Interested in attending a STEM school in Florida? Our ranking of top research universities for bachelor’s degrees displays schools that will best prepare you for STEM careers.
The state of Florida offers a wealth of options for students seeking both traditional and online degree programs. With more than 40 public and 50 private schools, prospective students can earn their associate, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees from an extremely wide variety of brick-and-mortar and online colleges in Florida.
Colleges in Florida are also uniquely affordable, with the state average tuition of $6,360 falling well under the national average. Among the most popular disciplines in Florida are anthropology, nursing, law, religious studies, and earth sciences. Many of these valuable degrees are available through online courses and fully online degree programs.
Indeed, nearly 40 colleges and universities in Florida offer online degrees. These online degree programs offer flexibility, convenience and accessibility. Make sure to choose an online degree program with accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.Find college admissions consultants in your state.
Among the largest colleges in Florida is Miami Dade College. This public college is home to over 165,000 students across eight campuses and 21 outreach centers as well as various excellent online degree programs. Miami Dade College also offers an extremely affordable in-state tuition of $3,000.
Students seeking a religious school can choose from 21 colleges and universities that are grounded in Judeo-Christian, Catholic, Seventh-day Adventist, and Christian principles. Ranked as the top two schools, the University of Florida (UF) and Florida State University (FSU) both have large student populations, with just over 45,000 at UF and just under 39,000 as FSU. Both are also affordable, with tuition at $6,000 and $7,000, respectively.
At $50,000, the University of Miami is the most expensive private college in the state and has graduated influential people such as Gene Roddenberry, Sylvester Stallone, and Dwayne The Rock
Johnson. Florida also offers its nursing students up to $4,000 in financial aid through their Nursing Student Loan Forgiveness Program.
Coastal cities, sandy beaches, orange groves, and vibrant flowers - it’s no wonder Florida is called The Sunshine State. Home to the famous Everglades National Park and Disney World, Florida also boasts 90 higher education institutes.
With so many options for both traditional and online colleges in Florida, this state has a lot to offer higher education students. Check out Florida’s best degree programs and top career paths.
Related: Differences between research universities and teaching colleges
A research university is a great option for students interested in obtaining STEM degrees. Research universities invest heavily in research, which consequently provides meaningful and extensive opportunities for its students and faculty to participate in research. We’ve identified 13 research universities in Florida. To be included in our ranking, schools must be a fully accredited universities and must must offer doctoral degrees across the range of STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math).
Tuition + fees
$6K
Acceptance
30%
Graduation
91%
Student body
48K
Median SAT/ACT
1375/31
University of Florida’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$55K
Acceptance
28%
Graduation
84%
Student body
15K
Median SAT/ACT
1335/30
University of Miami’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$7K
Acceptance
37%
Graduation
83%
Student body
41K
Median SAT/ACT
1285/29
Florida State University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$6K
Acceptance
36%
Graduation
75%
Student body
63K
Median SAT/ACT
1250/27
University of Central Florida’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$6K
Acceptance
49%
Graduation
75%
Student body
44K
Median SAT/ACT
1240/27
University of South Florida’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$7K
Acceptance
64%
Graduation
67%
Student body
49K
Median SAT/ACT
1185/26
Florida International University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$5K
Acceptance
78%
Graduation
55%
Student body
26K
Median SAT/ACT
1140/23
Florida Atlantic University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$43K
Acceptance
66%
Graduation
66%
Student body
5K
Median SAT/ACT
1230/26
Florida Institute of Technology’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$6K
Acceptance
35%
Graduation
55%
Student body
8K
Median SAT/ACT
1090/22
Florida A&M University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$35K
Acceptance
93%
Graduation
61%
Student body
14K
Median SAT/ACT
1135/23
Nova Southeastern University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$6K
Acceptance
77%
Graduation
67%
Student body
15K
Median SAT/ACT
1135/23
University of North Florida’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$32K
Acceptance
64%
Graduation
41%
Student body
6K
Barry University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$22K
Acceptance
96%
Graduation
67%
Student body
29K
Keiser University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Many of our 2022 undergraduate focused rankings look considerably different than 2021. That’s because we took a fundamentally different apporach. For 2021 we utilized our Concentrated Influence algorithm, designed to take away the size advantage larger schools have when we rank their faculty and alumni’s academic influence. Concentrated influence highlights smaller schools that are proportionally as successful as larger universities at cultivating influential alumni and faculty.
Check out our directory of research universities throughout the U.S. for a look at the top research institutions in every state.
Photo By Darkflowerthree - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0