Florida State College at Jacksonville (FSCJ)

Established in 1965, Florida State College at Jacksonville (FSCJ) is a well-known public community college in the Jacksonville region. Recognized for its dual enrollment, short-term programs and early college programs, FSCJ gives the future workforce of Northeast Florida a variety of career pathway options. FSCJ has four campus locations around the region as well as three additional centers. Throughout the years, FSCJ has received many high rankings and achievements, including being named a “Military Friendly School” with a gold ranking for the second year in a row in 2024.

Success in Northeast Florida

FSCJ offers various fields to study, no matter if the student is looking to get a two-year degree, four-year degree or a certificate of completion. They also acknowledge the areas of growth and success in the region and aim to provide quality education in Northeast Florida’s target industries. FSCJ offers programs in all six of the region’s target industries (Advanced Manufacturing, Corporate Operations, Financial Services, Life Sciences, Technology Services and Transportation & Logistics), as well as many of Northeast Florida’s support industries.

Associate programs such as Engineering Technology and Applied Artificial Intelligence fall under Advanced Manufacturing. FSCJ also offers many certificates that align with this growing industry, including a CNC Machines/Fabricator Technical Certificate, Mechatronics Technical Certificate and Advanced Manufacturing (Automation) Certificate. Their Bachelor of Science in Business Administration will help prepare students who are looking to go into the Corporate Operations industry and their Associate in Science in Biomedical Equipment Technology will do the same for the Life Sciences industry.

For Financial Services, FSCJ offers a Bachelor of Science in Financial Services, an Associate in Science in Accounting and many additional programs in Fintech. This school also has many programs related to Health Tech, including two associate degrees and a Biotechnology Specialist in Manufacturing Technical Certificate. Lastly, FSCJ offers a wide variety of Bachelor, Associate and certificate programs for Transportation and Logistics, including a Bachelor of Applied Science in Logistics, Associate in Science in Supply Chain Management and an Advanced Driver Assistance Systems Technician Technical Certificate.

In addition to the region’s target industries, FSCJ has many unique programs that help distinguish their institution, including their Fire Academy and Criminal Justice Center.

Student & Faculty Stories

FSCJ has been continuously accredited for their remarkable faculty and staff. Recently, they were recognized for being one of the few colleges that have the largest amount of faculty members that were selected for the U.S Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program – the two scholars that were selected were Faith Litvack, Professor of Legal Studies, and Aileen Hale, a professor at the Adjunct English Language Institute.

In addition to FSCJ’s staff accolades, there are also many students with great success stories. One of their students was struggling with the ASN program but decided to reapproach it with a new strategy – she knew what kind of RN she wished to become one day and, because of this, started to seek out a deeper understanding of the concepts of being a nurse. She sought out the guidance and support of the Nursing program staff before taking her HESI exit exam. Thanks to this student’s dedication, she passed the exam and graduated from this program in May of 2024.

Due to FSCJ’s staff and their dedication to providing top-tier education, this school sets their students up for success.

Student Opportunities

FSCJ understands the importance of providing their students with hands-on experience during their schooling, which is why they pursue collaborative efforts with different organizations and businesses throughout the community. All of the major hospitals in Jacksonville provide clinical sites for FSCJ’s health programs, including Mayo and Baptist Health as internship sites for upcoming Biomedical Equipment Technicians.

FSCJ also provides hands-on experiences for high school students. In collaboration with Johnson and Johnson Vision Care, FSCJ has an Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering Early College Academy hosted at Englewood High School in Jacksonville.

With FSCJ’s continued innovation and accessibility to students, the community college will remain an established school in Northeast Florida providing ample opportunities to build the region’s talent pipeline.

Type

Public Community College

Enrollment

20,363

Location

501 W. State Street, Jacksonville, FL (Multiple campuses in Jacksonville)

Website

Fscj.edu

Key Fields of Study

Advanced Manufacturing (Automation), Aviation Mechanic, Biomedical Sciences, Business Administration, Computer Systems Networking, Criminal Justice Center, Financial Services, Fire Academy, Logistics, Nursing and Welding Technology.

Rankings & Achievements

• FSCJ and Professor Robert Wechsler were recognized by Electrathon of Florida as "College Sponsor of the Year," an acknowledgment of the two races they hosted during the season and efforts to help spread the Electrathon EV race series to the area. • FSCJ Interior Design students and faculty worked with Habitat for Humanity of Jacksonville (HabiJax) to stage the interior of one of their new builds, preparing it for a family to establish their new home. • FSCJ and Brooks Rehabilitation have partnered to offer certified nursing assistants (CNAs) an opportunity to work toward becoming a licensed practical nurse (LPN) while on the job. Together, Brooks and FSCJ created this pilot program which allows a cohort of 11 Brooks Rehabilitation CNAs opportunities to work with FSCJ instructors during the workday. Their tuition is covered by Brooks and laptops, scrubs and supplies are also provided. The first cohort will graduate in summer 2024. • For the second year in a row, FSCJ was named a Military Friendly® School with a “Gold” ranking for 2024-25, in recognition of leading practices, outcomes and effective programs for student veterans. • FSCJ’s Hospitality Management A.S. degree program was ranked #2 in the Southeast Region by Course Advisor. FSCJ was ranked 19th in the nation as well. This report analyzed 176 schools in the U.S. to see which ones offered the best associate degree programs for students. • The Aspen Institute has once again named FSCJ as one of the 150 institutions eligible to compete for the $1 million Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, the nation's signature recognition of high achievement and performance among two-year colleges.