About
The Florida Institute of Recording Sound and Technology (F.I.R.S.T. Institute) is a private institution located in Orlando, Florida, founded over 20 years ago. It specializes in Digital Filmmaking, Digital Photography, Graphic Design, Web Development, and Recording Arts, emphasizing hands-on training in the digital media industry.
Program outcomes
Federal Program Performance Data: how each program's graduate earnings and debt measure up under Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment.
Of 5 Title IV programs, 0 pass the federal Gainful Employment test and 0 fail. 5 have graduate earnings too small to publish, so they carry no pass/fail verdict.
Pass / fail distribution
- Passing0 · 0.0%
- No Data5 · 100.0%
- Failing0 · 0.0%
Severity spectrum
Tiers band programs by how far graduate earnings sit above or below the benchmark, from Critical (below −15%) through Safe (above +25%). No data means earnings were privacy-suppressed.
Debt vs earnings
Median completer debt against median graduate earnings, highest burden first.
Accreditation status & history
Who accredits the institution, current standing, and any past actions.
Accrediting Council for Continuing Education and Training
Action history · 4
- Dec 2023Renewal of AccreditationAccrediting Council for Continuing Education and Training
- Apr 2020Renewal of AccreditationAccrediting Council for Continuing Education and Training
- Apr 2020Grant Substantive Change: ProgramAccrediting Council for Continuing Education and Training
- Aug 2017Renewal of AccreditationAccrediting Council for Continuing Education and Training
Federal aid volume & trends
Pell grants and federal Direct Loan volume disbursed to students, and how they've trended.
In AY 2024–25, 761 students received $4.1M in Pell grants, alongside $5.6M in federal Direct Loans.
Pell recipients · 5-year trend
Loan volume by type · AY 2024–25
Loan awards count each loan type a student holds, not unique borrowers; one student may carry several (e.g. subsidized and unsubsidized), so the per-type figures are the reliable detail.
Student loan default rate
The share of student borrowers who default on federal loans within three years, against the national benchmark.
Of 214 borrowers who entered repayment, 4 (1.8%) defaulted within three years — below the 2.3% national rate.
Default rate vs national, by cohort
* Cohorts 2020 and later read near 0% because the federal COVID-19 payment pause (CARES Act) suspended defaults nationwide. These years reflect a national policy, not institutional performance; the 2019 cohort is the last measured under normal repayment.
Academic programs at FIRST
Top program areas ranked by completions.
Enrollment trends & demographics
Fall headcount, 12-month unduplicated enrollment, and student body composition.
Gender split
Race / ethnicity composition
Campus safety & crime statistics
Reported on-campus crimes over the last three years, including violence and hate crimes.
3-year trend
Criminal offenses by type
By location
VAWA offenses
Hate crimes by bias
No hate crimes reported.
Arrests vs disciplinary referrals
Residence-hall fires
Student-faculty ratio
Student-to-faculty ratio and instructional staff counts.
FIRST vs Peer comparison
The peer institutions FIRST selected for federal comparison reporting.
A larger shape on any axis means this institution outperforms its peers on that dimension. For acceptance rate and net price, lower raw values are inverted so "more selective" and "more affordable" appear larger.
| Carnegie | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SubjectFlorida Institute of Recording Sound and Technology | — | — | 757 | — | — |
Colorado Media School | — | 100.0% | 38 | $30,582 | — |
Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences | — | — | 692 | $22,153 | — |
Hollywood Cultural College | — | — | 38 | — | — |
Illinois Media School | — | 100.0% | 32 | $28,935 | — |
Illinois Media School-Chicago Campus | — | 100.0% | 66 | $26,038 | — |
Ohio Media School-Cincinnati | — | 100.0% | 42 | $24,776 | — |
Ohio Media School-Columbus | — | 100.0% | 43 | $25,406 | — |
Ohio Media School-Valley View | — | 100.0% | 88 | $24,542 | — |
Omega Studios' School of Applied Recording Arts & Sciences | — | — | 82 | — | — |
| Peer group median | — | 100.0% | 55 | $25,406 |
Reports & documents (1)
Dashboards, factbooks, data dictionaries, and other reference material published by the IR office.
Frequently asked questions about Florida Institute of Recording Sound and Technology
Quick answers to the questions most often asked about FIRST.
How many students attend Florida Institute of Recording Sound and Technology?
Where is Florida Institute of Recording Sound and Technology located?
Have a question this page can’t answer?
Ask Clema anything about Florida Institute of Recording Sound and Technology and its peers — plain language in, cited answers out, in minutes instead of days.
Free for teams up to 3 · No credit card