| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Name | Northbridge University since February 2026; formerly Florida Technical College and NUC University – Florida Technical College |
| Type | Private, for-profit; hybrid campus diplomas, campus degrees and some fully online programs |
| Campuses | 7 in Florida: DeLand, Kissimmee, Lakeland, Orlando, Pembroke Pines, South Miami (Cutler Bay) and Tampa; the main campus is in Bayamón, Puerto Rico |
| Credentials | Diplomas, an Associate of Science in Nursing and bachelor’s degrees |
| Typical length | Diplomas 8 to 16 months |
| Accreditation | MSCHE, on Non-Compliance Probation since 25 June 2026; licensed by Florida’s Commission for Independent Education |
| Federal aid | Yes (Pell Grants and federal loans) |
| Owner | Renovus Holdings I, an affiliate of Renovus Capital Partners, since March 2023 |
| Students | 4,094 full-time undergraduates in federal data on Niche’s Orlando page, which appears to cover all Florida campuses |
| Founded | 1982, in Orlando |
| Facts checked | October 2026 |
Florida Technical College is now Northbridge University
Florida Technical College, founded in Orlando in 1982, joined Puerto Rico’s NUC University in 2018. NUC University then took the name Northbridge University: the accreditor, MSCHE, records the change on 2 February 2026, and Central Florida Public Media reported the rename a week later. The old ftccollege.edu site now redirects to northbridge.edu, and the seven Florida campuses are branded “Northbridge University – [City] Campus”.
Since March 2023 the school has been owned by Renovus Holdings I, an affiliate of the private-equity firm Renovus Capital Partners, and Columbia Central University, another Renovus-owned school, merged into it in August 2025.
On 25 June 2026 MSCHE placed the institution on Non-Compliance Probation. It remains accredited while on probation, but readers should check its current status before enrolling.
Programs at the seven Florida campuses
Most programs are diplomas measured in quarter credits and taught hybrid, with theory online and labs on campus. The electrical, HVAC/R and medical assistant diplomas run at every campus; nursing, welding, pharmacy and veterinary programs at only one or two. We found no published Florida prices, so the table has no cost column.
| Program | Credential | Length | Delivery | Campuses | Prepares for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HVAC/R | Diploma, 74 credits | About 12 months | Hybrid | All 7 | EPA 608 Universal; OSHA 10 |
| HVAC/R with PLC | Diploma, 92 credits | – | – | All 7 | EPA 608 Universal; OSHA 10 |
| Electrical | Diploma, 46 credits | About 9 months | Hybrid; also in Spanish at Kissimmee | All 7 | OSHA 10; NCCER Core and Electrical Levels 1–3 |
| Electrical with PLC | Diploma, 64 credits | – | Also in Spanish at Kissimmee | All 7 | – |
| Welding | Diploma, 61 credits | About 12 months | – | Kissimmee | NCCER Credentialed Craft Professional; OSHA 10 |
| Medical Assistant Technician | Diploma, 47 credits | 9 months | Hybrid | All 7 | NCMA (NCCT) |
| Medical Assistant Technician with Basic X-Ray | Diploma, 63 credits | – | – | All 7 | Limited-scope Basic X-Ray |
| Medical Billing and Coding Specialist | Diploma, 48 credits | 9 months | 100% online | Enrolled through all 7 | NCICS (NCCT) |
| Pharmacy Technician | Diploma, 24 credits | 8 months | Hybrid | Pembroke Pines, Tampa | No exam named |
| Veterinary Assistant with Pet Grooming | Diploma, 52 credits | 16 months | Hybrid | Kissimmee | No exam named |
| Computer Support Technician | Diploma, 40.5 credits | About 9 months | Online | Enrolled through all 7 | CompTIA A+ |
| Practical Nursing | Diploma, 37 credits | – | Hybrid | Kissimmee, Tampa | NCLEX-PN |
| Nursing | A.S.N., 73 credits | – | – | Kissimmee, Tampa | NCLEX-RN |
| Nursing | B.S.N., 120 credits | – | – | Kissimmee, Tampa | NCLEX-RN |
| Culinary Arts | Diploma, 71 credits (960 hours) | 12 months | Hybrid | Kissimmee (ask whether enrolling) | ServSafe Food Manager and Allergens |
| Construction Management | B.S., 184–215 credits | – | Hybrid | All 7 | – |
The program pages name no externship hours, and most diplomas end in a capstone. Not every approved program is open: the catalog addendum effective 30 September 2026 lists 20 approved programs the school is “not enrolling … at this time”, including CDL truck driving, plumbing, barbering, cosmetology, esthetics and dental assisting.
What the main programs cover
Electrical and HVAC/R diplomas
These are the school’s core trade programs, offered at all seven campuses. Electrical takes about nine months and HVAC/R about a year; each has a longer version that adds programmable logic controllers (PLC), at 64 and 92 credits. Kissimmee also teaches Electrical and Electrical with PLC in Spanish. The school’s bachelor’s in Construction Management has Electrical, Electrical with PLC, HVAC/R and HVAC/R with PLC tracks, as well as Welding. The Build Florida scholarship covers the trade diplomas except HVAC/R with PLC.
