Industrial Machinery Maintenance

Industrial maintenance programmes train the people who keep production machinery running — mechanical drives, hydraulics, pneumatics, welding repairs and the electrical controls that tie them together. ⚠ When a line stops, this is who the plant calls, and the pay reflects what a stopped line costs.

The degrees this program covers

The Florida framework is Industrial Machinery Maintenance and Repair, 1,350 hours across three occupational completion points — maintenance assistant, then mechanic and technician, then maintenance specialist. ⚠ It is also published as two halves, 750 hours and 600 hours, so a student can complete the first, go to work, and return for the second. A registered apprenticeship route exists as well, and manufacturers frequently pay for it. ⚠⚠ The programme is taught at only a handful of Florida institutions under the state course numbers — four or five — which is small for an occupation with 45,700 openings a year nationally.

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.

Industrial Maintenance Technician

Industrial maintenance technicians keep production machinery running — mechanical drives, hydraulics, pneumatics and the controls over them — and are who a plant calls when the line stops. ⚠ 439,600 employed, growing much faster than average, 45,700 openings a year, and a training pipeline in Florida of four or five colleges.

Careers that name this program, but not as a route

Mechanical Engineering Technician

⚠ If what you want is hands-on repair rather than test and development: bigger occupation, faster growth, shorter training.

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.

Advanced Manufacturing Technology 28 Florida schools

⚠ The closest neighbour and an overlapping one: automation and controls is where industrial maintenance is going, and the same colleges teach both. If you enjoy the electrical and control side more than the mechanical, read that one.

Electrical Technology 41 Florida schools

Much of a modern breakdown is electrical, and maintenance technicians who can work confidently on controls and motors are the ones plants keep.

Welding Technology 47 Florida schools

⚠ A maintenance technician who can weld is markedly more useful in a breakdown — repair, fabrication and improvisation at three in the morning — and welding is taught at 47 institutions against a handful for this.

Florida public institutions offering this program

7 institutions awarded a credential in this field in 2023, at these levels: Certificate (1-2 years), 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.

Big Bend Technical College

Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Hillsborough Community College

Certificate (2-4 years)

Immokalee Technical College

Certificate (2-4 years)

Palm Beach State College

Certificate (2-4 years)

Pinellas Technical College-St. Petersburg

Certificate (2-4 years)

Suncoast Technical College

Certificate (1-2 years)

Tallahassee Community College

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.