Surgical Technology is a Career Certificate program offered by Suncoast Technical College in Sarasota, FL. Tuition is $3,246 total.
Program Overview
Do you thrive in a fast-paced, highly demanding, and rewarding environment? If so, consider becoming a surgical technologist. This exciting career field requires close attention to detail and the ability to work under pressure. During surgery, you’ll work alongside physicians and surgeons and play an essential role in ensuring quality patient care. With our surgical technology training program, you’ll receive the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed in this rewarding, challenging field.
Program objectives are designed for students to acquire the necessary attitudes, knowledge, and vital skills of accountability and responsibility in the operating room. The program is divided into classroom and clinical components.
Participate in educational clinical rotations (Students will not be receiving any monetary remuneration during this educational experience, nor will they be substituted for hired staff personnel within the clinical institution, in the capacity of a surgical technologist).
Learn in simulated surgical environments, prepare, set up, and maintain sterile fields, use sterilization and disinfection procedures, prepare supplies and equipment for surgery, and prepare the patient.
What sets this Program apart
- Click on APPLY NOW. Complete application.
- Attend a Health Information Session. Click to view dates, times, and locations. (In-Person)
- Gain the knowledge and ability to ensure quality patient care during operative procedures and to be constantly vigilant in maintaining a sterile field.
- Acquire necessary knowledge and vital skills of accountability and responsibility in the operating room.
- Receive classroom and clinical training in surgery departments at hospitals and other outpatient clinical facilities.
- Become certified to work in sterile processing areas after the first section of the program.
- The Surgery Technology program achieves certification from the Certification Examination.
- National Center for Competency Testing (NCCT)
- PLEASE NOTE: This program is FULL. Registration is CLOSED.
- STC's next Surgical Technology Program will be offered in February 2026.
Admission Requirements and Process
Entry is governed by the 2025–2026 Suncoast Technical College academic catalog. The requirements and the application steps are listed below.
School Information
Location
Why Accreditation Is Important
Attending an accredited institution means your education has met independently reviewed quality standards designed to protect students.
This program: Suncoast Technical College is accredited by the Commission of the Council on Occupational Education (COE).
- A reliable indicator of educational quality
- Eligible for federal Title IV financial aid
- Recognised by employers across Florida
- Credits toward a state licence or industry certification
Accreditations
General Requirements
- Be at least 18 years old and hold a high school diploma or GED.
- Complete the Health Science Application and Health Packet.
- A physical examination documenting the absence of lifting restrictions, an EKG report, required immunisations, tuberculosis screening and the seasonal influenza vaccine.
- Pass the PERT Basic Skills Exam.
- STC conducts a background check on applicants to all Health Science and EMS programmes, under its affiliation agreements, licensing agencies and state statutes. Admission restrictions apply for documented chemical impairment or emotional/mental illness (one full year of documented stability), and for certain arrests and convictions.
- A completed STC application, submitted online through the college’s application portal.
- Language, mathematics and reading competencies are assessed; speak to a school counsellor about basic-skills assessment and exemptions.
- Proof of Florida residency where the Florida-resident tuition rate is claimed; non-residents pay an additional out-of-state fee per clock hour.
Application Process
- 1
- 2Basic skills assessmentLanguage, mathematics and reading competencies are assessed. A school counsellor can explain the assessment and the exemptions that apply to it.
- 3Meet with Student ServicesContact the campus you plan to attend to arrange the next step. Health Science programmes additionally require attendance at a Health Information Session before registration.
- 4Register and payRegister for your programme and settle fees. Suncoast charges by the clock hour at the published Florida-resident rate, so the cost is set by the length of the programme.
Program Schedule
The programme is 1330 clock hours. The 2025–2026 catalog describes it as 12 months (1,330 hours). Start dates are published on the college’s Start Dates page and vary by programme and campus.
Curriculum
The Occupational Completion Point sequence below is the course list printed in the 2025–2026 academic catalog. Its hours sum to exactly 1330 — matching both the programme’s stored clock hours and the catalog’s own printed Program Length.
The college’s web page for this programme prints a different course sequence under a different program code, which does not add to the same total. The catalog is the governing document, so the catalog’s sequence is the one shown here.
Required Courses
| Subject # | Name | Total |
|---|---|---|
| A | ||
| HSC0003 | Basic Healthcare Worker | 90 |
| Subtotal | 90 | |
| B | ||
| STS0015 | Central Supply Technician | 210 |
| Subtotal | 210 | |
| C | ||
| STS0010 | Surgical Technologist 1 | 343 |
| STS0011 | Surgical Technologist 2 | 343 |
| STS0012 | Surgical Technologist 3 | 344 |
| Subtotal | 1,030 | |
| Program Total | 1,330 | |
Cost of Attendance and Financial Aid Information
Suncoast charges by the clock hour rather than by the term. At the catalog’s Florida-resident rate of $2.44 per clock hour, plus the financial-aid fee of $0.24 and the capital-improvement fee — $2.92 per clock hour all in — this 1330-hour programme comes to about $3,245.20 in tuition and $3,883.60 all in.
Lab and programme-specific fees vary and are not included in that figure; fee sheets are provided to each applicant during admissions. Florida non-residents additionally pay a $7.34 out-of-state fee per clock hour and higher per-hour fees. Federal financial aid is available to those who qualify — Suncoast is accredited by the Commission of the Council on Occupational Education (COE), which is what makes its programmes Title IV eligible.
Tuition about $3,245.20; about $3,883.60 all in, at $2.44 per clock hour for Florida residents ($2.92 all in).
Career Outcomes
Suncoast publishes the industry certifications and state credentials attached to each programme on its own Industry Certifications page, and links career information for every programme to O*NET. Talk to a school counsellor about which credentials this programme carries and when they are earned — for some programmes they are earned within the programme’s own time frame, for others within a year of completion.
Health Science programmes place students in clinical rotations at hospitals, nursing homes, community mental health facilities and other healthcare agencies across Sarasota and Manatee counties. Clinical placement is an educational experience: students are not paid and are not substituted for hired staff.
What to expect as a Suncoast Technical College student
Suncoast is a public technical college run by Sarasota County Schools, and its career and technical programmes are measured in clock hours against Florida’s Occupational Completion Point framework: you earn a documented OCP at each stage of the sequence rather than only at the end. That is why cost, length and progress are all quoted in hours here rather than credits or semesters.
Expect the work to be hands-on and the schedule to be set by the programme rather than chosen course by course. Language, mathematics and reading competencies are assessed before or during the programme, and a school counsellor can explain the exemptions. Uniforms are required for several programmes and are ordered separately — the college asks for them at least seven days before your start date.
Frequently Asked Questions
School Information
Location
Why Accreditation Is Important
Attending an accredited institution means your education has met independently reviewed quality standards designed to protect students.
This program: Suncoast Technical College is accredited by the Commission of the Council on Occupational Education (COE).
- A reliable indicator of educational quality
- Eligible for federal Title IV financial aid
- Recognised by employers across Florida
- Credits toward a state licence or industry certification