Florida Atlantic University Overview

Located in Boca Raton, Florida, Florida Atlantic University is a public institution. The location of the school is great for students who enjoy the amenities of city life.

What Is Florida Atlantic University Known For?

• The student loan default rate at FAU is 4%, which is significantly lower than the national rate of 10.1%. That's great news for students who are worrying about paying off their student loans.
• Although it may not be available for every major, the doctor's degree is the highest award a student can attain at FAU.
• In 2019-2020, 72% of the faculty were full-time.
• A student who earns a bachelor's degree from FAU makes roughly $50,478 a year. This is 24% more than their peers from other colleges and universities.

Florida Atlantic University Rankings

Our rankings are based on an outcomes-based approach rather than subjective ones used by other media outlets. As such, we utilize data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and the College Scorecard, among other sources. Visit our rankings and methodology section to learn more.

Program Level Awards

These are highlights of some of the most noteworthy awards granted to specific programs at FAU.

Rank	Ranking Name	Share
#1	Best Value Cultural Studies & Analysis Doctor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#2	Best Value Ocean Engineering Master’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#3	Best Value Systems Theory Master’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#7	Best Value Geological & Earth Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#11	Best Value Interdisciplinary Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#25	Best Value Physics Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#32	Best Value Physical Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#39	Best Value Chemistry Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#86	Best Value English Language & Literature Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#123	Best Value Teacher Education Grade Specific Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It

Awards From Around the Web

The following table lists some notable awards FAU has earned from around the web.

Rank	Ranking Name	Source
#43	Best Social Work Schools	College Factual
#66	Best Public Administration & Social Service Bachelor’s Degree Schools	College Factual
#103	Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Schools	College Factual
#112	Best Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Schools	College Factual
#119	Best Liberal Arts General Studies Schools	College Factual
#125	Best Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting Schools	College Factual

Where Is Florida Atlantic University?

Contact details for FAU are given below.

	Contact Details
Address:	777 Glades Rd, Administration Bldg., Room 339, Boca Raton, FL 33431-0991
Phone:	561-297-3000
Website:	www.fau.edu/
Facebook:	http://www.facebook.com/FloridaAtlantic
Twitter:	http://twitter.com/FlaAtlanticU

How Do I Get Into FAU?

You can apply to FAU online at: www.fau.edu/admissions/Apply_Online.php

Admission Requirements for FAU

Submission	Required?
High School GPA	required
High School Rank	recommended
High School Transcript	required
College Prep Program	required
Recommendations	recommended
SAT or ACT Scores	required
TOEFL	required

How Hard Is It To Get Into FAU?

With an acceptance rate of 75%, FAU may not be as selective as some schools, but you should not take admittance for granted. Be sure to submit the best application you can.

Approximately 37% of accepted students are men and 63% are women. The acceptance rate for men is 73%, and the acceptance rate for women is 76%.

Average Test Scores

About 78% of students accepted to FAU submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 540 and 620. Math scores were between 520 and 600.

FAU received ACT scores from 22% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT English scores ranged between 20 and 25. Math scores were between 18 and 24. Composite scores were between 21 and 26.

Can I Afford Florida Atlantic University?

The overall average net price of FAU is $28,279. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group.

The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.

Student Loan Debt

Almost 66% of college students who graduated with the class of 2018 took out student loans, but that percentage varies from school to school. At FAU, approximately 34% of students took out student loans averaging $6,791 a year. That adds up to $27,164 over four years for those students.

The student loan default rate at FAU is 4.4%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you'll be able to pay back your student loans.

Florida Atlantic University Undergraduate Student Diversity

There are 25,457 undergraduate students at FAU, with 16,617 being full-time and 8,840 being part-time.

There are also 5,348 graduate students at the school.

Gender Diversity

Of the 16,617 full-time undergraduates at FAU, 42% are male and 58% are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

The racial-ethnic breakdown of Florida Atlantic University students is as follows.

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	727
Black or African American	3,157
Hispanic or Latino	4,527
White	6,788
International Students	583
Other Races/Ethnicities	835

Geographic Diversity

Florida students aren't the only ones who study at Florida Atlantic University. At this time, 35 states are represented by the student population at the school.

Over 114 countries are represented at FAU. The most popular countries sending students to the school are India, China, and Brazil.

Online Learning at Florida Atlantic University

In 2019-2020, 29,962 students took at least one online class at the school.

