Best Geoscientist programs in Florida, ranked by enrollment
Study the composition, structure, and other physical aspects of the Earth.
12 schools in Florida run programs that feed this job, graduating 383 people a year. The job pays a median of $95,140 in Florida across about 660 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.
4 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 | Geology/Earth Science, Generalmain feeder CIP 40.0601In Florida → | 129 | 33.7% | 6 | $39,678 | $24,864 |
| 2 | CIP 30.3201In Florida → | 118 | 30.8% | 5 | $27,337 | $22,400 |
| 3 | CIP 40.0699In Florida → | 74 | 19.3% | 4 | $39,678 | $24,864 |
| 4 | Oceanography, Chemical and Physicalmain feeder CIP 40.0607In Florida → | 62 | 16.2% | 4 | $39,678 | $24,864 |
Top 12 schools in Florida
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 3 of the 12 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 | 67 | Geology/Earth Science, General | $40,691 | 91% | — | 24% |
| 2 | Florida Atlantic University Boca Raton, FL Public · 2 feeder programs | 64 | Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences, Other | — | 63% | — | 66% |
| 3 | Florida Gulf Coast University Fort Myers, FL Public · 2 feeder programs | 64 | Marine Sciences | — | 57% | — | 63% |
| 4 | University of South Florida Tampa, FL Public · 2 feeder programs | 44 | Geology/Earth Science, General | $48,565 | 77% | — | 43% |
| 5 | University of Miami Coral Gables, FL Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 31 | Oceanography, Chemical and Physical | — | 84% | $26,589 | 19% |
| 6 | Florida International University Miami, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 30 | Geology/Earth Science, General | — | 74% | — | 55% |
| 7 | Florida State University Tallahassee, FL Public · 2 feeder programs | 26 | Geology/Earth Science, General | — | 86% | — | 24% |
| 8 | University of Florida - Online Gainesville, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 20 | Geology/Earth Science, General | $40,691 | 85% | — | 61% |
| 9 | New College of Florida Sarasota, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 12 | Marine Sciences | — | 67% | — | 73% |
| 10 | The College of the Florida Keys Key West, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 11 | Marine Sciences | — | 34% | — | — |
| 11 | Florida Institute of Technology Melbourne, FL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 9 | Oceanography, Chemical and Physical | — | 64% | $33,585 | 58% |
| 12 | Eckerd College Saint Petersburg, FL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 5 | Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences, Other | — | 66% | $31,022 | 76% |
All 12 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 | 67 | 2 |
| Florida Atlantic University | Boca Raton | Public | 64 | 2 |
| Florida Gulf Coast University | Fort Myers | Public | 64 | 2 |
| University of South Florida | Tampa | Public | 44 | 2 |
| University of Miami | Coral Gables | Private not-for-profit | 31 | 3 |
| Florida International University | Miami | Public | 30 | 1 |
| Florida State University | Tallahassee | Public | 26 | 2 |
| University of Florida - Online | Gainesville | Public | 20 | 1 |
| New College of Florida | Sarasota | Public | 12 | 1 |
| The College of the Florida Keys | Key West | Public | 11 | 1 |
| Florida Institute of Technology | Melbourne | Private not-for-profit | 9 | 1 |
| Eckerd College | Saint Petersburg | Private not-for-profit | 5 | 1 |
What geoscientists earn in Florida
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $101,920. 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 Geoscientists page.
How to become a Geoscientist
Job zone 5 of 5 · SVP 8.0 and above- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.
Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or 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 12 majors mapped to Geoscientists11 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 30.3201Marine Sciences
- 30.3801Earth Systems Science
- 30.4101Environmental Geosciences
- 30.4201Geoarcheaology
- 30.4301Geobiology
- 40.0601Geology/Earth Science, General
- 40.0602Geochemistry
- 40.0603Geophysics and Seismology
- 40.0604Paleontology
- 40.0606Geochemistry and Petrology(no graduates reported)
- 40.0607Oceanography, Chemical and Physical
- 40.0699Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences, Other
Common questions
Answers for people weighing geoscientists programs in Florida.
What degree do you need to become a Geoscientist?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Geology/Earth Science, General, which awarded 129 degrees in Florida in 2024-25, 33.7% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Geoscientist?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 4 programs to this occupation. The largest are Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences, Marine Sciences. Together they graduate about 383 people a year in Florida.
How much do geoscientists earn in Florida?+
The median is $95,140 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 6.7% below the U.S. median of $101,920. 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 geoscientists growing?+
BLS projects a +3.2% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 2,000 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Florida?+
12 institutions in Florida reported graduates from at least one of the 4 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 geoscientists work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Geologist, Geophysicist, Geoscientist, Project Geologist among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 19-2042.
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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