Best Computer Hardware Engineer programs in Florida, ranked by enrollment
Research, design, develop, or test computer or computer-related equipment for commercial, industrial, military, or scientific use.
18 schools in Florida run programs that feed this job, graduating 2,211 people a year. The job pays a median of $134,160 in Florida across about 3,290 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Florida that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
3 programs in Florida that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Florida (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Florida page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 14.1001In Florida → | 1,458 | 65.9% | 17 | $77,636 | $25,000 |
| 2 | Computer Engineering, Generalmain feeder CIP 14.0901In Florida → | 746 | 33.7% | 13 | $78,333 | $24,098 |
| 3 | CIP 14.4701In Florida → | 7 | 0.3% | 1 | — | — |
Top 18 schools in Florida
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 12 of the 18 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Florida Gainesville, FL Public · 2 feeder programs | 456 | Electrical and Electronics Engineering | $85,243 | 91% | — | 24% |
| 2 | University of Central Florida Orlando, FL Public · 2 feeder programs | 356 | Computer Engineering, General | $76,819 | 78% | — | 40% |
| 3 | Florida International University Miami, FL Public · 2 feeder programs | 291 | Electrical and Electronics Engineering | $71,447 | 74% | — | 55% |
| 4 | Southern Technical College Fort Myers, FL Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 272 | Electrical and Electronics Engineering | — | 68% | $26,179 | — |
| 5 | University of South Florida Tampa, FL Public · 2 feeder programs | 248 | Electrical and Electronics Engineering | $78,825 | 77% | — | 43% |
| 6 | Florida State University Tallahassee, FL Public · 2 feeder programs | 112 | Electrical and Electronics Engineering | $72,425 | 86% | — | 24% |
| 7 | Florida Atlantic University Boca Raton, FL Public · 2 feeder programs | 111 | Electrical and Electronics Engineering | $76,520 | 63% | — | 66% |
| 8 | Florida Institute of Technology Melbourne, FL Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 89 | Computer Engineering, General | $79,244 | 64% | $33,585 | 58% |
| 9 | Florida Polytechnic University Lakeland, FL Public · 2 feeder programs | 54 | Computer Engineering, General | $65,126 | 55% | — | 58% |
| 10 | University of West Florida Pensacola, FL Public · 2 feeder programs | 53 | Electrical and Electronics Engineering | $64,978 | 59% | — | 58% |
| 11 | Southern Technical College Orlando, FL Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 44 | Electrical and Electronics Engineering | $30,091 | 63% | $25,852 | — |
| 12 | Embry - Riddle Aeronautical University - Daytona Beach Daytona Beach, FL Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 43 | Electrical and Electronics Engineering | $78,016 | 67% | $38,899 | 65% |
| 13 | University of Miami Coral Gables, FL Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 29 | Electrical and Electronics Engineering | — | 84% | $26,589 | 19% |
| 14 | University of North Florida Jacksonville, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 29 | Electrical and Electronics Engineering | $68,285 | 69% | — | 53% |
| 15 | Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University Tallahassee, FL Public · 2 feeder programs | 16 | Electrical and Electronics Engineering | — | 53% | — | 21% |
| 16 | Jacksonville University Jacksonville, FL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 4 | Electrical and Electronics Engineering | — | 51% | $25,813 | 57% |
| 17 | Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico - Orlando Orlando, FL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 3 | Electrical and Electronics Engineering | — | 33% | $20,040 | — |
| 18 | Bethune - Cookman University Daytona Beach, FL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Computer Engineering, General | — | 31% | $16,818 | 88% |
All 18 schools in Florida
Every school in Florida with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Florida | Gainesville | Public | 456 | 2 |
| University of Central Florida | Orlando | Public | 356 | 2 |
| Florida International University | Miami | Public | 291 | 2 |
| Southern Technical College | Fort Myers | Private for-profit | 272 | 1 |
| University of South Florida | Tampa | Public | 248 | 2 |
| Florida State University | Tallahassee | Public | 112 | 2 |
| Florida Atlantic University | Boca Raton | Public | 111 | 2 |
| Florida Institute of Technology | Melbourne | Private not-for-profit | 89 | 2 |
| Florida Polytechnic University | Lakeland | Public | 54 | 2 |
| University of West Florida | Pensacola | Public | 53 | 2 |
| Southern Technical College | Orlando | Private for-profit | 44 | 1 |
| Embry - Riddle Aeronautical University - Daytona Beach | Daytona Beach | Private not-for-profit | 43 | 3 |
| University of Miami | Coral Gables | Private not-for-profit | 29 | 2 |
| University of North Florida | Jacksonville | Public | 29 | 1 |
| Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University | Tallahassee | Public | 16 | 2 |
What computer hardware engineers earn in Florida
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $161,740. Florida pays below the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in Florida
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Computer Hardware Engineers page.
How to become a Computer Hardware Engineer
Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in Florida
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 4 majors mapped to Computer Hardware Engineers4 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 14.0901Computer Engineering, General
- 14.0902Computer Hardware Engineering
- 14.1001Electrical and Electronics Engineering
- 14.4701Electrical and Computer Engineering
Common questions
Answers for people weighing computer hardware engineers programs in Florida.
What degree do you need to become a Computer Hardware Engineer?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Electrical and Electronics Engineering, which awarded 1,458 degrees in Florida in 2024-25, 65.9% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Computer Hardware Engineer?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 3 programs to this occupation. The largest are Electrical, Computer Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering. Together they graduate about 2,211 people a year in Florida.
How much do computer hardware engineers earn in Florida?+
The median is $134,160 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 17.1% below the U.S. median of $161,740. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for computer hardware engineers growing?+
BLS projects a +7.3% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, faster than average, with roughly 4,700 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Florida?+
18 institutions in Florida reported graduates from at least one of the 3 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do computer hardware engineers work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Engineer, Design Engineer, Hardware Engineer, Systems Integration Engineer among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 17-2061.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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