Florida Atlantic University
Florida Atlantic University (FAU or Florida Atlantic) is a public university in Boca Raton, Florida, with five satellite campuses in the Florida cities of Dania Beach, Davie, Fort Lauderdale, Jupiter, and in Fort Pierce at the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution. FAU belongs to the 12-campus State University System of Florida and serves South Florida, which has more than five million people and spans more than 100 miles (160 km) of coastline. Florida Atlantic University is classified by the Carnegie Foundation as a research university with high research activity. The university offers more than 170 undergraduate and graduate degree programs within its 10 colleges. Programs of study cover arts and humanities, the sciences, medicine, nursing, accounting, business, education, public administration, social work, architecture, engineering, and computer science.
Florida Atlantic opened in 1964 as the first public university in southeast Florida, offering only upper-division and graduate level courses. Initial enrollment was only 867 students, increasing in 1984 when the university admitted its first lower-division undergraduate students. As of 2018, enrollment has grown to over 30,000 students representing 140 countries, 50 states, and the District of Columbia. Since its inception, Florida Atlantic has awarded more than 110,000 degrees to nearly 153,160 alumni.
In recent years, FAU has undertaken an effort to increase its academic and research standings while also evolving into a more traditional university. The university has raised admissions standards, increased research funding, built new facilities, and established notable partnerships with major research institutions. Changes include an on-campus stadium, additional on-campus housing, and the establishment of a College of Medicine in 2010.
