Nursing

Nursing programmes prepare people to care for patients across every setting Florida has, from a practical-nursing certificate at a technical college through an associate degree leading to RN licensure to a baccalaureate and beyond. One programme, several entry points.

The degrees this program covers

Nursing encompasses several degrees, and the level you enter at is the real decision. A PRACTICAL NURSING certificate leads to LPN licensure and is the fastest route into paid clinical work. An ASSOCIATE degree leads to RN licensure through NCLEX-RN. A BACCALAUREATE (BSN) leads to the same licence by a longer route, and is what many hospitals prefer and what graduate study requires. ⚠ An RN-to-BSN programme is for nurses who are ALREADY licensed and does not lead to initial licensure. Many Florida institutions offer more than one of these.

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.

Health Care Administrator

Running the non-clinical half of health care — budgets, staffing, quality, compliance, revenue, regulators. $123,860 median, 616,200 employed, 62,100 openings a year, growing much faster than average. ⚠⚠ There is no required major: Census microdata puts HEALTH first at 169,319 people, BUSINESS second at 75,396 and PSYCHOLOGY third at 47,154. ⚠⚠⚠ But Florida statute puts a price on the choice — on the nursing home side, a health administration major halves the required training programme from 2,000 hours to 1,000.

Licensed Practical Nurse

LPNs give direct nursing care under an RN or physician — medications, wounds, vital signs, assessment — and supervise aides. ⚠ It is the widest-taught credential on this site (48 Florida institutions, 1,322 completions a year), a median of $64,400, and the one field where Florida law publishes each programme's licence-examination pass rate before you enrol. Look it up.

Nurse Practitioner and Advanced Practice Nurse

⚠⚠⚠ Florida grants nurse practitioners autonomous practice — and almost every account of it omits the limit that matters. Autonomous registration covers PRIMARY CARE ONLY. It does not let you practise your specialty without a physician protocol, and only certified midwives are excepted. 11,201 APRNs were registered for autonomous practice as of the 2024 legislative analysis. ⚠⚠ The occupation itself is nearly twice the size of the physician assistant profession — 320,400 employed, 29,500 openings a year, $132,300 median.

Physician Assistant

Diagnosing, managing and prescribing across essentially every specialty — $135,880 median, 162,700 employed, 12,000 openings a year, growing much faster than average. ⚠⚠⚠ The barrier is not the transcript. PAEA puts the median matriculant at about 3,200 hours of direct patient contact — one to three years of clinical work BEFORE the programme starts — and Florida's six public programmes award 225 master's degrees a year between them. ⚠⚠ So the real question this page answers is: which job do you take first?

Registered Nurse

Registered nurses assess patients, plan and deliver care, administer medication and treatments, and coordinate with the rest of the clinical team. In Florida the licence is issued by the Florida Board of Nursing, and eligibility runs through a Board-approved nursing programme and the NCLEX-RN examination — not through accumulated coursework.

Social Worker

816,100 jobs nationally and about 69,100 openings a year — one of the largest openings figures on this site. ⚠⚠⚠ But the specialties people enter the field for pay the least: child, family and school social work is $59,550 and mental health and substance abuse $60,280, while "all other" — largely policy and administration — is $71,900. ⚠⚠ And the clinical licence needs a CSWE-accredited master's plus two years of supervised practice after it.

Careers that name this program, but not as a route

Diagnostic Medical Sonographer

⚠ Not a route here — separate credentials, no transfer. Named because it is the comparison most health-science students are making, and the numbers are close: nursing at 78 Florida institutions with a long degree ladder, against sonography at 11 institutions paying $96,590 at entry on the same two years.

Health Information Technician, Coder and Medical Office Administrator

⚠ Not a route into these jobs — but the reverse move is real and underadvertised. Health information departments hire experienced clinicians into clinical documentation improvement and coding audit, where understanding what a chart MEANS outranks coding speed. ⚠⚠ One of the few desk-based second careers a nurse can reach without starting over.

Medical Assistant and Pharmacy Technician

⚠ Not a route as such — clock hours do not transfer into a credit degree — but it is where a large share of medical assistants eventually go, and several institutions articulate the Basic Healthcare Worker core into it. ⚠⚠ Ask in writing what will be accepted before assuming any of it counts.

