Florida Atlantic University

Florida Atlantic University, also referred to as FAU or Florida Atlantic, is a public, coeducational, research university located in Boca Raton, Florida, United States. The university has six satellite campuses located in the Florida cities of Dania Beach, Davie, Fort Lauderdale, Jupiter, Port St. Lucie, and in Fort Pierce at the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution. Florida Atlantic serves a seven-county region that has a populace of more than three million people and spans more than 100 miles (160 km) of Florida's eastern coastline. The university opened in 1964 as the first public university in southeast Florida and the first university in the nation to offer only upper-division and graduate level courses. Although initial enrollment was only 867 students, this number increased in 1984 when the university admitted its first undergraduate students. As of 2008, enrollment has grown to approximately 27,000 students representing 139 countries, 48 states and the District of Columbia. Since its inception, Florida Atlantic has awarded more than 110,000 degrees to nearly 105,000 alumni worldwide. Once known strictly as a commuter school, in recent years Florida Atlantic 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. The efforts have resulted in not only an increase in the university's academic profile, but also the elevation of the football team to Division I competition status, plans for an on-campus football stadium, more on-campus housing, and a partnership with the University of Miami's Miller School of Medicine to develop a medical training program.