The following chart shows how the online learning population at FAU has changed over the last few years.

This school is the 27th most popular in Florida for online learning according to the online graduations recorded by the Department of Education for the academic year 2019-2020.

Online Affordability Rankings of FAU

During the most recent year for which we have data, the full-time undergraduate tuition at Florida Atlantic University was $4,879 for in-state students. Out-of-state students paid $17,324. The following table shows how FAU is ranked for affordability for both in-state and out-of-state students among colleges and universities that are not mostly online.

Major	Tuition for In-State Students	Tuition for Out-of-State Students
Electrical Engineering	#1	#9
Geography & Cartography	#1	#7
Hospitality Management	#1	#28
Social Sciences	#1	#61
Marketing	#1	#116
Management Information Systems	#1	#22
Taxation	#1	#4
Physical Sciences	#1	#4
Nursing	#1	#124
Health Professions	#1	#164
Curriculum & Instruction	#1	#85
Education Philosophy	#1	#1
Educational Administration	#1	#159
Special Education	#1	#134
Engineering	#1	#10
Computer Engineering	#1	#1
Civil Engineering	#1	#1
Accounting	#1	#58
Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies	#4	#64
Health & Physical Education	#4	#58
Computer & Information Sciences	#4	#70
International Business	#7	#46
Criminal Justice & Corrections	#7	#257
Business Administration & Management	#7	#350
Public Administration & Social Service	#7	#81
Public Administration	#7	#43
Other Homeland Security	#10	#10
Education	#19	#121
Computer Information Systems	#28	#106

Online Affordability Rankings of FAU Rankings

During the most recent year for which we have data, the full-time undergraduate tuition at Florida Atlantic University was $4,879 for in-state students. Out-of-state students paid $17,324. The following table shows how FAU is ranked for affordability for both in-state and out-of-state students among colleges and universities that are mostly online.

Major	Tuition for In-State Students	Tuition for Out-of-State Students
Physical Sciences	#1	#1
Management Information Systems	#1	#47
Computer Engineering	#1	#7
Electrical Engineering	#1	#10
Geological & Earth Sciences	#1	#1
Multi / Interdisciplinary Studies	#4	#73
Other Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies	#4	#49
Business, Management & Marketing	#4	#102

Online Growth Rankings of FAU

The average growth rate over the last four years of online students at Florida Atlantic University was 123.6%. This is the #371 largest growth rate of all schools that are mostly online. This refers to all students at FAU regardless of major.

The following table shows the 1-year growth rate of FAU majors that offer at least one online course. This table only includes majors with positive growth.

Major	1-Year Growth Rate
Business, Management & Marketing	3%
Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology	35%
Computer & Information Sciences	16%
Computer Engineering	14%
Computer Information Systems	17%
Criminal Justice & Corrections	4%
Education	0%
Engineering	2%
Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting	4%
Hospitality Management	23%
Mechanical Engineering	6%
Other Homeland Security	5%
Public Administration	22%

The table below shows how the average growth rate over 4 years at FAU ranks compared to all other mostly online schools that offer a specific major. Note that the majors may or may not be offered online at FAU.

Major	Growth Rate Rank
Geological & Earth Sciences	#7
Electrical Engineering	#13
Computer Engineering	#13
Management Information Systems	#17
Physical Sciences	#21
Other Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies	#34
Engineering	#40
Computer Information Systems	#62
Multi / Interdisciplinary Studies	#83
Computer & Information Sciences	#126
Business, Management & Marketing	#325

When we speak of partially online, we are referring to schools whose online population is less than 50% of its total student body. Mostly online refers to those with online populations greater than or equal to 50%.

Florida Atlantic University Undergraduate Concentrations

The table below shows the number of awards for each concentration.

