Mechanical Engineering

Mechanical engineering programmes teach the analysis of forces, motion, energy and materials, and the design of the machines and systems that use them. It is the broadest engineering discipline and the one that closes the fewest doors.

The degrees this program covers

Here the programme and the major are the same thing: a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, with master’s and doctoral degrees above it. ⚠ For Professional Engineer licensure the degree must come from a programme accredited by ABET’s ENGINEERING commission — check before enrolling, because an engineering TECHNOLOGY accreditation adds two years to the experience requirement.

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.

Aerospace Engineer

Aerospace engineers design, analyse and test aircraft and spacecraft — aerodynamics, structures, propulsion, flight dynamics and the mission design that ties them together. ⚠ Florida is one of the few places in the world where the whole industry is present at once: launch, satellites, aviation, simulation and defence, concentrated on the Space Coast and around Orlando.

Biomedical Engineer

Biomedical engineers apply engineering to medicine — instrumentation and imaging, biomaterials and implants, biomechanics, and the tissue and neural engineering at the research frontier. It is the fastest-growing and newest engineering discipline in Florida. ⚠⚠ It is also the one where the bachelor’s degree is least often the end of the story: only 43% of employers treat it as sufficient, and two Florida universities award the degree at graduate level ONLY. Read the projected-need section before you commit — the arithmetic is not on any programme page.

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.

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.

Mechanical Engineer

Mechanical engineers design, analyse and test things that move, carry load, or move heat and fluid — engines, machines, HVAC and energy systems, vehicles, robots, medical devices, manufacturing plant. It is the broadest of the engineering disciplines, and in Florida it feeds aerospace on the Space Coast, defence, marine, power generation, theme-park ride engineering and a large and growing manufacturing sector.

Careers that name this program, but not as a route

Data Scientist

⚠ Not a route into data science. Listed only because engineering degrees carry the mathematics and computing this work needs — if you are already in engineering and drawn to data, you are closer than you think.

Mechanical Engineering Technician

⚠ Read this one seriously rather than in passing: with over a third of employers in this occupation asking for a bachelor's, the engineering degree is an alternative route to the same work, at eleven institutions.

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.

Aerospace Engineering 3 Florida schools

⚠ Closer than the names suggest, and the thing nobody tells you: aerospace employers hire mechanical graduates in large numbers, because aerodynamics, propulsion and structures are mechanical subjects. Aerospace is awarded at three Florida institutions against eleven for mechanical — so if the Space Coast is the goal but the degree is not near you, this is the route.

Materials Science and Engineering 4 Florida schools

What sits underneath mechanical failure: fatigue, fracture, composites and high-temperature alloys. ⚠ Florida awards the materials bachelor’s at only two institutions, so the usual route into materials work is exactly this degree plus a materials master’s.

Industrial and Systems Engineering 6 Florida schools

The same factory seen from the other side: mechanical designs the machine, industrial designs the system it runs in. ⚠ Worth reading if what interests you about manufacturing is throughput, quality and logistics rather than the hardware itself.

Ocean Engineering 2 Florida schools

Marine vehicles, underwater systems and offshore machinery are mechanical engineering in salt water. With ocean engineering awarded at two institutions, a mechanical degree plus a marine specialisation is how most people get there.

Biomedical Engineering 8 Florida schools

⚠ Read this before you choose, and not as a consolation: mechanical is offered at every Florida public university, the occupation is far larger, and it feeds the orthopaedic and device industry heavily. Many biomedical roles at bachelor’s level are filled by mechanical graduates.

Engineering Technology 76 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.

Mechanical Engineering Technology 13 Florida schools

⚠ The four-year degree, and a genuine fork rather than a ladder: engineering designs the machine, technology tests and builds it. ⚠ Read it before choosing, because 37% of employers in this occupation ask for a bachelor's.

Florida public institutions offering this program

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

Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University

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

Florida Atlantic University

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

Florida International University

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

Florida Polytechnic University

Associate · Bachelor's

Florida State University

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

University of Central Florida

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

University of Florida

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

University of Florida-Online

Bachelor's

University of North Florida

Bachelor's · Master's

University of South Florida

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

University of West Florida

Bachelor'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.