Best Surgical Assistant programs in Florida, ranked by enrollment
Assist in operations, under the supervision of surgeons.
33 schools in Florida run programs that feed this job, graduating 599 people a year. The job pays a median of $62,550 in Florida across about 1,260 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 51.0909In Florida → | 599 | 100.0% | 33 | $53,520 | $20,250 |
Top 25 schools in Florida
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 27 of the 33 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Southeastern College - Boynton Beach Boynton Beach, FL Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 54 | Surgical Technology/Technologist | $46,288 | 88% | $35,974 | 87% |
| 2 | Gulf Coast State College Panama City, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 48 | Surgical Technology/Technologist | $36,981 | 43% | — | — |
| 3 | Concorde Career Institute - Orlando Orlando, FL Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 43 | Surgical Technology/Technologist | $49,930 | 69% | $34,100 | 90% |
| 4 | Orange Technical College Orlando, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 35 | Surgical Technology/Technologist | $42,709 | 79% | — | — |
| 5 | Southern Technical College Fort Myers, FL Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 34 | Surgical Technology/Technologist | $42,481 | 68% | $26,179 | — |
| 6 | Miami Dade College Miami, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 30 | Surgical Technology/Technologist | $64,692 | 46% | — | — |
| 7 | Santa Fe College Gainesville, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 30 | Surgical Technology/Technologist | $57,763 | 53% | — | — |
| 8 | Concorde Career Institute - Miramar Miramar, FL Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 21 | Surgical Technology/Technologist | $52,180 | 67% | $27,271 | 100% |
| 9 | Concorde Career Institute - Jacksonville Jacksonville, FL Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 20 | Surgical Technology/Technologist | $49,930 | 47% | $28,466 | 94% |
| 10 | Erwin Technical College Tampa, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 20 | Surgical Technology/Technologist | $45,024 | 80% | — | — |
| 11 | Florida State College at Jacksonville Jacksonville, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 17 | Surgical Technology/Technologist | $37,335 | 37% | — | — |
| 12 | Lorenzo Walker Technical College Naples, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 17 | Surgical Technology/Technologist | — | 99% | — | — |
| 13 | Suncoast Technical College Sarasota, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 17 | Surgical Technology/Technologist | $45,213 | 50% | — | — |
| 14 | Hillsborough College Tampa, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 16 | Surgical Technology/Technologist | $45,319 | 34% | — | — |
| 15 | College of Central Florida Ocala, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 15 | Surgical Technology/Technologist | $53,438 | 44% | — | — |
| 16 | Indian River State College Fort Pierce, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 15 | Surgical Technology/Technologist | $41,229 | 45% | — | — |
| 17 | Keiser University - Ft Lauderdale Fort Lauderdale, FL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 15 | Surgical Technology/Technologist | $47,863 | 61% | $35,483 | 97% |
| 18 | Sheridan Technical College Hollywood, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 15 | Surgical Technology/Technologist | — | 69% | — | — |
| 19 | Palm Beach State College Lake Worth, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 14 | Surgical Technology/Technologist | $49,359 | 41% | — | — |
| 20 | Riveroak Technical College Live Oak, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 14 | Surgical Technology/Technologist | — | 75% | — | — |
| 21 | Tallahassee State College Tallahassee, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 14 | Surgical Technology/Technologist | $40,405 | 38% | — | — |
| 22 | Fortis College - Orange Park Orange Park, FL Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 12 | Surgical Technology/Technologist | $47,332 | 35% | $25,391 | — |
| 23 | Rasmussen University - Florida Ocala, FL Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 11 | Surgical Technology/Technologist | $51,036 | 42% | $20,261 | — |
| 24 | South Florida State College Avon Park, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 10 | Surgical Technology/Technologist | $49,297 | 48% | — | — |
| 25 | Traviss Technical College Lakeland, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 9 | Surgical Technology/Technologist | — | 90% | — | — |
All 33 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southeastern College - Boynton Beach | Boynton Beach | Private for-profit | 54 | 1 |
| Gulf Coast State College | Panama City | Public | 48 | 1 |
| Concorde Career Institute - Orlando | Orlando | Private for-profit | 43 | 1 |
| Orange Technical College | Orlando | Public | 35 | 1 |
| Southern Technical College | Fort Myers | Private for-profit | 34 | 1 |
| Miami Dade College | Miami | Public | 30 | 1 |
| Santa Fe College | Gainesville | Public | 30 | 1 |
| Concorde Career Institute - Miramar | Miramar | Private for-profit | 21 | 1 |
| Concorde Career Institute - Jacksonville | Jacksonville | Private for-profit | 20 | 1 |
| Erwin Technical College | Tampa | Public | 20 | 1 |
| Florida State College at Jacksonville | Jacksonville | Public | 17 | 1 |
| Lorenzo Walker Technical College | Naples | Public | 17 | 1 |
| Suncoast Technical College | Sarasota | Public | 17 | 1 |
| Hillsborough College | Tampa | Public | 16 | 1 |
| College of Central Florida | Ocala | Public | 15 | 1 |
What surgical assistants earn in Florida
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $66,800. 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 Surgical Assistants page.
How to become a Surgical Assistant
Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0- Typical entry education
- Postsecondary nondegree award
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 Surgical Assistants1 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 51.0909Surgical Technology/Technologist
Common questions
Answers for people weighing surgical assistants programs in Florida.
What degree do you need to become a Surgical Assistant?+
Postsecondary nondegree award is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Surgical Technology/Technologist, which awarded 599 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 Surgical Assistant?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Allied Health Diagnostic. Together they graduate about 599 people a year in Florida.
How much do surgical assistants earn in Florida?+
The median is $62,550 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 6.4% below the U.S. median of $66,800. 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 surgical assistants growing?+
BLS projects a +5.1% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, faster than average, with roughly 1,600 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Florida?+
33 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 surgical assistants work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Surgical First Assistant, Surgical Technician (Surgical Tech), Registered Nurse First Assistant (RNFA), Certified Surgical First Assistant (CSFA) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 29-9093.
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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