Florida International University

Florida International is a public research university located in Miami, Florida. The university boasts the record level of enrollment for a first year university, enrolling over 5,000 students in 1972 during its first semester of classes. Today, there are over 40,000 students that attend FIU. Despite its size, the university is the most selective of the universities in the State University System of Florida, with a slightly lower acceptance rate than the University of Florida. The school also leads the United States in awarding bachelor’s and master’s degrees to Hispanic students.

FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. Sponsored research funding (grants and contracts) from external sources for the year 2008-2009 totaled approximately $101 million. With more than 135,000 alumni, Golden Panthers constitute the fastest-growing university alumni group in Miami-Dade County. With nearly 8,000 students graduating annually from FIU, the university confers approximately half of all degrees now awarded by universities in Miami-Dade County.

There are more than 200 bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral programs offered at Florida International University.

The colleges and schools at FIU are the College of Architecture and Arts, which includes the School of Music; the College of Arts and Sciences, which includes the School of Environment and Society, the School of Integrated Life Sciences, and the School of International & Public Affairs; the College of Business Administration, which includes the School of Accounting, the Chapman Graduate School of Business, and the Landon Undergraduate School of Business; the College of Education; the College of Engineering and Computing, which includes the School of Computing and Information Sciences; the Honors College; the College of Law; the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management; the School of Journalism and Mass Communication; the Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work, which includes the School of Social Work; the University College, which serves students in continuing education.

The U.S. News & World Report named the undergraduate and graduate international business programs at Florida International University amongst the top 25 in the nation. FIU is the youngest university to have been awarded a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s oldest and most distinguished academic honor society. Florida International University’s Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, South Florida’s only public medical school, welcomed its inaugural class of 43 students in August, while more than 3,000 students applied for the 43 seats. Nearly half of all teachers employed in the Miami-Dade County Public School System, the nation's fourth largest public school system, have an FIU degree.

Graduates of FIU’s College of Law led the state with their pass rate on the February 2009 Florida Bar Exam. Florida International University graduates that have taken the Florida Bar Exam continually pass the exam at a higher rate than the state average. In 2009, FIU graduates passed the exam at approximately a 16% higher rate than the average pass rate in the state.

Florida International’s creative writing graduate Dennis Lehane recently had his novel Shutter Island adapted to film by director Martin Scorsese with actor Leonardo DiCaprio. Spider-Man director Sam Raimi was recently got tapped to film the big screen adaptation of Lehane’s historical novel The Given Day. Lehane also wrote the book Mystic River, which was adapted for the screen by director Clint Eastwood and won acting Oscars for Tim Robbins and Sean Penn.