 Florida Atlantic University ( also referred to as FAU or Florida Atlantic ) is a public university located in Boca Raton , Florida , with five satellite campuses located in the Florida cities of Dania Beach , Davie , Fort Lauderdale , Jupiter , and in Fort Pierce at the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution . FAU belongs to the 12 @-@ campus State University System of Florida and serves South Florida , which has a population of more than five million people and spans more than 100 miles ( 160 km ) of coastline . Florida Atlantic University is classified by the Carnegie Foundation as a research university with high research activity . The university offers more than 180 undergraduate and graduate degree programs within its 10 colleges in addition to a professional degree from the College of Medicine . <unk> of study cover arts and humanities , the sciences , medicine , nursing , accounting , business , education , public administration , social work , architecture , engineering , and computer science . 
