Best Emergency Management Director programs in Florida, ranked by enrollment
Plan and direct disaster response or crisis management activities, provide disaster preparedness training, and prepare emergency plans and procedures for natural (e.g., hurricanes, floods, earthquakes), wartime, or technological (e.g.,.
17 schools in Florida run programs that feed this job, graduating 450 people a year. The job pays a median of $99,020 in Florida across about 720 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 43.0302In Florida → | 250 | 55.6% | 12 | $46,281 | $23,250 |
| 2 | CIP 43.0301In Florida → | 144 | 32.0% | 6 | $46,281 | $23,250 |
| 3 | CIP 43.0303In Florida → | 56 | 12.4% | 2 | $46,281 | $23,250 |
Top 17 schools in Florida
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 3 of the 17 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Florida International University Miami, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 119 | Crisis/Emergency/Disaster Management | — | 74% | — | 55% |
| 2 | University of Central Florida Orlando, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 60 | Crisis/Emergency/Disaster Management | — | 78% | — | 40% |
| 3 | Embry - Riddle Aeronautical University - Daytona Beach Daytona Beach, FL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 52 | Homeland Security | $48,676 | 67% | $38,899 | 65% |
| 4 | Cambridge College of Healthcare & Technology Delray Beach, FL Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 45 | Critical Infrastructure Protection | — | 76% | $19,718 | — |
| 5 | Saint Leo University Saint Leo, FL Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 44 | Homeland Security | — | 45% | $18,986 | 78% |
| 6 | Embry - Riddle Aeronautical University - Worldwide Daytona Beach, FL Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 35 | Homeland Security | $48,676 | 21% | $21,266 | 58% |
| 7 | Keiser University - Ft Lauderdale Fort Lauderdale, FL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 31 | Homeland Security | $54,837 | 61% | $35,483 | 97% |
| 8 | St Petersburg College St. Petersburg, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 14 | Crisis/Emergency/Disaster Management | — | 38% | — | — |
| 9 | Nova Southeastern University Fort Lauderdale, FL Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 12 | Crisis/Emergency/Disaster Management | — | 63% | $31,672 | 73% |
| 10 | University of South Florida Tampa, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 11 | Critical Infrastructure Protection | — | 77% | — | 43% |
| 11 | Florida State College at Jacksonville Jacksonville, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 10 | Crisis/Emergency/Disaster Management | — | 37% | — | — |
| 12 | Barry University Miami, FL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 5 | Crisis/Emergency/Disaster Management | — | 38% | $24,719 | 77% |
| 13 | Everglades University Boca Raton, FL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 4 | Crisis/Emergency/Disaster Management | — | 61% | $29,513 | 81% |
| 14 | University of Miami Coral Gables, FL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 4 | Homeland Security | — | 84% | $26,589 | 19% |
| 15 | Florida Institute of Technology Melbourne, FL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Crisis/Emergency/Disaster Management | — | 64% | $33,585 | 58% |
| 16 | College of Central Florida Ocala, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Crisis/Emergency/Disaster Management | — | 44% | — | — |
| 17 | Indian River State College Fort Pierce, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Crisis/Emergency/Disaster Management | — | 45% | — | — |
All 17 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Florida International University | Miami | Public | 119 | 1 |
| University of Central Florida | Orlando | Public | 60 | 1 |
| Embry - Riddle Aeronautical University - Daytona Beach | Daytona Beach | Private not-for-profit | 52 | 1 |
| Cambridge College of Healthcare & Technology | Delray Beach | Private for-profit | 45 | 1 |
| Saint Leo University | Saint Leo | Private not-for-profit | 44 | 2 |
| Embry - Riddle Aeronautical University - Worldwide | Daytona Beach | Private not-for-profit | 35 | 2 |
| Keiser University - Ft Lauderdale | Fort Lauderdale | Private not-for-profit | 31 | 1 |
| St Petersburg College | St. Petersburg | Public | 14 | 1 |
| Nova Southeastern University | Fort Lauderdale | Private not-for-profit | 12 | 2 |
| University of South Florida | Tampa | Public | 11 | 1 |
| Florida State College at Jacksonville | Jacksonville | Public | 10 | 1 |
| Barry University | Miami | Private not-for-profit | 5 | 1 |
| Everglades University | Boca Raton | Private not-for-profit | 4 | 1 |
| University of Miami | Coral Gables | Private not-for-profit | 4 | 1 |
| Florida Institute of Technology | Melbourne | Private not-for-profit | 2 | 1 |
What emergency management directors earn in Florida
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $93,330. Florida pays above 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 Emergency Management Directors page.
How to become a Emergency Management Director
Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
- Work experience needed
- 5 years or more
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 7 majors mapped to Emergency Management Directors6 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 43.0119Critical Incident Response/Special Police Operations
- 43.0120Protective Services Operations
- 43.0301Homeland Security
- 43.0302Crisis/Emergency/Disaster Management
- 43.0303Critical Infrastructure Protection
- 43.0304Terrorism and Counterterrorism Operations
- 61.0603Emergency Medical Services Fellowship Program(no graduates reported)
Common questions
Answers for people weighing emergency management directors programs in Florida.
What degree do you need to become an Emergency Management Director?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Crisis/Emergency/Disaster Management, which awarded 250 degrees in Florida in 2024-25, 55.6% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming an Emergency Management Director?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 3 programs to this occupation. The largest are Homeland Security. Together they graduate about 450 people a year in Florida.
How much do emergency management directors earn in Florida?+
The median is $99,020 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 6.1% above the U.S. median of $93,330. 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 emergency management directors growing?+
BLS projects a +3.0% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 1,000 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Florida?+
17 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 emergency management directors work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Emergency Planner, Public Safety Director, Emergency Management Director, Emergency Management System Director (EMS Director) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 11-9161.
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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