Mission Statement

      Florida Atlantic University was established by the Florida State Legislature in 1961 as the fifth university in the state system.

      When it originally opened in 1964, FAU was the first university in the country to offer only upper-division and graduate-level work, on the theory that freshmen and sophomores could be served by the community college system. Located in rapidly growing Southeast Florida, the University responded to the need to provide increased access to educational opportunities by opening its doors to freshmen in 1984. Today, with its developed system of distributed campuses, where the same high-quality education is offered at seven different locations, Florida Atlantic University serves as a model for urban, regional universities of the future. It offers a comprehensive array of undergraduate and graduate programs, and enrolls over 20,000 students who reflect the rich cultural diversity of the region.

      Florida Atlantic University's colleges include the College of Architecture, Urban & Public Affairs, the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts & Letters, the College of Business, the College of Education, the College of Engineering, the College of Liberal Arts, the College of Nursing, and the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science. These colleges offer one hundred and twenty-five different academic degree programs. In 1999, FAU opened a new residential Honors College, which provides a unique and challenging four-year curriculum for the brightest students from Florida and beyond. In addition, the University is home to one of the largest lifelong learning and continuing education programs in the Nation.

      The University's campus locations along the Florida Gold and Treasure coasts, which boast a temperate climate and beautiful beaches, innovative industry, and unique cultural opportunities, provide a stimulating environment for its outstanding scholars and researchers. FAU has Eminent Scholar Chairs in multiple disciplines and is the home of nationally recognized research centers. The University's burgeoning Research Park is facilitating exciting new research and learning initiatives by bringing high tech industries into close collaboration with FAU's faculty and students. In recognition of the University's research funding and doctoral programs, the Florida Board of Regents has designated FAU as one of the state's public research universities.

      Florida Atlantic University is a member of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges, and the Council of Graduate Schools in the United States.

      Florida Atlantic University is a public university committed through its distributed campus structure to providing access to challenging opportunities in higher education for students in Southeast Florida and beyond. Its mission is to serve its region, state, and nation by preparing students to make meaningful contributions in an increasingly complex global society, by encouraging reflection on and evaluation of emerging needs and priorities, and by supporting research and service that enhances economic, human, and cultural development.

      FAU accomplishes its mission primarily through its teachers and researchers, its undergraduate educational programs, its graduate and professional offerings, and its linkages to other educational institutions and the community.

Teachers and Researchers

      Florida Atlantic University fosters an intellectual environment that values the role of faculty as researchers-teachers. As researchers and scholars, faculty discover and create new knowledge, design solutions, and develop new means of expression. As teachers committed to effective student learning, faculty share results, processes, and perspectives with students. Inside and outside the classroom, students at Florida Atlantic University find opportunities to become a part of a dynamic community of inquiry and learn to value intellectual activities and personal qualities that contribute to an enriched and productive life.

Undergraduate Educational Programs

      Florida Atlantic University prepares its undergraduate students to be productive and thoughtful citizens by offering a broad liberal education coupled with the development of competency in fields of special interest. By providing both disciplinary and multi-disciplinary approaches to the pursuit of knowledge and the solving of problems, FAU encourages students to think creatively and critically and provides intellectual tools needed for lifelong learning. A variety of curricular and extra-curricular opportunities enable students to appreciate the rich diversity that characterizes their region and world.

Graduate and Professional Offerings

      With its graduate and professional programs, Florida Atlantic University offers advanced education responsive to evolving societal needs. These programs promote original scholarship and basic and applied research, thereby contributing to the new knowledge and approaches needed to respond effectively to complex and critical issues. By working closely with faculty in the classroom, laboratory, studio, and field, students experience first-hand the ways in which knowledge is discovered, applied, and extended.

Community Linkages and Educational Partnerships

      Through its partnerships with other educational institutions, local businesses, industries, and civic and cultural organizations, Florida Atlantic University enhances the economic, human, and cultural development of Southeast Florida and beyond. By collaborating with others to address critical problems and expand cultural and educational opportunities, the University connects learning and discovery with the needs and priorities of the communities that it serves.

      To guide its development and promote its mission during the first decade of the 21st century, Florida Atlantic University has adopted eight strategic goals:

Goal I: To increase student access on each of Florida Atlantic University's partner campuses

Goal 2: To provide student support services and other activities that contribute to an exciting and supportive learning environment

Goal 3: To encourage curricular and pedagogical innovations responsive to the diverse learning styles, circumstances, and educational needs of Florida Atlantic University's students

Goal 4: To achieve recognition from local, regional, national, and international constituencies for the excellence of FAU's academic programs

Goal 5: To enhance graduate education and research

Goal 6: To expand partnerships with business, government, cultural, and educational institutions

Goal 7: To promote the academic and organizational integration of FAU's partner campuses

Goal 8: To develop and allocate resources on the basis of strategic priorities and performance