Why This Matters

  • 98 COMMUNITY COLLEGES IN FLORIDA

    According to data from College Navigator, there are 98 community colleges offering associate degrees in Florida.

  • $3,242 AVERAGE IN-DISTRICT TUITION & FEES

    Students in Florida who qualify as in-district paid an average of $3,242 for tuition and fees during the 2022-2023 school year.

  • 452,493 COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENTS RECEIVED FINANCIAL AID

    A full 80.6% of those enrolled in two-year colleges in the U.S. were eligible for some type of financial aid to help ease some of the burden of paying for an associate degree.

Our Research

This list features some of the best community colleges in Florida. Each school featured is a nonprofit, accredited institution — either public or private — with a high standard of academic quality for post-secondary institutions. We included small, midsize, and large colleges as well as trade, technical, and vocational programs. Next, we compared this comprehensive list to a list of aggregated college rankings from reputable publications like the U.S. News & World Report among others to simplify a student’s college search. We pored through these rankings so students don’t have to.

The colleges on our list are accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), a reputable organization that examines objectives, quality and overall effectiveness of education programs in the southern United States.

We evaluated each school on tuition costs, admission, retention and graduation rates, faculty, and reputation as well as the student resources provided for students. Then we calculated the Intelligent Score on a scale of 0 to 100. Read more about our ranking methodology.

The Top 50 Community Colleges in Florida

Best Community Colleges In Florida Badge 2023
01
Intelligent Pick
Florida Panhandle Technical College
01
Best for Distance Learning
Pinellas Technical College
01
Best Real-World Experience
Lorenzo Walker Technical College
01
Best for Occupational Education
Emerald Coast Technical College
01
Most Academic Programs
Hillsborough Community College
01
Best for Bachelor's Degrees
Santa Fe College
01
Best for Career Seekers
Orange Technical College at Westside Campus
01
Most Affordable
Seminole State College of Florida
01
Great for Health Sciences and IT
Manatee Technical College
01
Best for Small Class Sizes
Florida Gateway College
01

Valencia College
01

Eastern Florida State College
01

Riveroak Technical College
01

St. Johns River State College
01

Tallahassee Community College
01

South Florida State College
01

Broward College
01

State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota
01

College of Central Florida
01

St. Petersburg College
01

Indian River State College
01

Pensacola State College
01

Palm Beach State College
01

Florida SouthWestern State College
01

Fred K. Marchman Technical College
01

Polk State College
01

Pasco-Hernando State College
01

The College of the Florida Keys
01

Gulf Coast State College

What You Should Know About Graduating From Community College in Florida

If you’re looking for a high-paying job in Florida that only requires an associate degree, there are quite a few to choose from. The five highest paying jobs in the Sunshine State are air traffic controllers, aerospace engineering technicians, nuclear medicine technologists, radiation therapists, and dental hygienists.

The more job openings there are in your chosen field, the easier it may be for you to get a position soon after graduation. In Florida, the top five careers with the most job openings are paralegals and legal assistants, preschool teachers, radiologic technicians, physical therapy assistants, and vet technicians.

Jobs that are declining in employment rates can be much more competitive, and this is something you want to evaluate before choosing a specific career path. In Florida, the jobs with the highest employment decline rates are nuclear technicians and desktop publishers.

What’s Next?

One of the biggest concerns when it comes to getting an associate degree at a community college in Florida is figuring out how you will pay for it. To help you learn what kind of financial aid is available to you, we’ve provided some federal and state resources.

  • Florida Department of Education’s Office of Student Financial Assistance. The Florida Department of Education has an entire office dedicated to helping students find a way to pay for college. Here, you can find information on students loans and state grants as well as application materials.
  • Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The U.S. Department of Education is a valuable resource when it comes to obtaining federal aid. Fill out the online FAFSA form to apply for Pell grants, federal loans, and work-study opportunities. Check out the FAFSA4caster, to get more information on what you may be eligible for.
  • CareerOneStop. Developed and maintained by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, CareerOneStop is full of information on financial aid opportunities such as scholarships and grants. You can filter the options by location, degree level, and program type to find programs that are the right fit, and the information on how much is awarded, who qualifies, and how to apply is all right there at your fingertips.