Orlando is a central Florida city and the anchor city for Florida’s third-largest metro area.
Orlando is among the most visited cities on the globe due to the city being the home to two hugely popular tourist attractions – Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando Resort.
The Orlando International Airport is one of the nation’s busiest airports in the nation.
Electricians must be licensed by the state of Florida to work legally.
The state offers several paths to electrician licensing, a task that is managed by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.
Professional electricians working in Florida can be certified, meaning they can work throughout the state as contractors.
Registered electrician licenses limit a professional’s work to a specific jurisdiction.
According to the federal agency known as the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in May 2021, Florida, with more than 41,000 professional electricians, ranked as the nation’s third-highest employment level for electricians.
The median annual salary for Florida electricians was $49,080 in 2021.
More than 5,100 were employed in the greater Orlando metropolitan area.
The median annual salary for electricians in this area for 2021 was $47,280.
1 Southern Technical College
Southern Technical College is a multiple-campus trade school with seven schools throughout the Sunshine State.
STC offers an associate’s degree program in Electrical Trades Technology (ETT) that can be completed in only 1.5 years.
Southern Technical College operates with accreditation from the ACICS – the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools.
Students can choose from day or evening classes, which are taught by industry professionals.
This program offers financial aid to those students who meet program qualifications.
Address: 1485 Florida Mall Avenue, Orlando, FL 32809
2 Central FL Electrical JATC
Central FL Electrical JATC offers a four-year electrical apprenticeship program that is ranked among the area’s top training options for electricians.
This apprenticeship program from the Central Florida Electrical JATC includes 225 hours of classroom instruction and 8,000 hours of hands-on, on-the-job training working for business partners.
Essentially this means that students work full-time during the work week but attend a six-hour class one afternoon per week.
Central Florida Electrical JATC’s program for electrical apprentices offers two tracks – Inside Construction and Walt Disney Maintenance.
The ELA offers these academic specialties within the electrical apprenticeship training program – outside lineman, inside wireman, installer technician, and residential wireman.
The school offers certifications, journeyman training, and a college credit program.
Address: 2738 Forsyth Road, Winter Park, FL 32792
3 Orange Technical College
Orange Technical College offers a one-year full-time program at both the school’s south and west campuses.
Students graduate with the knowledge and skills needed for a thriving commercial and residential electrician career.
Credits for this 1,200-hour program can be applied to certain associate degree programs at specific Florida colleges.
This is because students complete a curriculum of OCPs – Occupational Completion Points – recognized by the state’s Department of Education.
The program also offers a dual program enrollment for high school students.
Address: 2900 W Oak Ridge Road, Orlando, FL 32809
4 DMAC Tech Trade School
DMAC Tech Trade School offers a self-paced, online Electrical Apprentice Certification and Training program from its Orlando trade school location.
In addition to step-by-step tutorials, DMAC Tech Trade School provides hands-on simulation training and an electrical certificate for those students who complete the program.
DMAC’s electrical apprentice program classes include the basics of basic electrical fundamentals, electrical safety, codes, circuits, ac power, electrical wire types/sizes, and devices.
Address: 3464 Avalon Park S Boulevard, Orlando, FL 32828
5 Florida Technical College
Florida Technical College offers an Electrical Diploma Program that prepares students with entry-level technical skills and knowledge for employment in the electrical trade.
Florida Technical College is a nine-month program that includes 200 lecture hours and 520 lab hours.
This is equivalent to 45 quarter-credit hours.
Sample classes for this electrician training program from FTC include electrical services and transformers, energy systems, and the fundamentals of emergency and renewable energy, to name a few.
In addition, FTC offers a year-long program that includes 900 hours of electrical training with a specialty in Programmable Logic Controllers.
Address: 12900 Challenger Parkway, Orlando, Florida 32826
6 The STRAC Institute
The STRAC Institute was initially established in 2009 by a veteran to train other veterans using a specialized electronics curriculum that has been honored by several federal and state organizations.
In 2020, after hundreds of successful graduates completing the program, the STRAC Institute opened its training facility to non-veterans.
The institute offers an intense and immersive program that allows students to become certified as Electronics Technicians under the guidance of certified instructors.
This 18-week, five-month program from the STRAC Institute is completed in as few as 18 weeks.
Graduates receive 13 industry-recognized certifications that can be extremely valuable to one’s career growth.
Address: 5802 Hoffner Avenue #704, Orlando, FL 32822
Schools Summary Table
Rank | School | |
---|---|---|
#1 | Southern Technical College | |
#2 | Central FL Electrical JATC | |
#3 | Orange Technical College | |
#4 | DMAC Tech Trade School | |
#5 | Florida Technical College | |
#6 | The STRAC Institute |
Read the full guide: How to Become an Electrician