Best Set programs in Florida, ranked by enrollment
Design special exhibits and sets for film, video, television, and theater productions.
14 schools in Florida run programs that feed this job, graduating 539 people a year. The job pays a median of $60,750 in Florida across about 740 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 50.0401In Florida → | 259 | 48.1% | 6 | $31,611 | $26,000 |
| 2 | CIP 50.0502In Florida → | 149 | 27.6% | 8 | $20,667 | $24,994 |
| 3 | CIP 50.0410In Florida → | 131 | 24.3% | 1 | $31,611 | $26,000 |
Top 14 schools in Florida
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 5 of the 14 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Full Sail University Winter Park, FL Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 175 | Design and Visual Communications, General | $25,479 | 44% | $32,163 | — |
| 2 | Ringling College of Art and Design Sarasota, FL Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 145 | Illustration | $28,137 | 72% | $54,693 | 70% |
| 3 | Valencia College Orlando, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 106 | Technical Theatre/Theatre Design and Technology | — | 48% | — | — |
| 4 | Keiser University - Ft Lauderdale Fort Lauderdale, FL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 38 | Design and Visual Communications, General | $20,360 | 61% | $35,483 | 97% |
| 5 | The University of Tampa Tampa, FL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 26 | Design and Visual Communications, General | — | 64% | $33,070 | 40% |
| 6 | Saint Johns River State College Palatka, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 15 | Technical Theatre/Theatre Design and Technology | — | 49% | — | — |
| 7 | Jacksonville University Jacksonville, FL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 14 | Design and Visual Communications, General | — | 51% | $25,813 | 57% |
| 8 | Florida State College at Jacksonville Jacksonville, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 4 | Technical Theatre/Theatre Design and Technology | — | 37% | — | — |
| 9 | Southeastern University Lakeland, FL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 4 | Design and Visual Communications, General | — | 43% | $29,915 | 53% |
| 10 | Gulf Coast State College Panama City, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 3 | Technical Theatre/Theatre Design and Technology | — | 43% | — | — |
| 11 | Santa Fe College Gainesville, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 3 | Technical Theatre/Theatre Design and Technology | — | 53% | — | — |
| 12 | Florida Southern College Lakeland, FL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Technical Theatre/Theatre Design and Technology | $22,336 | 71% | $28,325 | 64% |
| 13 | Seminole State College of Florida Sanford, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Technical Theatre/Theatre Design and Technology | — | 41% | — | — |
| 14 | University of Florida Gainesville, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Design and Visual Communications, General | $43,144 | 91% | — | 24% |
All 14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full Sail University | Winter Park | Private for-profit | 175 | 1 |
| Ringling College of Art and Design | Sarasota | Private not-for-profit | 145 | 2 |
| Valencia College | Orlando | Public | 106 | 1 |
| Keiser University - Ft Lauderdale | Fort Lauderdale | Private not-for-profit | 38 | 1 |
| The University of Tampa | Tampa | Private not-for-profit | 26 | 1 |
| Saint Johns River State College | Palatka | Public | 15 | 1 |
| Jacksonville University | Jacksonville | Private not-for-profit | 14 | 1 |
| Florida State College at Jacksonville | Jacksonville | Public | 4 | 1 |
| Southeastern University | Lakeland | Private not-for-profit | 4 | 1 |
| Gulf Coast State College | Panama City | Public | 3 | 1 |
| Santa Fe College | Gainesville | Public | 3 | 1 |
| Florida Southern College | Lakeland | Private not-for-profit | 2 | 1 |
| Seminole State College of Florida | Sanford | Public | 2 | 1 |
| University of Florida | Gainesville | Public | 2 | 1 |
What set and exhibit designers earn in Florida
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $75,240. 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 Set and Exhibit Designers page.
How to become a Set
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 3 majors mapped to Set and Exhibit Designers3 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 50.0401Design and Visual Communications, General
- 50.0410Illustration
- 50.0502Technical Theatre/Theatre Design and Technology
Common questions
Answers for people weighing set and exhibit designers programs in Florida.
What degree do you need to become a Set?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Design and Visual Communications, General, which awarded 259 degrees in Florida in 2024-25, 48.1% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Set?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 3 programs to this occupation. The largest are Design and Applied Arts, Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft. Together they graduate about 539 people a year in Florida.
How much do set and exhibit designers earn in Florida?+
The median is $60,750 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 19.3% below the U.S. median of $75,240. 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 set and exhibit designers growing?+
BLS projects a +2.3% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 2,500 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Florida?+
14 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 set and exhibit designers work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Set Designer, Scenic Designer, Exhibit Designer, Display Coordinator among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 27-1027.
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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