Find the best online colleges in Florida. Online degrees in Florida are offered by Florida’s best colleges and universities as well as the most affordable colleges.
As of October 2022, Florida has a 2.7% unemployment rate, indicating a lower-than-national-average rate.
According to the latest U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report, Florida’s annual mean wage is $51,950. However, an individual’s salary potential still depends on several factors, including academic degree, work experience, and industry, among many others.
Students aspiring to become working professionals in Florida should start finding careers in the state’s top industries, including technology, healthcare, business administration, public policy, and finance.
Florida’s best online colleges offer the same high-quality academic programs to distance learners and on-campus students. Distance learners pursuing online degrees at the undergraduate and graduate levels must complete online courses in general education, core, and elective requirements.
Here are some of the popular academic programs offered at major universities in Florida:
Florida distance learners can enroll in the University of Florida’s RN-to-BSN academic program, with no on-campus requirements or attendance required. They take online courses in genetics, healthcare, physiology, and professional nursing.
Depending on students’ commitment, they can complete the 60-credit program within 24 months. Graduates of the program can find work as ICU, emergency, pediatric, and OR nurses.
Online degree seekers can pursue lucrative careers in the I.T. industry, working as software developers, information systems analysts, network administrators, and programmers. Most online programs in tech-related fields feature courses requiring a total of 120 credits for degree completion.
Distance learners gain a comprehensive introduction to web development, algorithm design, and software engineering. Some online programs require a thesis or capstone completion before graduation.
Distance learners can specialize in educational leadership, education technology, and research. Some of these online programs prepare graduates to work as K-12 educators, depending on their curriculum and requirements.
Like other states, students attending private institutions and public universities outside their home state will pay higher in-state tuition fees. However, out-of-state students wanting to pursue an online program in Florida online schools may be eligible for reduced tuition rates.
The SREB, or Southern Regional Education Board, is a council of representatives of 15 member states striving to increase academic opportunities for students throughout the region. Apart from Florida, other states that are part of the SREB include West Virginia, Virginia, Texas, Tennessee, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Maryland, Louisiana, Kentucky, Georgia, Delaware, Arkansas, and Alabama.
The Academic Common Market of the SREB provides out-of-state undergraduate and graduate students the opportunity to enroll in academic programs of other member states and enjoy in-state tuition fees.
Although the Academic Common Market doesn’t cover each public institution’s educational program, the ACM allows students to enroll in an academic degree from a member school if that specific program or major isn’t offered in students’ home states.
The SREB has pre-approved 1,500+ academic programs for tuition discounts in the Academic Common Market. Students may also request SREB approval to pursue an online program not listed in the SREB.
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.
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If you interested in an online bachelor’s degree, check out what the best online colleges offer, or search our online degrees for the exact program that interests you. In either case, you will find well respected colleges and universities that offer online degrees.
Note: This ranking focuses on online bachelor’s degree available through Florida’s best colleges and universities.
The following graph depicts the average salaries of top occupations in different industries in Florida.
Source: U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS
Tuition + fees
$6K
Acceptance
30%
Graduation
91%
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48K
Median SAT/ACT
1375/31
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$7K
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37%
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83%
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41K
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1285/29
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$6K
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36%
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75%
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63K
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1250/27
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$7K
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64%
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67%
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49K
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1185/26
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$43K
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66%
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66%
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5K
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1230/26
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$5K
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78%
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55%
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26K
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1140/23
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$35K
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93%
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61%
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14K
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1135/23
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$11K
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70%
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19%
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8K
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$6K
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53%
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52%
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11K
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1145/24
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$32K
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64%
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41%
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6K
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$6K
Acceptance
89%
Graduation
56%
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14K
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1135/23
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$42K
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78%
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48%
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4K
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$3K
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36%
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17K
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$26K
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71%
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46%
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9K
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$41K
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83%
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50%
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3K
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$33K
Acceptance
71%
Graduation
41%
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3K
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1005/18
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$3K
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45%
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5K
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$13K
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43%
Graduation
18%
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<1K
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999/19
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$3K
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39%
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15K
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$28K
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45%
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51%
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7K
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1065/21
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$2K
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40%
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9K
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$3K
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45%
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11K
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$3K
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39%
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10K
Tuition + fees
$22K
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96%
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67%
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29K
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$3K
Graduation
40%
Student body
7K
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$2K
Graduation
63%
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3K
Tuition + fees
$19K
Acceptance
60%
Graduation
58%
Student body
2K
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$20K
Acceptance
90%
Graduation
39%
Student body
1K
Median SAT/ACT
1075/22
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$3K
Graduation
60%
Student body
<1K
Tuition + fees
$15K
Graduation
15%
Student body
<1K
Tuition + fees
$30K
Acceptance
46%
Graduation
24%
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<1K
Median SAT/ACT
956/17
Tuition + fees
$12K
Acceptance
100%
Graduation
56%
Student body
<1K
Median SAT/ACT
1030/21
Tuition + fees
$16K
Acceptance
47%
Graduation
36%
Student body
<1K
Median SAT/ACT
952/17
If this is your first time taking an online course, the experience may require a time of adjustment. Although you’ll typically learn the same material and take the same exams as your on-campus peers, going online will require greater independence and responsibility than going in person. You’ll be accountable for your own time management, for harnessing the online educational technology that you’ll need to use, and for completing the course requirements, such as listening to lectures, learning lessons, reading texts, and handing in assignments. This means you’ll need to create a suitable workspace for yourself, maintain a realistic schedule, and take the initiative in building relationships with your instructors and classmates. With online college, your goal is to find a balance between independence and engagement.
