Florida International University opened for classes in 1972 with 5,667 students -- the largest opening day enrollment in U.S. collegiate history. Today it has close to 38,000 students, almost 1,000 full-time faculty and 113,000 alumni, making it the largest of all Miami colleges as well as universities in South Florida.

Florida International University offers more than 200 bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in 17 colleges and schools: Accounting, Architecture, Arts and Sciences, Business Administration, Computing and Information Sciences, Education, Engineering & Computing, Health, Health and Urban Affairs, Honors, Hospitality and Tourism Management, Journalism and Mass Communication, Law, Medicine, Music, Nursing, Public Health, and Social Work/Policy and Management. With a variety of educational options, it's no wonder that Florida International University is among the most popular Miami colleges.

Florida International University emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. Sponsored research funding (grants and contracts) from external sources for the year 2004-2005 totaled nearly $80 million. The University is ranked as a Research University in the High Research Activity category of the Carnegie Foundation's prestigious classification system.