As I was sipping my grande peaches and cream icy something-or-other at Starbucks last week, I overheard some people discussing statistics they had heard about FAU. They mentioned how diverse our campuses - especially the age differences between students. The three also debated whether there were more guys than gals in school. I realized that their quandaries were actually pretty interesting and I decided to find some answers.
I was curious how FAU really stacked up. So, I did some research and I found out some interesting tidbits about FAU that I’d like to share. Yes folks, sometimes eavesdropping is beneficial for everyone.
I started my search with the FAU Fact Book, courtesy of the Office of Institutional Effectiveness & Analysis – known best as the IEA.
What stuck me first from the Fact Book was the housing stats. I’ve heard FAU is a big commuter campus, but I was surprised to find out 92 percent of enrolled students in fall 2006 were living in off-campus housing. I hope that the eight percent living on campus had some good parties.
Thinking about switching your major? The top three majors by enrollment last fall were Elementary Education, Management and Accounting - all with more than 1,000 enrolled. Nursing and Psychology round out the top five - both with just over 800 enrolled.
According to the 2006 Fact Book headcount enrollment, there were 15,629 female students enrolled and 10,208 males. Sorry guys, but the girls win this one. It’s slightly ironic that not too long ago women weren’t even allowed in school – way to go ladies!
Are you from out of town? Don’t worry, you’re not alone. The top three states for enrollment after Florida are New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts. More than 23,000 Florida residents were enrolled in FAU last fall followed by New York with almost 300.
A recent press release this month said FAU ranks among the top 50 four-year universities in the nation producing undergraduate degrees for minorities. The article also states that of FAU’s 26,000 students, 58 percent are Caucasian, 17 percent African-American, 16 percent Hispanic, four percent International and five percent Asian.
And the age-old question, how old is the average student? As of last fall, it was 18 years old for a first-time-in-college student, 25 for the average undergrad (a decrease from 29 last year) and 34 for a graduate student.
If you didn't know...now you know.
There are plenty more stats where these came from. For more info, visit the IEA Fact Book for yourself.
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3 comments:
92% live off-campus because there isn't enough housing available on-campus. With the addition of Glades Park Towers, that number will decrease to about 90%.
What also needs to be taken into consideration is that ~6000 students of the overall FAU population of 26,000 students attends a non-Boca campus -- meaning 23% attend FAU campus with no on-campus housing. That definitely increases the "off-campus" residence number that IEA reports.
What IEA fails to measure is how many FAU students live within a 10/15/20-mile radius. The perception that a lot of people have about FAU is that commuter school means students commute from West Palm or Miami to attend here in Boca, but most of us live within 10-20 minutes drive away from campus. We're not next to campus like some schools, but we're as close as we can be.
Now, if the Innovation Village goes forward as planned and brings another 2000+ students on campus in Fall 2008, and assuming the total student population of the Boca Raton campus holds at approximately ~20,000 people, that means ~4500 people will live on-campus and the on-campus residence will be ~22.5%. At that point, hopefully, FAU will no longer be called a commuter school (thank god).
I have heard two rumors... one being that Algonquin is slated for demolition next year and two, that the Village Apartments are going to be demolished to make way for higher (5-6 story) apartment complexes that make better use of the space and hold more people.
Can you find out if either of these rumors is true for next week by talking to the higher-ups in the Housing department? When Algonquin gets torn down, are they planning to build another 600-bed structure in its place? Are they going to tear down the existing Housing office as well and then build a large new dorm over those two spots, perhaps with the Housing department integrated into the first floor of the new building?
Can you find out please?
alright, i want to know what the hell is so bad about being called a commuter school? or to be called a commuter? am i dumb and missed the boat on what's cool or not? what's the big f'n deal??
There are a lot of reasons but it essentially boils down to to the fact that most high school students don't want to attend "commuter schools" because they want to attend "traditional" colleges.
They've said this on message boards, on campus tours, at college fairs, etc over and over and over. It isn't a new trend or a passing fad. It's a fact of life.
So-called "commuter schools" always, always lose out when trying to attract the best and brightest high school students -- you know, the kind of students that greatly contribute to campus life, impress professors, graduate on time, enter into prestigious graduate schools, become famous alumni and donate large sums of money back to their alma maters.
Commuter school students do that to some extent (for instance, we've put people in grad schools at Johns Hopkins, Duke, and Vanderbilt) but statistically-speaking they don't do it anywhere near as often as students from a traditional college do.
Case in point: Name a single large ($1 million+) donation made to FAU from an FAU student. Our goddamn Alumni Center is even being funded by a couple who haven't even taken a regular class here, let alone graduated from here. They're not alumni but they stepped up to the plate because our ACTUAL alumni couldn't (or didn't want to, however you want to speculate)
So it's all about perception.
The "commuter school" branding indicates that students there treat their school like a job rather than the comprehensive life experience that most people think college should be.
As a result, the best and the brightest want to live in college towns that support universities with hundreds of years of tradition and top ten athletics teams.
Sound like something you can relate to as a Florida resident?Just consider how many students prefer UF and FSU to FAU or FIU.
And not ONLY do they attend schools like UF, they also repeatedly knock FAU by calling it "just a commuter school" and dissuade their friends from attending here.
It's bad for business, it's bad for morale... it's just bad. We need to shed the image.
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