Florida SouthWestern State College

Program directors are a real ranking signal in HIM education, and Florida SouthWestern has an outlier: Susan L. Foster holds an EdD, an MBA, the RHIA, CHPS, CHC, CHPC, CIPP/US, and the FAHIMA fellowship designation. FAHIMA is AHIMA’s highest recognition, and the privacy and compliance credential stack behind it is rare at any level, let alone at a state-college associate program.

The program itself was reaffirmed by CAHIIM in February 2026 with its next review in 2033-2034, the longest cycle CAHIIM grants, and runs both on campus and online. Locally, Lee Health dominates the Fort Myers market and is one of the largest public health systems in Florida, so the records, coding, and privacy roles this degree feeds are concentrated right around campus. State-college tuition keeps the cost well under the private online competition.

Florida has 18 active CAHIIM-accredited programs, 11 of them at the associate degree level. 16 of the 18 offer online delivery, and this one is available online or on campus.

We score every Florida program on a seven-factor methodology covering accreditation maturity, director credentials, pathways, delivery, employer pipeline, cost, and reputation. See how Florida SouthWestern State College compares in our ranking of the best HIM programs in Florida.