Best Surgical Technologist programs in Florida, ranked by enrollment
Assist in operations, under the supervision of surgeons, registered nurses, or other surgical personnel.
37 schools in Florida run programs that feed this job, graduating 985 people a year. The job pays a median of $62,440 in Florida across about 9,120 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.
2 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 | 60.8% | 33 | $53,520 | $20,250 |
| 2 | CIP 51.1012In Florida → | 386 | 39.2% | 16 | $49,401 | $19,848 |
Top 25 schools in Florida
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 24 of the 37 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Concorde Career Institute - Miramar Miramar, FL Private for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 110 | Sterile Processing Technology/Technician | — | 67% | $27,271 | 100% |
| 2 | Concorde Career Institute - Orlando Orlando, FL Private for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 105 | Sterile Processing Technology/Technician | — | 69% | $34,100 | 90% |
| 3 | Concorde Career Institute - Jacksonville Jacksonville, FL Private for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 55 | Sterile Processing Technology/Technician | — | 47% | $28,466 | 94% |
| 4 | Gulf Coast State College Panama City, FL Public · 2 feeder programs | 54 | Surgical Technology/Technologist | $36,981 | 43% | — | — |
| 5 | Southeastern College - Boynton Beach Boynton Beach, FL Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 54 | Surgical Technology/Technologist | $46,288 | 88% | $35,974 | 87% |
| 6 | Concorde Career Institute - Tampa Tampa, FL Private for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 50 | Sterile Processing Technology/Technician | — | 56% | $26,047 | 96% |
| 7 | Santa Fe College Gainesville, FL Public · 2 feeder programs | 44 | Surgical Technology/Technologist | $57,763 | 53% | — | — |
| 8 | Miami Dade College Miami, FL Public · 2 feeder programs | 43 | Surgical Technology/Technologist | $64,692 | 46% | — | — |
| 9 | Florida State College at Jacksonville Jacksonville, FL Public · 2 feeder programs | 36 | Sterile Processing Technology/Technician | $58,346 | 37% | — | — |
| 10 | Atlantic Technical College Coconut Creek, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 35 | Sterile Processing Technology/Technician | $26,464 | 65% | — | — |
| 11 | H W Brewster Technical College Tampa, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 35 | Sterile Processing Technology/Technician | $37,851 | 72% | — | — |
| 12 | Orange Technical College Orlando, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 35 | Surgical Technology/Technologist | $42,709 | 79% | — | — |
| 13 | Southern Technical College Fort Myers, FL Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 34 | Surgical Technology/Technologist | $42,481 | 68% | $26,179 | — |
| 14 | Erwin Technical College Tampa, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 20 | Surgical Technology/Technologist | $45,024 | 80% | — | — |
| 15 | Indian River State College Fort Pierce, FL Public · 2 feeder programs | 18 | Surgical Technology/Technologist | $41,229 | 45% | — | — |
| 16 | Lorenzo Walker Technical College Naples, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 17 | Surgical Technology/Technologist | — | 99% | — | — |
| 17 | Suncoast Technical College Sarasota, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 17 | Surgical Technology/Technologist | $45,213 | 50% | — | — |
| 18 | Hillsborough College Tampa, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 16 | Surgical Technology/Technologist | $45,319 | 34% | — | — |
| 19 | College of Central Florida Ocala, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 15 | Surgical Technology/Technologist | $53,438 | 44% | — | — |
| 20 | Keiser University - Ft Lauderdale Fort Lauderdale, FL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 15 | Surgical Technology/Technologist | $47,863 | 61% | $35,483 | 97% |
| 21 | Pinellas Technical College - St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, FL Public · 2 feeder programs | 15 | Surgical Technology/Technologist | — | 60% | — | — |
| 22 | Sheridan Technical College Hollywood, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 15 | Surgical Technology/Technologist | — | 69% | — | — |
| 23 | Eastern Florida State College Melbourne, FL Public · 2 feeder programs | 14 | Sterile Processing Technology/Technician | — | 52% | — | — |
| 24 | Palm Beach State College Lake Worth, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 14 | Surgical Technology/Technologist | $49,359 | 41% | — | — |
| 25 | Riveroak Technical College Live Oak, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 14 | Surgical Technology/Technologist | — | 75% | — | — |
All 37 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Concorde Career Institute - Miramar | Miramar | Private for-profit | 110 | 2 |
| Concorde Career Institute - Orlando | Orlando | Private for-profit | 105 | 2 |
| Concorde Career Institute - Jacksonville | Jacksonville | Private for-profit | 55 | 2 |
| Gulf Coast State College | Panama City | Public | 54 | 2 |
| Southeastern College - Boynton Beach | Boynton Beach | Private for-profit | 54 | 1 |
| Concorde Career Institute - Tampa | Tampa | Private for-profit | 50 | 2 |
| Santa Fe College | Gainesville | Public | 44 | 2 |
| Miami Dade College | Miami | Public | 43 | 2 |
| Florida State College at Jacksonville | Jacksonville | Public | 36 | 2 |
| Atlantic Technical College | Coconut Creek | Public | 35 | 1 |
| H W Brewster Technical College | Tampa | Public | 35 | 1 |
| Orange Technical College | Orlando | Public | 35 | 1 |
| Southern Technical College | Fort Myers | Private for-profit | 34 | 1 |
| Erwin Technical College | Tampa | Public | 20 | 1 |
| Indian River State College | Fort Pierce | Public | 18 | 2 |
What surgical technologists earn in Florida
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $64,650. Florida pays below the national figure.
Concentrated here: Florida employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.
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 Technologists page.
How to become a Surgical Technologist
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 3 majors mapped to Surgical Technologists3 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 51.0811Pathology/Pathologist Assistant
- 51.0909Surgical Technology/Technologist
- 51.1012Sterile Processing Technology/Technician
Common questions
Answers for people weighing surgical technologists programs in Florida.
What degree do you need to become a Surgical Technologist?+
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, 60.8% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Surgical Technologist?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 2 programs to this occupation. The largest are Allied Health Diagnostic, Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science/Research and Allied Professions. Together they graduate about 985 people a year in Florida.
How much do surgical technologists earn in Florida?+
The median is $62,440 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 3.4% below the U.S. median of $64,650. 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 technologists growing?+
BLS projects a +4.5% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 7,000 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Florida?+
37 institutions in Florida reported graduates from at least one of the 2 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 technologists work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Surgical Technician, Operating Room Technician (OR Tech), Certified Surgical Technologist (CST), Surgical Technologist (Surgical Tech) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 29-2055.
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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