Paramedic

⚠ Not a route here, but the move many paramedics eventually make — prehospital work is hard on the body and on sleep, and nursing has more settings and better pay. ⚠⚠ The paramedic certificate gives no automatic advanced standing: some Florida colleges run a paramedic-to-RN bridge and where they do not, you start from the beginning. Ask before assuming.

Phlebotomist

⚠ Not a route — clock hours do not transfer into a credit degree. Named because phlebotomy is the cheapest and fastest way to find out whether patients, needles and blood suit you, and you find out while earning. Under three months against two years is a genuine reason to do it first.

Physical Therapist Assistant

⚠ Not a route here. Named because it is at 78 Florida institutions against 17, so for many students it is the programme that actually exists nearby — and because people who want sustained contact with the same patients over months often find this work suits them better than shift-based nursing does.

Public Health Professional

⚠ Not a route in, but public health nursing is a substantial destination and it fixes this path's weakest point — a public health bachelor's alone is a thin credential, and a nursing licence underneath an MPH is not. ⚠⚠ Nursing is taught at 78 Florida institutions against public health's 8.

Radiologic Technologist

⚠ The comparison most health-science students are actually making, and the trade-off is clear: the same two years, about $16,000 more at the median here, and far less ladder above it. Nursing runs at 78 institutions against 23, so it is also the one more likely to be near you.

Registered Dietitian Nutritionist

⚠ Not a route here, but the comparison most health-science students are actually making, and it is stark on access: 78 Florida institutions against 6, and licensure from an associate degree against a required master's. ⚠⚠ Named so the reader sees the trade honestly — dietetics is a longer, narrower and more academic route to a similar hospital.

Respiratory Therapist

⚠ The programme most applicants are choosing between, and the trade-off is real rather than a matter of prestige. Nursing runs at 78 Florida institutions against 18, so it is far likelier to be near you, and it has a long degree ladder above it. Respiratory therapy pays more at entry and grows faster. ⚠⚠ It is NOT a route into respiratory therapy — the licences are separate and neither credits the other.

Surgical Technologist

⚠ Not a route from here — the surgical technology credential gives no advanced standing, and you would start a nursing programme from the beginning. Named because a perioperative RN is the level above you in the same room, with assessment, charge and management roles that are closed to a technologist, and because it is the move many technologists eventually make.

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.

Radiologic Technology 23 Florida schools

⚠ The other large cohort-based clinical programme at the same colleges, and the one nursing applicants most often consider alongside it. It takes two years like the A.S. in nursing, pays a higher median at entry ($80,110 against $64,400 for an LPN), and has almost no degree ladder above it — which is the opposite trade-off from nursing.

Respiratory Therapy 18 Florida schools

⚠ The comparison worth making: both are cohort programmes at the same colleges, competitive to enter, heavy on clinical placement. Nursing is far likelier to be near you — 78 Florida institutions against 18 — and has a long degree ladder above it. Respiratory therapy pays more at entry than an LPN on the same two years ($82,280 against $64,400). ⚠⚠ And a respiratory therapist works the whole hospital, starting in intensive care rather than working up to it.

Emergency Medical Services 39 Florida schools

⚠ The move a large number of paramedics eventually make, and worth knowing about at the start. Prehospital work is physically hard and hard on sleep, and nursing pays more with far more settings to move between — 78 Florida institutions against 39 here. ⚠⚠ But the paramedic credential gives NO advanced standing in nursing: some colleges run a paramedic-to-RN bridge, and where they do not, you start the nursing programme from the beginning.

Dietetics and Nutrition 6 Florida schools

⚠ The comparison that decides it for many students, and it is stark on access: nursing runs at 78 Florida institutions against 6 here, and reaches licensure from an associate degree. ⚠⚠ Dietetics now requires a master's and is taught at three institutions at that level, so geography and the graduate requirement constrain this choice far more than grades do.

