Admit rate has ranged 63%–81% over the last 5 years — notably volatile. Source: IPEDS via Urban Institute.
Acceptance & SAT from Common Data Set / IPEDS; net price, earnings & graduation from the U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard. Figures lag ~1–2 years — verify with the school.
Florida Atlantic University (FAU) is a sprawling public research university where palm trees outnumber pretensions. With a 66% acceptance rate and a student body that skews heavily Floridian, FAU offers a practical, sun-drenched education—think nursing and business majors hitting the beach between classes—while making strides in graduation rates for low-income students. Its Boca Raton campus is more commuter hub than collegiate idyll, but proximity to Miami and the Everglades adds adventure to the syllabus.
Admission requirements
Test scores required
Required
High school transcript
Grade point average
Test scores (SAT/ACT)
College-prep program
TOEFL (non-native English)
Considered (not required)
Class rank
Letters of recommendation
Source: IPEDS Admissions survey (2022) via Urban Institute. Covers formal factors only — it does not reflect essays, extracurriculars, or other holistic criteria.
More details
Undergrad enrollment
23,757
In-state tuition
$4,879
Out-of-state tuition
$17,324
Campus Housing
21% live on-campus
Acceptance Rate
66%
Most Popular Major
Nursing (8.3%)
4-Year Graduation Rate
47.5%
Students Receiving Aid
56%
Median Earnings After 1 Year
$41,482
Outcomes & value
Outcomes & value
Median earnings (10 yr)
$56,746
Value (earnings ÷ net price)
6.5×
Median debt at graduation
$17,236
Graduation rate
63%
First-year retention
84%
Reducing loan balance (3 yr)
55%
Pell (lower-income) share
72%
First-generation share
39%
Endowment / student
$16,758
Top-earning majors
Median earnings by field of study (highest credential), ~2 years after completion.
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing$64,415
Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering$63,600
Mechanical Engineering$63,463
Ocean Engineering$63,377
Computer Engineering$58,221
Environmental Design
Campus & location
Campus safety
On-campus violent crimes (2024)
3
Per 1,000 students
0.13
On-campus criminal offenses classed as violent (murder/non-negligent manslaughter, rape, robbery, aggravated assault) for the most recent reported year. Source: U.S. Dept. of Education Campus Safety and Security (Clery Act). Counts reflect what’s reported to the school, and urban campuses often report more partly due to non-student incidents nearby — read alongside campus size and setting, not as a standalone safety verdict.
Climate
Pleasant days / yr
97
Summer high
87°F
Winter low
64°F
Annual rain
68.3"
Natural-hazard risk
Relatively High
Pleasant days counts days per year with a mean temperature of 55–75°F, a high at or below 90°F, a low at or above 45°F, and little precipitation — a transparent comfort measure, not a weighting we invented. Computed from Open-Meteo ERA5 daily history (2019–2023). Natural-hazard risk is the county’s composite rating from the FEMA National Risk Index.
Deep dive — research, future-scholar output & economic mobility▾
Research output
Institutional h-index
399
Scholarly works
39,815
Institutional research volume and impact from OpenAlex. The h-index reflects large research universities and will be low for teaching-focused liberal-arts colleges — not a measure of undergraduate quality.
Economic mobility
Mobility rate
3.1%
Bottom → top quintile
26%
From bottom quintile
12%
Mobility rate = the share of students who both start in the bottom household-income quintile and reach the top quintile; bottom → top is that chance conditional on starting at the bottom. Source: Opportunity Insights Mobility Report Cards (Chetty, Friedman, Saez, Turner & Yagan). Reflects 1980–82 birth cohorts, so it’s directional, not current.
Quick answers
What is the acceptance rate at Florida Atlantic University?
Florida Atlantic University's acceptance rate is approximately 66% (Boca Raton, FL), based on the most recent figures we compiled from public and primary sources.
What SAT score do you need for Florida Atlantic University?
Admitted students at Florida Atlantic University typically score 1040–1200 on the SAT (the middle-50% range). Scores outside this band are still admitted, especially with strong applications.
