Florida Atlantic University (FAU)

Florida Atlantic University (Florida Atlantic or FAU) is a public research university with its main campus in Boca Raton, Florida and satellite campuses in Dania Beach, Davie, Fort Lauderdale, Jupiter, and Fort Pierce.[3][6] The university is a membe , and Fort Pierce.[3][6] The university is a member of the State University System of Florida. FAU was established as Florida's fifth public university and is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity".[7] FAU has quickly grown to become one of the largest institutions in the state by enrollment.[8] Florida Atlantic offers more than 180 undergraduate and graduate degree programs within its 10 colleges.[9] The university is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). FAU opened in 1964 as the first public university in the Miami metro area, 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.[10] As of 2021, its enrollment had grown to over 30,000 students representing 180 countries, 50 states, and the District of Columbia.[11] The university has an annual budget of $900 million and an annual economic impact of $6.3 billion.[12] Since 1964, Florida Atlantic University has awarded degrees to over 185,000 alumni.[13] FAU's intercollegiate sports teams, the Florida Atlantic Owls, compete in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I and the American Athletic Conference (AAC). With 19 varsity athletic teams, the Owls have found success in winning titles and championships in the C-USA (FAU’s previous athletic conference) and garnering attention on the national scale. On October 21, 2021, Florida Atlantic accepted the invitation to join the AAC and became a full-member on July 1, 2023.[14] On July 15, 1961, to meet the burgeoning educational demands of South Florida, the state legislature passed an act authorizing the establishment of a new university in the city of Boca Raton. Florida Atlantic University was built on Boca Raton Army Airfield, a 1940s-era army airbase. During World War II, the airfield served as the Army Air Corps' sole radar training facility. The base was built on the existing Boca Raton Airport and on 5,860 acres (23.7 km2) of adjacent land.[15] A majority of the land was acquired from Japanese-American farmers from the failing Yamato Colony. The land was seized through eminent domain, leaving many Japanese-Americans little recourse in the early days of World War II.[15] President Lyndon B. Johnson at the university's dedication on October 25, 1964 The airbase was used for radar training, anti-submarine patrols along the coast, and as a stop-over point for planes being ferried to Africa and Europe via South America. The airfield was composed of four runways, still visible on the Boca Campus today and mainly used for parking. By early 1947, the military decided to transfer future radar training operations to Keesler Air Force Base in Mississippi. The departure of the air force in 1947 would leave Boca Raton Army Airfield essentially abandoned. ...view more