Physician Assistant Studies 6 Florida schools

⚠⚠⚠ The real alternative, and the comparison to make on the STATUTE rather than the job description. An APRN meeting s. 464.0123 — 3,000 supervised clinical hours plus graduate credits in differential diagnosis and pharmacology — may practise AUTONOMOUSLY in Florida primary care. A physician assistant may not: s. 458.347 requires a supervising physician. ⚠ But the PA's scope is broader, reaching surgery and every specialty, where autonomous APRN practice is limited to primary care.

Surgical Technology 25 Florida schools

⚠ The level above in the same room, and the move many surgical technologists eventually make: a perioperative RN circulates the case, assesses the patient and can progress into charge and management roles that are closed to a technologist. ⚠⚠ The surgical technology credential gives NO advanced standing toward nursing — you start the nursing programme from the beginning. Nursing is also at 78 Florida institutions against 25.

Advanced Practice Nursing 9 Florida schools

⚠⚠⚠ The base, and it is enormous by comparison: 78 Florida public institutions once practical nursing is counted, and 39 awarding registered nursing degrees — 5,037 associate and 4,774 bachelor's in a single year. ⚠ Everything on this page requires an RN licence first, so the route is always nursing then this, and the RN years are where the clinical judgement comes from.

Physical Therapy 24 Florida schools

⚠ Named because both are at most of the same colleges and both are limited-access, but the work is unalike: nursing manages a patient's whole condition on a shift, physical therapy works one problem across weeks or months with the same person. ⚠⚠ Nursing is far more widely taught — 78 Florida institutions against 17 — so for many students it is simply the one that exists nearby.

Medical Assisting 38 Florida schools

⚠ The usual next step, and the honest warning is about credit. Medical assisting is a CLOCK-HOUR programme and nursing is a credit programme, so the hours do not simply carry over — what transfers is the clinical confidence, the terminology and, at many institutions, an articulated block for the Basic Healthcare Worker core. Ask the nursing programme in writing what it will accept BEFORE you enrol in medical assisting expecting it to count.

Health Care Administration 24 Florida schools

⚠⚠⚠ Not a required route, but the commonest real one and the least advertised. Census microdata puts HEALTH as the largest undergraduate field among medical and health services managers at 169,319 people, and a large share of that is clinicians who moved into management. ⚠ A nurse who adds an administration degree arrives knowing what the operation actually does, which nobody can teach in a classroom — and Florida teaches nursing at 78 institutions.

Diagnostic Imaging and Sonography 22 Florida schools

⚠ The comparison students in a health-science first year actually make. Nursing is at 78 Florida institutions against 30 here and has a long degree ladder; imaging is narrower and, in sonography and nuclear medicine, better paid at entry on the same two years.

Medical Laboratory Science 14 Florida schools

⚠ Worth naming because medical laboratory science is often discovered by people who started toward nursing and found they preferred the science to the bedside. Nursing is at 78 Florida institutions against 14 here, so it is far easier to find locally, and it has a long degree ladder. ⚠⚠ The laboratory has the opposite profile: few programmes, little patient contact, and specialisation by discipline rather than by unit.

Phlebotomy 29 Florida schools

⚠ Not a route — separate credential, clock hours do not transfer into a credit degree. Named because phlebotomy is the cheapest and fastest way to find out whether you can work with patients, needles and blood before committing two years to nursing. ⚠⚠ Under twelve weeks to answer that question is worth something, and the job pays while you decide.

Public Health 14 Florida schools

⚠ Not a required route, but public health nursing is a large real destination and a nurse entering an MPH arrives with clinical credibility the classroom cannot supply. ⚠⚠ It also solves public health's weakest point — the bachelor's alone is a thin credential, and a nursing licence underneath it is not thin at all.

Social Work 9 Florida schools

⚠ Named because hospital social work and case management are shared territory, and healthcare social workers are the best-paid of the social work specialties at $67,880. ⚠⚠ It is also the comparison a student should make on access: nursing is taught at 78 Florida institutions against social work's 9.

Pharmacy Technology 30 Florida schools

⚠ Not a route — separate credential, and clock hours do not transfer. Named because pharmacology is the one thing the two share, and technicians who discover they want the clinical side rather than the dispensing side routinely move across. Ask the nursing programme what, if anything, it will articulate before assuming any of it counts.

