Florida International University

Florida International University (FIU) is an American public research university in Greater Miami, Florida, in the United States, with its main campus in University Park in Miami-Dade County. Florida International University is classified as a top-tier Research University with high research activity by the Carnegie Foundation, and is a first-tier research university as designated by the Florida Legislature. Founded in 1965, FIU is the youngest university to be awarded a Phi Beta Kappa chapter by the Phi Beta Kappa Society, the country's oldest academic honor society.

FIU is one of Florida's primary graduate research universities, and awards over 3,000 graduate and professional degrees annually. The university offers 191 programs of study with more than 280 majors in 23 colleges and schools. FIU offers many graduate programs, including architecture, business administration, engineering, law, and medicine, offering 81 master's degrees, 34 doctoral degrees, and 3 professional degrees.

FIU is the 3rd-largest university in Florida, and the largest in South Florida. Total enrollment in 2011 was 47,966 students, including 8,819 graduate students, and 2,974 full-time faculty with over 180,000 alumni around the world. In 2012, FIU's research expenditure was $104.6 million, with an endowment of $140 million. The university has an annual budget of $1.07 billion.

Since 2007, more valedictorians from South Florida choose to attend FIU than any other university in the country. As Miami's public research university, competition to enroll at FIU has heightened as more students apply each year.