Is University of Florida-Online Worth It?

University of Florida-Online gives you one of the cleanest cost-to-return setups you'll find at a public four-year. You pay under $5,000 a year on average, carry $15,000 in median debt at graduation, and land in the low-$70,000s a decade out. That debt is small enough to clear on almost any of these salaries, and the 93.5% retention rate means you're likely to actually finish once you start.

The payoff depends heavily on your major. Computer and Information Sciences is the clear winner here, paying roughly $79,000 while carrying the same $15,000 debt load as everything else. Nursing follows in the high-$50,000s with slightly more debt. After that, the returns thin out fast. Business Administration, Public Relations, and Health and Physical Education all land in the $40,000 range on the same debt. You'd still cover a $15,000 loan on those salaries, but the earnings advantage over a non-degree job shrinks a lot, and these three sit well below the school's overall median.

The main financial risk is picking a low-earning major and assuming the school's median applies to you. It doesn't. The gap between computer science and public relations here is nearly double.

This school is a strong financial fit if you're paying your own way and can commit to a high-return field like computing or nursing. The income-based net price tiers reward lower-income families most: if your household earns under $30,000, you pay about $1,035 a year, versus roughly $12,178 over $110,000. If you're aiming at one of the $40,000 majors, the low cost still protects you, but the degree itself won't do much heavy lifting on your income.