Best Respiratory Therapist programs in Florida, ranked by enrollment
Assess, treat, and care for patients with breathing disorders. Assume primary responsibility for all respiratory care modalities, including the supervision of respiratory therapy technicians.
25 schools in Florida run programs that feed this job, graduating 403 people a year. The job pays a median of $81,160 in Florida across about 8,820 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.
1 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 51.0908In Florida → | 403 | 100.0% | 25 | $53,520 | $20,250 |
Top 25 schools in Florida
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 23 of the 25 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Valencia College Orlando, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 49 | Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist | $56,945 | 48% | — | — |
| 2 | Santa Fe College Gainesville, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 28 | Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist | $57,763 | 53% | — | — |
| 3 | Daytona State College Daytona Beach, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 26 | Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist | $44,200 | 43% | — | — |
| 4 | Concorde Career Institute - Miramar Miramar, FL Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 20 | Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist | $52,180 | 67% | $27,271 | 100% |
| 5 | Florida State College at Jacksonville Jacksonville, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 19 | Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist | $37,335 | 37% | — | — |
| 6 | Miami Dade College Miami, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 19 | Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist | $64,692 | 46% | — | — |
| 7 | Hillsborough College Tampa, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 18 | Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist | $45,319 | 34% | — | — |
| 8 | Palm Beach State College Lake Worth, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 18 | Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist | $49,359 | 41% | — | — |
| 9 | Concorde Career Institute - Tampa Tampa, FL Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 17 | Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist | $55,666 | 56% | $26,047 | 96% |
| 10 | St Petersburg College St. Petersburg, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 17 | Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist | $62,187 | 38% | — | — |
| 11 | Tallahassee State College Tallahassee, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 17 | Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist | $40,405 | 38% | — | — |
| 12 | Florida SouthWestern State College Fort Myers, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 16 | Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist | $61,622 | 39% | — | — |
| 13 | Keiser University - Ft Lauderdale Fort Lauderdale, FL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 16 | Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist | $47,863 | 61% | $35,483 | 97% |
| 14 | Broward College Fort Lauderdale, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 14 | Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist | $45,720 | 39% | — | — |
| 15 | Nova Southeastern University Fort Lauderdale, FL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 14 | Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist | $74,202 | 63% | $31,672 | 73% |
| 16 | Seminole State College of Florida Sanford, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 14 | Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist | $57,049 | 41% | — | — |
| 17 | Eastern Florida State College Melbourne, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 13 | Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist | $45,857 | 52% | — | — |
| 18 | Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University Tallahassee, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 13 | Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist | — | 53% | — | 21% |
| 19 | Gulf Coast State College Panama City, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 11 | Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist | $36,981 | 43% | — | — |
| 20 | Polk State College Winter Haven, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 10 | Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist | $58,088 | 35% | — | — |
| 21 | Florida National University - Main Campus Hialeah, FL Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 8 | Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist | $50,747 | 31% | $24,775 | — |
| 22 | Indian River State College Fort Pierce, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 8 | Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist | $41,229 | 45% | — | — |
| 23 | Saint Johns River State College Palatka, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 8 | Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist | $53,587 | 49% | — | — |
| 24 | Concorde Career Institute - Jacksonville Jacksonville, FL Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 6 | Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist | $49,930 | 47% | $28,466 | 94% |
| 25 | Jacksonville University Jacksonville, FL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 4 | Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist | — | 51% | $25,813 | 57% |
All 25 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valencia College | Orlando | Public | 49 | 1 |
| Santa Fe College | Gainesville | Public | 28 | 1 |
| Daytona State College | Daytona Beach | Public | 26 | 1 |
| Concorde Career Institute - Miramar | Miramar | Private for-profit | 20 | 1 |
| Florida State College at Jacksonville | Jacksonville | Public | 19 | 1 |
| Miami Dade College | Miami | Public | 19 | 1 |
| Hillsborough College | Tampa | Public | 18 | 1 |
| Palm Beach State College | Lake Worth | Public | 18 | 1 |
| Concorde Career Institute - Tampa | Tampa | Private for-profit | 17 | 1 |
| St Petersburg College | St. Petersburg | Public | 17 | 1 |
| Tallahassee State College | Tallahassee | Public | 17 | 1 |
| Florida SouthWestern State College | Fort Myers | Public | 16 | 1 |
| Keiser University - Ft Lauderdale | Fort Lauderdale | Private not-for-profit | 16 | 1 |
| Broward College | Fort Lauderdale | Public | 14 | 1 |
| Nova Southeastern University | Fort Lauderdale | Private not-for-profit | 14 | 1 |
What respiratory therapists earn in Florida
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $82,280. 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 Respiratory Therapists page.
How to become a Respiratory Therapist
Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0- Typical entry education
- Associate's degree
Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.
Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.
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 1 majors mapped to Respiratory Therapists1 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 51.0908Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist
Common questions
Answers for people weighing respiratory therapists programs in Florida.
What degree do you need to become a Respiratory Therapist?+
Associate's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist, which awarded 403 degrees in Florida in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Respiratory Therapist?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Allied Health Diagnostic. Together they graduate about 403 people a year in Florida.
How much do respiratory therapists earn in Florida?+
The median is $81,160 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 1.4% below the U.S. median of $82,280. 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 respiratory therapists growing?+
BLS projects a +12.1% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, much faster than average, with roughly 8,800 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Florida?+
25 institutions in Florida reported graduates from at least one of the 1 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 respiratory therapists work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Respiratory Therapist (RT), Respiratory Care Practitioner (RCP), Certified Respiratory Therapist (CRT), Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 29-1126.
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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