How much does Florida Atlantic University cost?
At Florida Atlantic University, the average net price (after aid) is about $8,752 per year. Actual cost varies with financial aid and residency.
How many undergraduates attend Florida Atlantic University?
Florida Atlantic University enrolls approximately 23,757 undergraduate students.
Where is Florida Atlantic University located?
Florida Atlantic University is located in Boca Raton, FL.
Admissions
FAU is moderately selective, admitting 66% of applicants—though early action admits boast stronger stats, with average GPAs of 4.08–4.35 and SAT scores ranging from 1200 to 1330. Over 75% of admitted students are Florida residents. Test-optionalA policy where you choose whether to submit SAT or ACT scores. If you don't, the rest of your application carries more weight. since 2020, the university emphasizes a Holistic admissionsA review that weighs the whole applicant — grades, essays, activities, and context — rather than relying on test scores and GPA alone., with admitted students typically ranking in the top 30% of their high school class. Nursing applicants face stricter requirements, including mandatory test scores.
FAU offers 170+ degree programs, with nursing (8.3%), psychology (6.6%), and elementary education (6.1%) dominating enrollment. The curriculum leans vocational, though marine biology and entrepreneurship benefit from the coastal location. Small classes are rare—just 27% of courses have fewer than 20 students—but the university touts hands-on research opportunities, including partnerships with nearby NASA and Max Planck Florida Institute. The four-year graduation rate has surged from since 2014, outpacing gains for Pell-eligible students.
Earnings = median of students working ~10 years after entry; debt = median of graduates. Value divides 10-yr earnings by one year’s net price — read it as earnings per dollar of annual cost, not a full lifetime ROI; it favors lower-cost schools. Source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard. Figures lag ~2 years and reflect all students, not your intended major.
$55,964
Civil Engineering$54,252
Computer and Information Sciences, General$51,794
Source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard (field-of-study earnings). Figures cover graduates who received federal aid and lag ~2 years; not all programs report data.
This is not a classic college town: 79% of students live off-campus, and Reddit threads lament the 'commuter school' vibe. Still, FAU hustles to compensate with 300+ clubs, Division I athletics (go Owls!), and beachside dormitories. Greek life draws 8% of undergrads. The real social catalyst? Location. Students road-trip to Miami’s nightlife or kayak through the Everglades between classes. ‘The College Tour’ YouTube spotlights the 110-mile coastal sprawl, but the Boca Raton hub feels more corporate than quirky.
FAU grads earn $41,482 median salaries one year post-graduation—below the state flagship benchmark but competitive for the region. The six-year graduation rate lags peers at 52%, though Pell recipients outperform the average. Career services lean heavily on local healthcare and hospitality employers. Notable outliers include alumni at SpaceX and NOAA, leveraging FAU’s aerospace and oceanography ties. Critics point to a 2016 ranking that placed FAU near the bottom in Florida for post-grad earnings, but recent data shows upward mobility for First-generation (first-gen)A student who would be the first in their immediate family to earn a four-year college degree. Many colleges consider this in context. students.
Tuition is a relative bargain at $9,711 net price for in-state students after aid (56% receive assistance). Out-of-staters pay roughly double. The average financial aid package totals $16,832, with Florida Prepaid plans widely used. Housing costs sting—Boca Raton’s affluent zip code inflates off-campus rents—but the university guarantees dorm space for freshmen. One caveat: 86% of aid is grants or scholarships, not loans, keeping debt below the national average.
FAU is Florida’s stealth mobility engine: unpretentious, increasingly effective at graduating Pell-eligible students (who outperform peers), and threaded into the region’s job market. Its sprawling, subtropical campus appeals to students who want research opportunities without cutthroat competition—or who just really love oceanography labs with a side of paddleboarding. The ‘commuter school’ label isn’t wrong, but the trade-off is real-world flexibility: internships at Boca’s corporate hubs, clinicals at top hospitals, and sunset study sessions on the sand.
Florida Atlantic University logo · sourceLocations | Florida Atlantic University · sourceCard | Florida Atlantic University · sourceLocations | Florida Atlantic University · source
