2025 Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools in Florida

If you pursue a associate degree in nursing, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #2 most popular program in the country. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.

College Factual reviewed 49 schools in Florida to determine which ones were the best for associate degree seekers in the field of nursing. Combined, these schools handed out 8,753 associate degrees in nursing to qualified students.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Associate Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Nursing School for Your Associate Degree

Your choice of nursing for getting your associate degree school matters. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.

A Great Overall School

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To take this into account we consider a school's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a combination of various factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

Early-Career Earnings

Average early-career salary of those graduating with their associate degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. That is, everyone wants their associate degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

• Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to nursing students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other nursing students want to attend this school to pursue a associate degree.
• Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
• Student Debt - How easy is it for nursing to pay back their student loans after receiving their associate degree.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized nursing related body.

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for nursing students working on their associate degree.

More Ways to Rank Nursing Schools

The nursing school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools in Florida.

Best Schools for Associate Students to Study Nursing in Florida

Learn about the top ranked colleges and universities for nursing students seeking a an associate degree.

10 Top Florida Schools for an Associate in Nursing

1

Keiser University - Ft Lauderdale
Fort Lauderdale, FL

507 Annual Graduates

$67,368 Median Starting Salary

$13,869 Median Student Debt

It's difficult to beat Keiser University - Ft Lauderdale if you want to pursue an associate degree in nursing. Located in the medium-sized city of Fort Lauderdale, Keiser University - Ft Lauderdale is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.

Those nursing students who get their associate degree from Keiser University - Ft Lauderdale make $6,969 more than the average nursing student.

More information about a associate in nursing from Keiser University - Ft Lauderdale

2

Valencia College
Orlando, FL

437 Annual Graduates

$70,422 Median Starting Salary

Any student who is interested in an associate degree in nursing needs to check out Valencia College. Valencia College is a very large public college located in the large city of Orlando.

Associate recipients from the nursing major at Valencia College earn $10,023 above the average graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.

More information about a associate in nursing from Valencia College

3

Rasmussen University - Florida
Ocala, FL

1,113 Annual Graduates

$68,119 Median Starting Salary

$17,700 Median Student Debt

Rasmussen University - Florida is a great choice for individuals interested in an associate degree in nursing. Located in the small city of Ocala, Rasmussen University - Florida is a private for-profit university with a small student population.

Associate recipients from the nursing degree program at Rasmussen University - Florida earn $7,720 above the average college grad with the same degree shortly after graduation.

More information about a associate in nursing from Rasmussen University - Florida

4

Broward College
Fort Lauderdale, FL

413 Annual Graduates

$72,991 Median Starting Salary

It's difficult to beat Broward College if you want to pursue an associate degree in nursing. Located in the city of Fort Lauderdale, BC is a public college with a very large student population.

Associate recipients from the nursing degree program at Broward College get $12,592 above the typical college graduate in this field shortly after graduation.

More information about a associate in nursing from Broward College

5

Miami Dade College
Miami, FL

664 Annual Graduates

$64,608 Median Starting Salary

MDC is a very large public college located in the city of Miami.

Associate recipients from the nursing program at Miami Dade College earn $4,209 above the standard college graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.

More information about a associate in nursing from Miami Dade College

6

North Florida College
Madison, FL

40 Annual Graduates

$67,263 Median Starting Salary

Located in the rural area of Madison, NFC is a public college with a small student population.

Associate recipients from the nursing major at North Florida College earn $6,864 more than the average graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.

More information about a associate in nursing from North Florida College

7

Palm Beach State College
Lake Worth, FL

228 Annual Graduates

$67,495 Median Starting Salary

Palm Beach State College is a fairly large public college located in the large suburb of Lake Worth.

Those nursing students who get their associate degree from Palm Beach State College earn $7,096 more than the standard nursing graduate.

More information about a associate in nursing from Palm Beach State College

8

Seminole State College of Florida
Sanford, FL

230 Annual Graduates

$70,052 Median Starting Salary

Seminole State is a fairly large public college located in the city of Sanford.

Nursing associate degree recipients from Seminole State College of Florida earn a boost of approximately $9,653 above the typical earnings of nursing graduates.

More information about a associate in nursing from Seminole State College of Florida

9

Hillsborough Community College
Tampa, FL

210 Annual Graduates

$64,429 Median Starting Salary

HCC is a fairly large public college located in the city of Tampa.

Those nursing students who get their associate degree from Hillsborough Community College make $4,030 more than the average nursing student.

More information about a associate in nursing from Hillsborough Community College

10

Florida State College at Jacksonville
Jacksonville, FL

284 Annual Graduates

$62,019 Median Starting Salary

FSCJ is a very large public college located in the large city of Jacksonville.

Students who graduate with their associate from the nursing program report average early career income of $62,019.

More information about a associate in nursing from Florida State College at Jacksonville

Honorable Mentions

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools in Florida award.

Rank	College	Location
11	St Petersburg College	St. Petersburg, FL
12	Eastern Florida State College	Melbourne, FL
13	Santa Fe College	Gainesville, FL
14	Pasco-Hernando State College	New Port Richey, FL
15	Daytona State College	Daytona Beach, FL
16	Herzing University - Winter Park	Winter Park, FL

Best Nursing Colleges in the Southeast Region

Explore all the Best Nursing Schools in the Southeast Area or other specific states within that region.

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Mississippi	143	1,269
Georgia	121	1,473
North Carolina	120	2,538
Arkansas	105	1,212
Tennessee	102	1,235
Virginia	97	2,569
West Virginia	92	813
Kentucky	90	1,848
Louisiana	80	966
South Carolina	77	1,223
Alabama	69	2,116

View All Rankings >

Rankings in Majors Related to Nursing

Nursing is one of 34 different types of Health Professions programs to choose from.

Nursing Concentrations

Major	Annual Graduates
Registered Nursing	8,625
Other Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing	128

Majors Similar to Nursing

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Health & Medical Administrative Services	6,573
Allied Health Professions	2,857
Allied Health & Medical Assisting Services	1,536
Dental Support Services	414
Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science	180
Public Health	171
Mental & Social Health Services	140
Health Sciences & Services	109
Ophthalmic & Optometric Support Services	88
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions	9

Notes and References

• The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
• The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
• Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
• Credit for the banner image above goes to Aleksahgabrielle. More about our data sources and methodologies.