Community colleges in Florida
There are 56 two-year, predominantly associate-degree-granting community colleges in Florida reporting to the U.S. Department of Education. Median published in-state tuition across the state is $3,401 per academic year — among the most affordable postsecondary options anywhere in the country.
This page is a working directory: every institution links to a full profile with cost, enrollment, completion, and transfer numbers. The lists below highlight the most affordable, the largest, and the most transfer-active campuses in Florida, drawn from the same Department of Education data four-year admissions offices use to evaluate incoming transfer applicants. If you are weighing a community-college start before continuing to a four-year program, the transfer rate column is the single most useful comparison.
Most affordable in-state tuition in Florida
- Tallahassee State CollegeTallahassee$2,026
- Pensacola State CollegePensacola$2,361
- Gulf Coast State CollegePanama City$2,370
- Eastern Florida State CollegeMelbourne$2,496
- Hillsborough Community CollegeTampa$2,506
Largest community colleges in Florida
- Broward CollegeFort Lauderdale24,922
- Palm Beach State CollegeLake Worth21,956
- Hillsborough Community CollegeTampa21,472
- Florida State College at JacksonvilleJacksonville19,648
- St Petersburg CollegeSt. Petersburg18,950
Strongest transfer outcomes
Share of full-time entrants who transferred to another institution within 150% of program length.
- Hope College of Arts and SciencesPompano Beach81%
- SABER CollegeMiami33%
- Universal Technical Institute-OrlandoOrlando1%
All 56 community colleges in Florida
About community college in Florida
Florida's 56 community colleges serve as the primary on-ramp into postsecondary education for hundreds of thousands of residents each year. They award associate degrees, occupational certificates, and — through articulation agreements with public and private four-year institutions — transferable general-education credit. For most students, the financial argument is decisive: published in-state tuition averages a small fraction of state-flagship sticker price, and many community-college students qualify for the full federal Pell Grant, eliminating tuition entirely.
If you intend to transfer, the most important question to ask any Florida community college is which four-year institutions accept its credit on a course-for-course basis. The state's strongest transfer pipelines tend to feed regional public universities, but well-prepared students from accredited community colleges in Florida routinely transfer into selective private institutions as well. Use the transfer-rate column above as a starting filter, then consult the receiving university's transfer admissions office to confirm specific course equivalencies.
Career-focused students should pay attention to the local labor market as much as to the institution. Florida's community colleges concentrate heavily in health-care occupations, mechanical and engineering technology, business administration, and skilled-trades programs aligned to regional employers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics' state-level wage data is the right reference for setting expectations on starting salary by field. Where this site reports earnings, the figure is median earnings ten years after first enrollment, drawn from the College Scorecard's match against federal tax records.