No. The only part of online education that’s easier than campus-based education is ease of access: all you need is a computer and an internet connection for online education. But even this seeming advantage of online education can be misleading: what’s easier, studying online with your computer and internet connection from your home where you need to cook, clean, pay rent, and maintain a job? Or studying on campus in a dorm where all your living needs are handled by the school, and college staff are there to help you every step of the way?
If you take the commute to campus out of the equation, campus-based education is easier. All the support structures available on campus for students, especially with real people to help you in person, are not there online. The demands on you as an online student will largely be the same as for your campus-based counterpart, but without the same helps.
In general, your online courses will present the same material and test you in the same way as traditional in-person courses. In many cases, you’ll even have the same instructors as your on-campus counterparts. In fact, if you are adjusting to the experience of independent learning with remote educational technology for the first time, online college may be considerably more challenging than campus-based college. For a few insights on how to manage this new online experience, check out our 10 Tips for Adjusting to School Online.
Accreditation is especially important when it comes to online college. This is because the online education landscape is a mix of highly-reputable non-profit institutions on the one end and less-than-reputable for-profit institutions on the other end. Accreditation gives you the power to identify the more reputable actors in online education. Accreditation is a stamp of approval from an independent accrediting agency indicating that a college or university is meeting standards of quality and credibility. School-wide accreditation falls into two major categories: regional and national accreditation. Regional accreditors generally hold jurisdiction only over schools in the states comprising their region, whereas national accreditors hold jurisdiction over schools in all states. Regional accreditation is widely regarded as a more rigorous standard of quality and credibility than national accreditation.
Attending a college or university that is not regionally accredited could limit your opportunities. For students seeking an online education, we strongly recommend that they opt for regionally accredited schools. Regional accreditation ensures eligibility for federal loans and grants, ensures your college credits can be transferred between schools, and ensures that your degree credits can be accepted if you wish to earn an advanced degree. For more on this important topic, check out our What is Accreditation and Why Does It Matter? College & University Accreditation Guide.
As long as your online college degree is regionally accredited (see the previous point), you should have little difficulty transferring most of your credits or credentials to another regionally accredited undergraduate school. Every school carries its own standards and procedures for granting a transfer of credits. In many cases, you will encounter some bureaucratic haggling in which some of your credits will be transferred and others may be refused. However, provided that you have attended an online school with recognized regional accreditation, you should be in good shape in transferring your credits earned online.
In most cases, as long you graduate from a well-regarded, regionally-accredited online college, prospective employers won’t look sideways at your degree. In fact, unless you attend an exclusively online college or university, there will likely be no specific indicator on your degree, transcript, or resumé differentiating your school from its brick-and-mortar counterpart. This means that your employer will likely only differentiate between an online and in-person degree if you mention this distinction.
Some employers may express the concern that because you did your degree online, you may need to transition from an online education experience to in-person workplace experience. But in an age of Covid, that concern seems much diminished. The fact is that much employment these days is remote. And collaboration increasingly happens online over Zoom. Many employers will therefore view your online degree as evidence of valuable 21st century professional skills such as independence, self-motivation, time management, and tech savvy.
If you are a student who thrives on the dynamic energy of in-person discussion, who requires the physical surroundings of a classroom to feel engaged, or who considers the social aspects of education to be of equal importance to the actual content of your courses, online education will be less than ideal for you (though depending on your circumstances, it may also be the only viable option).
While there is much in traditional campus-based education that can be substituted or simulated through the online medium, some students may find that there is nothing that can replace the conversation, collaboration, and motivation that occur in an actual in-person classroom setting. As you transition to online education, one of the biggest challenges you will likely face in getting the most out of your online classes is overcoming this difference between “real reality” and “virtual reality.” Fortunately, we’ve got some great Tips for Online Education Beginners.
The advantages of online classes are many. Above all, online courses give you the freedom and flexibility to attend class from anywhere that works for you, whether you’re at home, in a coffee shop, or in a quiet conference room at work. In many cases, you’ll also enjoy the convenience of asynchronous learning opportunities-educational experiences that you can complete at your own pace and on your own schedule. This may include pre-taped lectures, ongoing chat-board discussions, and 24/7 access to digital materials. And of course, just as there are some learners who prefer the energy of a live classroom, there are those who learn best when working in their own personal space, free from distractions. If this sounds like you, you might find the solitude of online learning to be a major advantage.
Whether you’re just getting started on your college search, you’re looking for survival tips on your way to a bachelor’s degree, or you’re preparing for the transition into grad school, we’ve got guides, how to’s and tons of other valuable resources to keep you moving forward in your educational journey.