Certificate (1-2 years) · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Lindsey Hopkins Technical College

Certificate (1-2 years)

Lively Technical College

Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Lorenzo Walker Technical College

Certificate (1-2 years)

M-DCPS The English Center

Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Manatee Technical College

Certificate (1-2 years) · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Marion Technical College

Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Miami Dade College

Associate · Bachelor's · Certificate (1-2 years) · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Miami Lakes Educational Center and Technical College

Certificate (1-2 years) · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year) · Certificate (2-4 years)

North Florida College

Associate · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

North Florida Technical College

Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Northwest Florida State College

Associate · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Okaloosa Technical College

Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Orange Technical College-South Campus

Certificate (1-2 years) · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Orange Technical College-West Campus

Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Osceola Technical College

Certificate (1-2 years) · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Palm Beach State College

Associate · Certificate (1-2 years) · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Pasco-Hernando State College

Associate · Certificate (1-2 years) · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Pensacola State College

Associate · Certificate (1-2 years) · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Pinellas Technical College-Clearwater

Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Pinellas Technical College-St. Petersburg

Certificate (1-2 years) · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Polk State College

Associate · Certificate (1-2 years) · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Radford M Locklin Technical College

Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Ridge Technical College

Certificate (1-2 years) · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Riveroak Technical College

Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Robert Morgan Educational Center and Technical College

Certificate (1-2 years) · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Saint Johns River State College

Associate · Certificate (1-2 years) · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Santa Fe College

Associate · Certificate (1-2 years) · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Seminole State College of Florida

Associate · Bachelor's · Certificate (1-2 years) · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Sheridan Technical College

Certificate (1-2 years)

South Dade Technical College-South Dade Skills Center Campus

Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

South Florida State College

Associate · Certificate (1-2 years) · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

St Petersburg College

Associate · Certificate (1-2 years) · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

State College of Florida-Manatee-Sarasota

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

Suncoast Technical College

Certificate (1-2 years) · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Tallahassee Community College

Associate · Certificate (1-2 years) · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

The College of the Florida Keys

Associate

Tom P. Haney Technical College

Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Traviss Technical College

Certificate (1-2 years) · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

University of Central Florida

Master's

University of Florida

Bachelor's · Certificate (1-2 years) · Master's · Postbaccalaureate certificate

University of North Florida

Bachelor's · Master's

University of South Florida

Master's

University of West Florida

Bachelor's

Valencia College

Associate · Bachelor's · Certificate (1-2 years) · Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

William T McFatter Technical College

Certificate (1-2 years)

Wilton Simpson Technical College

Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Withlacoochee Technical College

Certificate (1-2 years) · 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.