Medical Assistant Technician
The nine-month diploma mixes online theory with campus labs and supervised clinical training, and ends in a capstone; the school does not state the clinical hours. Students choose between the standard 47-credit diploma and a 63-credit version with an emphasis in Basic X-Ray. The X-ray version has extra entry rules, a minimum age of 18 and a background check, and covers limited-scope X-ray work only. Neither version lists programmatic accreditation, and both are taught at every campus.
Practical Nursing, ASN and BSN
Nursing is taught only at Kissimmee and Tampa. The ladder starts with the 37-credit Practical Nursing diploma, then the 73-credit Associate of Science in Nursing and the 120-credit Bachelor of Science in Nursing. The required TEAS score rises with each level, from 50% to 60% to 65%, and applicants get up to three attempts in 12 months. Every nursing applicant also interviews and passes a background check and a health exam, and must be 18 or older.
Computer Support Technician
This online diploma of 40.5 quarter credits is built around the CompTIA A+ exam. Its courses are A+ Hardware, Networking and Mobile; A+ Software, Security and Operating Systems; Networking Fundamentals; Routing and Switching; Windows Professional; Windows Server; and Windows Network Infrastructure. The school also mentions Network+ preparation. Students enroll through one of the seven Florida campuses, but every course is delivered online.
Culinary Arts and Baking & Pastry
ACFEFAC accredits these two diplomas at the Kissimmee campus. Culinary Arts is 71 credits over 12 months: 460 hours of theory and 500 hours of kitchen lab, 960 hours in all, ending in a Culinary Catering Capstone rather than an externship. Students prepare for ServSafe Food Manager and ServSafe Allergens. Neither program appears on the Kissimmee campus page now, so confirm that they are enrolling before applying.
Cost: no Florida tuition figures found for 2026-27
We could not find published 2026-27 tuition for Northbridge University’s Florida campuses. Its tuition page gives no figures, and the only 2026-27 tuition bulletin we found covers its Puerto Rico locations. Ask admissions for a written cost sheet for your program and campus, and use the school’s price calculator for an estimate.
As a rough guide, Niche lists tuition of $15,923 a year from federal data, the same for in-state and out-of-state students; it does not give the year.
Students can use federal aid, including Pell Grants and loans. The 2026 Florida catalog lists these scholarships: Build Florida, $1,000 for a trade diploma ($250 a term); Healthcare Heroes, $1,200 for a diploma or $3,600 for a bachelor’s; an Alumni Scholarship of $5,500 for a bachelor’s; Finish Strong, $2,000; and Imagine America, $1,000. Students whose VA benefits are pending are not charged late fees or kept out of classes for up to 90 days after certification.
Admission requirements by program
Applicants need a high-school diploma or recognized equivalent and a signed enrollment agreement; an Ability-to-Benefit test is an alternative route, and the admissions fee is non-refundable. Bachelor’s programs require a high-school GPA of at least 1.76 (2.00 for transfer students), and the nursing programs require the TEAS.
Applicants must be 18 or older for Culinary Arts, Baking & Pastry, Medical Assistant Technician with Basic X-Ray, Pharmacy Technician and the nursing programs, and the X-ray and pharmacy programs require a background check. Courses run in accelerated blocks. The school’s current pages do not give day or evening schedules, and it offers no student housing.
Accreditation, probation and published results
MSCHE first accredited the institution in 2013 and last reaffirmed it in 2019. After a 2025-26 self-study and a site visit in spring 2026, it imposed probation under Standard II (Ethics and Integrity) and Standard VII (Governance, Leadership, and Administration), asking among other things for accurate disclosure of the institution’s name, branding, restructuring and new branch campuses. As El Nuevo Día reported on 1 July 2026, MSCHE also required a teach-out plan and signed teach-out agreements by 1 October 2026, for use if accreditation is withdrawn. The outcome of those filings had not been published by mid-October 2026.
In Florida the school is licensed by the Commission for Independent Education. On its accreditation page, the only Florida programmatic accreditation is ACFEFAC for the Kissimmee culinary diplomas; the online RN-to-BSN has been a candidate for ACEN accreditation since 6 March 2026.
| Measure | Result | Period and source |
|---|---|---|
| Culinary Arts, graduation within 150% of normal time | 69.1% | Kissimmee, column labelled 2024 (the school’s footnote describes July 2023 to June 2024 graduates), school culinary disclosure |
| Culinary Arts, placement in the field within 9 months | 89.3% | Same graduates and source |
| Graduation rate, whole institution | 41% | Federal data shown by Niche; cohort year not shown |
We could not find NCLEX-PN or NCLEX-RN pass rates for the Kissimmee and Tampa nursing programs. The school publishes no completion or placement rates for its trade, medical, pharmacy, veterinary or computer diplomas.
Before you enroll
- The accreditor’s probation is the biggest open question. Ask admissions for MSCHE’s latest decision and the school’s teach-out arrangements, and check MSCHE’s page yourself, before signing an enrollment agreement.
