New Data Shows Top Companies Hiring Florida鈥檚 Online Grads
Employment outcomes for over 74,000 Florida alumni highlight aerospace and defense companies as top employers for online graduates
By: Taylor Nichols | Published: January 13, 2022 Key Insights:
- Department of Defense is the largest employer for Florida's online alumni, with 8% working for the Air Force
- Aerospace and manufacturing companies are also popular, with Lockheed Martin and Boeing as top employers
- Finance, insurance, and business services drew 30% of graduates
Florida is known for its robust economy and the unique industries that feed it. For most students considering an online degree, where they'll get a job after graduation is a top concern.
To find out how recent graduates fare after earning their degree online, we took a deep dive into employment outcomes at nine popular online colleges in Florida. Our study includes the most popular employers for each school and a breakdown of salary potential for related majors.
We give each major at a college a Salary Score based on median alumni starting salary compared to the median earnings for the same majors across U.S. universities. Our guide to Salary Score provides a detailed breakdown of this process.
More than half (64%) of the alumni remain in-state, indicating these schools serve the local Florida community.
While these data points include graduates from online and campus-based programs, each school was selected for its strong online offerings. Most of the schools served a high rate of online students pre-pandemic, and all saw an increase in online enrollment during COVID-19.
Largest Employers for Alumni of Florida's UU直播s
| Employer | Percent of Alumni Employed |
|---|---|
| U.S. Air Force | 8.0% |
| Lockheed Martin | 6.1% |
| U.S. Army | 4.9% |
| Amazon | 4.1% |
| Boeing | 3.9% |
| U.S. Navy | 3.8% |
| Publix | 3.6% |
| Northrop Grumman | 3.3% |
| Ernst & Young | 3.2% |
| Bank of America | 2.8% |
Data from Burning Glass Technologies
Given the driving factors behind Florida's economy, it's no surprise that graduates of Florida's online programs tend to be very STEM-heavy. Florida's workforce is sustained by strong aerospace, defense, life sciences, and manufacturing sectors. As a result, companies in manufacturing, aerospace, aviation, and healthcare are all heavily represented in the top employers.
Defense
Previous studies on employment outcomes for online schools in New York and California highlight an emphasis on tech, finance, and healthcare jobs. However, online graduates from all three states share a common popular employer: the Department of Defense.
Online schools are popular with military students and families because it makes education accessible even when students aren't in one place for very long. This trend is reflected in Florida's online graduate population, with nearly 17% employed by the US Air Force, Army, or Navy.
Aerospace
Florida is home to the Kennedy Space Center, multiple Air Force bases, and 120 commercial airports. As a result, companies in aerospace, aviation, and manufacturing employ a large share of Florida's online graduates.
Lockheed Martin and Boeing are both popular employers, accounting for 10% of alumni. Many earned their bachelor's degrees online from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University or the University of Florida.
Amazon is a top employer for alumni across the country. However, while graduates in other states tend to work in tech and business positions, online alumni of Florida schools also often work in aviation for Amazon Air.
Employment Outcomes by College
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Worldwide
Top Industries: Aerospace, Defense, and Manufacturing
Embry-Riddle Worldwide is one of the top online schools for salary by major in Florida, and one of the few online schools for aerospace engineering degrees.
Its largest alumni employer by far is the Department of Defense. Nearly 20% work for the Air Force alone 鈥� unsurprising given Florida is home to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Eglin Air Force Base, and a number of other bases.
Aerospace and defense are also popular for Embry-Riddle online graduates, with 18% working for Lockheed Martin or Boeing. Popular jobs include pilot, computer systems engineer, and software engineer.
University of Florida
Top Industries: Aerospace and Business
Given the University of Florida's size and general focus as a state school, it's not entirely surprising that alumni outcomes span a range of economically strong industries.
UF is a particularly strong school for many business majors, with high Salary Scores for accounting, business administration, finance, management sciences, and marketing. Close to 18% of graduates work in consulting services at companies like Deloitte and EY.
Graduates with degrees in aerospace engineering, chemical engineering, computer and information sciences, computer engineering, and systems engineering also tend to be highly paid for their major. Top employers include Lockheed Martin and Amazon.
Hodges University
Top Industry: Public Administration
Hodges University is a majority-online school in southeast Florida that largely serves students living in the area. More than 80% of students enroll online and remain in-state after graduation.
As with other colleges on this list, manufacturing is a popular industry for Hodges graduates. Healthcare manufacturing company Arthrex, headquartered in the area, hired 8.6% of alumni. Hodges graduates work in every department, from biomedical sciences and engineering to finance.
Other top employers for Hodges alumni include the Army, Collier County Government, and local healthcare system Lee Health. Graduates held positions in public administration, healthcare, and business within these organizations.
St. Petersburg College
Top Industries: Teaching and Healthcare
St. Petersburg College is a strong school for teaching majors, with 6.5% of alumni working for Pinellas County Schools.
Salary data shows alumni of St. Petersburg's teaching programs are highly paid for their major with Salary Scores of 84 for teaching programs by learning level and 95 for their math teaching program.
The college is also popular for healthcare majors in the area, with nearby Baycare Health System hiring more than 14% of graduates.
Many St. Petersburg alumni become registered nurses, although they are not highly paid for their field of study. Data from the for 74,680 alumni who graduated from 2015 through 2020. Qualitative data from LinkedIn profiles were used in some cases to gain deeper insights into the education and career pathways these graduates followed.
When determining the top employers for each school, we omitted the institutions themselves to focus on the career paths taken outside of alumni working for their college upon graduation. Data limitations mean that we can't examine the employment outcomes of online graduates separately from campus graduates at schools that offer both degree formats. More information on Salary Scores for each college and individual programs at that school can be found on each school's profile on our companion site, .