Major	Basic Certificate	Associate’s	Bachelor’s	Graduate Certificate	Master’s	Doctor’s	TOTAL
Business Administration & Management	0	0	303	0	322	4	629
General Biology	2	0	486	3	55	16	562
Accounting	0	0	299	0	203	0	502
Nursing	0	0	252	20	104	52	428
Liberal Arts General Studies	0	321	105	0	0	0	426
Interdisciplinary Studies	0	0	378	0	0	0	378
Criminal Justice & Corrections	0	0	313	0	22	0	335
General Psychology	0	0	312	0	10	0	322
Computer Information Systems	42	0	135	29	59	6	271
Finance & Financial Management	0	0	253	0	17	0	270
Health & Medical Administrative Services	10	0	124	2	107	0	243
Marketing	8	0	215	0	0	0	223
Health Sciences & Services	0	0	211	0	0	0	211
Communication & Media Studies	0	0	198	2	10	0	210
Social Work	18	0	176	14	0	0	208
Health & Physical Education	0	0	175	0	14	0	189
Political Science & Government	0	0	160	0	9	0	169
Hospitality Management	105	0	54	1	0	0	160
Management Information Systems	1	0	116	0	28	0	145
Radio, Television & Digital Communication	0	0	142	0	1	0	143
Mental & Social Health Services	0	0	0	4	134	3	141
Sociology	0	0	134	0	7	0	141
Child Development & Psychology	0	0	126	0	0	9	135
Educational Administration	0	0	0	12	95	18	125
Teacher Education Grade Specific	0	0	108	0	15	0	123
Mechanical Engineering	0	0	105	0	16	1	122
General English Literature	0	0	100	0	6	0	106
Fine & Studio Arts	0	0	87	0	5	0	92
Civil Engineering	0	0	68	0	17	0	85
Public Administration	0	0	61	0	14	4	79
Computer Engineering	0	0	61	0	9	1	71
Economics	0	0	53	0	18	0	71
International Business	0	0	66	0	0	0	66
Other Homeland Security	0	0	66	0	0	0	66
General Education	0	0	61	0	0	0	61
Electrical Engineering	0	0	50	0	2	4	56
Medicine	0	0	0	0	0	56	56
Management Sciences & Quantitative Methods	0	0	0	52	0	0	52
Student Counseling	0	0	0	10	39	2	51
General Architecture	0	0	49	0	0	0	49
Teacher Education Subject Specific	0	0	36	5	8	0	49
Linguistics & Comparative Literature	0	0	28	0	16	0	44
Biological & Physical Science	0	0	44	0	0	0	44
Chemistry	0	0	35	0	4	3	42
History	0	0	34	0	6	0	40
Natural Resources Conservation	34	0	0	0	5	0	39
Geography & Cartography	34	0	4	1	0	0	39
Ocean Engineering	0	0	23	1	11	3	38
Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology	31	0	0	0	6	0	37
Taxation	0	0	0	0	35	0	35
Urban & Regional Planning	0	0	23	0	9	0	32
Anthropology	0	0	27	0	5	0	32
Mathematics	0	0	15	1	8	4	28
Ethnic Studies	25	0	0	1	1	0	27
Drama & Theater Arts	0	0	16	0	11	0	27
Special Education	0	0	8	0	18	0	26
Curriculum & Instruction	0	0	0	3	17	4	24
Environmental Design	0	0	23	0	0	0	23
Communication Sciences	0	0	0	0	22	0	22
Writing Studies	11	0	0	0	9	0	20
Geological & Earth Sciences	0	0	6	0	9	4	19
Teaching English or French	11	0	0	7	0	0	18
Music	0	0	9	0	6	0	15
Philosophy	1	0	12	0	0	0	13
Biomedical Engineering	0	0	0	1	11	0	12
Physics	0	0	10	0	1	1	12
Marine Science	0	0	0	0	11	0	11
Environmental Engineering	0	0	10	0	0	0	10
Surveying Engineering	0	0	10	0	0	0	10
Arts & Media Management	0	0	10	0	0	0	10
Insurance	8	0	0	0	0	0	8
Public Health	0	0	0	1	7	0	8
Applied Mathematics	0	0	0	0	7	0	7
Other Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies	6	0	0	0	0	0	6
Biotechnology	0	0	0	0	5	0	5
Instructional Media Design	0	0	0	1	3	0	4
Peace Studies & Conflict Resolution	4	0	0	0	0	0	4
Human Development & Family Studies	1	0	0	2	0	0	3
Information Technology	2	0	0	0	0	0	2
Area Studies	2	0	0	0	0	0	2
Information Science	1	0	0	0	0	0	1
Classical & Ancient Studies	1	0	0	0	0	0	1
Religious Studies	0	0	1	0	0	0	1
Neurobiology & Neurosciences	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Real Estate	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Education Philosophy	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Computer Engineering Technology	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Romance Languages	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Other Health Professions	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
General Social Sciences	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTAL	358	321	5,986	173	1,589	195	8,622

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics
• Image Credit: By Kmgcoolguy4 under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.