- A program in the catalog may not be enrolling. Twenty approved programs, among them CDL, plumbing and cosmetology, are not taking students, and the accredited culinary diplomas are missing from the Kissimmee campus page.
- Medical Billing and Coding is taught entirely online by the Online Division, and Computer Support Technician is also fully online, so neither is taught at the campus you enroll through.
- The Pharmacy Technician and Veterinary Assistant pages name no certification exam, and the Basic X-Ray emphasis is limited-scope training, not a radiography degree.
- We found no published Florida tuition. Get a written cost sheet for the whole program, including books and fees, before you sign.
Seven campuses: what each teaches
Every campus lists Electrical and HVAC/R (each with a PLC version), Medical Assistant Technician with or without Basic X-Ray, the online billing and coding, computer support and business office diplomas, and bachelor’s degrees in Allied Health Management, IT with a cybersecurity emphasis and Construction Management. The table shows what each campus adds.
| Campus | Address | Programs beyond the shared list |
|---|---|---|
| DeLand | 1199 South Woodland Blvd., DeLand, FL 32720 | None |
| Kissimmee | Plaza del Sol, 3831 West Vine Street, Suite 50, Kissimmee, FL 34741 | Welding; Veterinary Assistant with Pet Grooming; Practical Nursing, ASN and BSN; Electrical in Spanish; Hospitality Management (B.S.); ACFEFAC-accredited culinary diplomas (ask whether enrolling) |
| Orlando | 12900 Challenger Parkway, Orlando, FL 32826 | None |
| Pembroke Pines | 12520 Pines Boulevard, Pembroke Pines, FL 33027 | Pharmacy Technician |
| South Miami (Cutler Bay) | Southland Mall, 20505 South Dixie Highway, Cutler Bay, FL 33189 | Hospitality Management (B.S.) |
| Lakeland | 4715 South Florida Avenue, Suite 4, Lakeland, FL 33813 | None |
| Tampa | 3251-B West Hillsborough Avenue, Tampa, FL 33614 | Practical Nursing, ASN and BSN; Pharmacy Technician |
Three other units are not campuses: a “South Florida” unit in Suite 100A of the Pembroke Pines building, which runs the online RN-to-BSN; the Online Division; and The Dave School of Digital Arts in Orlando, a separate Northbridge school for visual effects and games.
What students say
On Niche, the school is rated 4.15 out of 5 from 523 reviews (checked October 2026). The page is labelled Orlando but appears to cover all the Florida campuses, as its enrollment figure suggests. Reviewers most often praise supportive, approachable instructors, schedules that fit around work and children, and accelerated programs. The most common complaints are disorganized administration and poor communication, billing and record errors, and four-week courses that feel rushed. The visible reviews date from 2024 and 2025, before the rename and the probation.
Facts checked October 2026.
Programs & Courses
Skilled Trades
- Electrical (Diploma; also in Spanish at Kissimmee)
- Electrical with PLC (Diploma; also in Spanish at Kissimmee)
- Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration (Diploma)
- HVAC/R with PLC (Diploma)
- Welding (Diploma, Kissimmee)
- Construction Management (B.S.; Welding, Electrical and HVAC/R tracks)
Nursing
- Practical Nursing (Diploma, Kissimmee and Tampa)
- Nursing (A.S.N., Kissimmee and Tampa)
- Nursing (B.S.N., Kissimmee and Tampa)
- RN to BSN (online)
Healthcare
- Medical Assistant Technician (Diploma)
- Medical Assistant Technician with Emphasis in Basic X-Ray (Diploma)
- Medical Billing and Coding Specialist (Diploma, online)
- Pharmacy Technician (Diploma, Pembroke Pines and Tampa)
- Veterinary Assistant with Pet Grooming (Diploma, Kissimmee)
- Allied Health Management (B.S.)
Culinary and Hospitality
- Culinary Arts (Diploma, Kissimmee; ask whether enrolling)
- Baking and Pastry (Diploma, Kissimmee; ask whether enrolling)
- Hospitality Management, Restaurant and Food Service (B.S., Kissimmee and South Miami)
Computers and Business
- Computer Support Technician (Diploma, online)
- Information Technology with Emphasis in Cybersecurity (B.S.)
- Business Office Specialist (Diploma, online)
- Business Administration (B.B.A., online)
Campus Locations
DeLand, FL 1199 South Woodland Blvd., DeLand, FL 32720
Orlando (Kissimmee), FL 3831 West Vine Street, Suite 50, Kissimmee, FL 34741
Orlando, FL 12900 Challenger Parkway, Orlando, FL 32826
Fort Lauderdale (Pembroke Pines), FL 12520 Pines Boulevard, Pembroke Pines, FL 33027
Miami (Cutler Bay), FL 20505 South Dixie Highway, Cutler Bay, FL 33189
Lakeland, FL 4715 South Florida Avenue, Suite 4, Lakeland, FL 33813
Tampa, FL 3251-B West Hillsborough Avenue, Tampa, FL 33614