Health Information Management 31 Florida schools

⚠ Not a route, and named for a specific reason: health information departments hire experienced clinicians into clinical documentation improvement and coding audit roles, where knowing what a chart MEANS is worth more than speed. ⚠⚠ It is one of the few desk-based second careers a nurse can move into without starting over, and nobody advertises it.

Florida public institutions offering this program

78 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), Doctorate (professional practice), Doctorate (research/scholarship), Master's, Post-master's certificate, 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 (<12 weeks) · 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 · Bachelor's

Cape Coral Technical College

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

Charlotte Technical College

Certificate (1-2 years)

Chipola College

Associate · Bachelor's · Certificate (<12 weeks)

College of Central Florida

Associate · Bachelor's

D A Dorsey Technical College

Certificate (<12 weeks)

Daytona State College

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

Eastern Florida State College

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

Emerald Coast Technical College

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

Erwin Technical College

Certificate (1-2 years)

First Coast Technical College

Certificate (1-2 years)

Flagler Technical College

Certificate (<12 weeks)

Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University

Bachelor's · Master's

Florida Atlantic University

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

Florida Gateway College

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

Florida Gulf Coast University

Bachelor's · Doctorate (professional practice) · Master's · Postbaccalaureate certificate

Florida International University

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

Florida Panhandle Technical College

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

Florida SouthWestern State College

Associate · Bachelor's

Florida State College at Jacksonville

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

Florida State University

Bachelor's · Doctorate (professional practice) · Master's

Fort Myers Technical College

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

Fred K Marchman Technical College

Certificate (12 weeks-1 year)

Gadsden Technical College

Certificate (1-2 years)

Gulf Coast State College

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

Hillsborough Community College

Associate · Bachelor's

Immokalee Technical College

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

Indian River State College

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

Lake Technical College

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

Lake-Sumter State College

Associate · Bachelor's

Lindsey Hopkins Technical College

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

Lively Technical College

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

Lorenzo Walker Technical College

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

Manatee Technical College

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

Marion Technical College

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

Miami Dade College

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

Miami Lakes Educational Center and Technical College

Certificate (1-2 years)

North Florida College

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

North Florida Technical College

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

Northwest Florida State College

Associate · Bachelor's

Okaloosa Technical College

Certificate (1-2 years)

Orange Technical College

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

Osceola Technical College

Certificate (1-2 years)

Palm Beach State College

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

Pasco-Hernando State College

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

Pensacola State College

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

Pinellas Technical College-Clearwater

Certificate (1-2 years)

Pinellas Technical College-St. Petersburg

Certificate (1-2 years)

Polk State College

Associate · Bachelor's

Radford M Locklin Technical College

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

Ridge Technical College

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

Riveroak Technical College

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

Robert Morgan Educational Center and Technical College

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

Saint Johns River State College

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

Santa Fe College

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

Seminole State College of Florida

Associate · Bachelor's

Sheridan Technical College

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

South Dade Technical College-South Dade Skills Center Campus

Certificate (<12 weeks)

South Florida State College

Associate · Bachelor's · Certificate (1-2 years) · Certificate (2-4 years)

St Petersburg College

Associate · Bachelor's

State College of Florida-Manatee-Sarasota

Associate · Bachelor's

Suncoast Technical College

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

Tallahassee Community College

Associate · Bachelor's · Certificate (<12 weeks)

The College of the Florida Keys

Associate · Bachelor's · Certificate (<12 weeks)

Tom P. Haney Technical College

Certificate (1-2 years)

Traviss Technical College

Certificate (1-2 years)

Treasure Coast Technical College

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

University of Central Florida

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

University of Florida

Bachelor's · Doctorate (professional practice) · Doctorate (research/scholarship) · Master's · Post-master's certificate · Postbaccalaureate certificate

University of Florida-Online

Bachelor's

University of North Florida

Bachelor's · Doctorate (professional practice) · Master's · Post-master's certificate

University of South Florida

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

University of West Florida

Bachelor's · Master's

Valencia College

Associate · Bachelor's

William T McFatter Technical College

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

Withlacoochee Technical College

Certificate (<12 weeks) · 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.