$5,984. That is the whole year of tuition and fees Florida Atlantic University budgets for a full-time Florida resident in 2026-27. The university’s own cost-of-attendance sheet then adds everything else a student needs to live in Boca Raton for nine months, and the total for an in-state student in a residence hall comes to $31,030. An out-of-state student living on campus is budgeted at $47,934.
So the cheap tuition is real, and so is the expensive zip code. Families planning for fall 2027 tend to ask the same seven questions, roughly in this order. Here are the answers, using FAU’s published rates and budgets.
1. What is the full sticker price for one year?
FAU publishes three budgets for each residency status, depending on where the student lives. These are estimates for the nine-month academic year, not bills, but federal aid is packaged against them, so they are the numbers that matter for planning.
| 2026-27 undergraduate budget | On campus | Off campus | With parents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tuition and fees, Florida resident | $5,984 | $5,984 | $5,984 |
| Tuition and fees, non-resident | $22,888 | $22,888 | $22,888 |
| Housing | $10,524 | $12,198 | $1,586 |
| Food | $5,308 | $5,498 | $4,926 |
| Books and supplies | $1,368 | $1,368 | $1,368 |
| Transportation | $3,090 | $3,562 | $3,562 |
| Personal expenses | $4,756 | $4,756 | $4,756 |
| Total, Florida resident | $31,030 | $33,366 | $22,182 |
| Total, non-resident | $47,934 | $50,270 | $39,086 |
Only some of those lines arrive as an invoice from FAU. For an in-state student in a dorm, the university’s direct charges (tuition, fees, housing and the meal plan) total $21,816. Books, transportation and personal spending, $9,214 in the budget, come out of your own pocket over the year and are the easiest to trim.
2. Why does a $6,000 school end up near $31,000?
Because tuition is about a fifth of the budget. FAU charges a Florida resident $203.29 per undergraduate credit hour, all fees included, and that rate is identical in the 2024-25 and 2026-27 schedules. The per-credit total breaks down into tuition of $105.07, a $40.13 tuition differential and a string of smaller fees: athletics at $19.27, activity and service at $12.32, health at $9.42, capital improvement at $6.76 and $5.16 each for technology and financial aid.
Housing and food, meanwhile, add up to $15,832 for a student on campus. That pattern holds across Florida’s public universities, where the state has kept resident tuition flat and room, board and everyday costs have kept rising. At FAU, the Boca Raton setting sharpens it: the university budgets $12,198 for off-campus housing over nine months, about $1,355 a month.
One fee families miss: a student who takes an undergraduate course a third time pays a repeat-course surcharge of $261.06 per credit hour on top of the normal rate, under FAU’s 2026-27 schedule. A failed three-credit class taken a third time costs about $1,393 instead of $610.
3. How much more does an out-of-state student pay, and did that just go up?
Yes, it went up. FAU’s trustees took up a 15% increase in the non-resident fee in November 2025, the first such attempt in more than a decade according to the Boca Raton newspaper BocaPost, and the university’s amended tuition regulation applies it starting in the fall 2026 semester. The non-resident fee rose from $493.86 to $567.94 per credit hour, which lifts the all-in undergraduate rate from $721.84 to $799.72 per credit.
Short answer: on FAU’s budgets, a non-resident pays $16,904 more per year than a Florida resident in tuition and fees alone ($22,888 vs $5,984). Across four years at current rates, that gap is about $67,600. Living costs are budgeted the same for both.
FAU’s 2024-25 budget listed non-resident tuition and fees at $20,584, so the line has grown by $2,304 in two years. No tuition change for 2027-28 had been published when we checked in November 2026. Florida law sets resident tuition, and the state has held it flat for years, but non-resident fees are where Florida universities have room to move, so out-of-state families should not assume today’s rate holds for four years.
4. Which residence halls cost what, and what changes in fall 2027?
FAU prices housing per student, per semester, so double these figures for the academic year. First-year halls require a meal plan, which is billed separately. The housing office has already posted proposed rates for fall 2027 through spring 2028, labeled as subject to Board of Trustees approval, and they run about 3% above this year’s.
| Boca Raton hall and room | Fall 2026 to spring 2027 | Proposed fall 2027 to spring 2028 |
|---|---|---|
| Glades Park or Heritage Park Towers, shared double (first year) | $3,540 | $3,646 |
| Glades Park or Heritage Park Towers, single (first year) | $4,760 | $4,902 |
| Indian River Towers, shared double suite (first year) | $4,038 | $4,160 |
| Parliament Hall, shared double suite | $3,846 | $3,962 |
| University Village Apartments, shared studio double (upperclass) | $3,846 | $3,962 |
| Talon Hall, three-bedroom suite, single room (upperclass) | $5,500 | $5,666 |
| Talon Hall, one-bedroom suite (upperclass) | $5,834 | $6,010 |
| Innovation Village North, two-bedroom single suite (upperclass) | $6,382 | $6,574 |
The spread is wider than it looks. A first-year in a Glades Park double pays $7,080 for the year; a junior in an Innovation Village two-bedroom single pays $12,764, before food. Talon Hall, a 674-bed upperclass hall built to open in fall 2026, sits in between. When the trustees approved its rates, the comparison they were shown was Atlantic Park Towers, where a single room in a four-bedroom suite costs $5,574 a semester.
5. Is living at home or off campus actually cheaper?
At home, clearly. FAU budgets a commuting Florida resident at $22,182, which is $8,848 a year less than the on-campus figure and roughly $35,400 less across four years. For a family within driving distance of the Boca, Davie, Fort Lauderdale or Jupiter campuses, that is the biggest single lever on the bill, bigger than most scholarships.
Off campus is a different story. FAU’s own budget puts it $2,336 above living on campus, and student accounts back that up. A 2023 Palm Beach Post report quoted FAU students paying $1,300 to $1,800 a month for a bedroom in a shared rental near campus, with one student describing a typical range of $900 to $1,300 per person. The same report described an on-campus waitlist that started near 1,000 students. Signing an off-campus lease also usually means 12 months of rent for a nine-month school year, and a car, which is why FAU’s transportation line is higher for off-campus students.
What the off-campus math looks like for one sample student
Hypothetical example built from the figures above, not a real student’s budget. A sophomore splits a three-bedroom rental and pays $1,300 a month for a 12-month lease: $15,600 for the year. Add utilities and internet at an assumed $100 a month ($1,200) and FAU’s off-campus food budget of $5,498, and housing plus food reach $22,298. The same student in a Parliament Hall shared double for 2026-27 would pay $7,692 for the room, plus a required meal plan; FAU’s on-campus budget for housing and food together is $15,832. The lease costs more largely because it runs through the summer.
6. How much can scholarships and Bright Futures take off?
For Florida residents, Bright Futures is the first stop. The Florida Academic Scholars award covers 100% of tuition and applicable fees at a public university, and the Florida Medallion Scholars award covers 75%, according to the Florida Department of Education. At FAU, that is worth up to roughly $6,000 a year for an Academic Scholar and about $4,500 for a Medallion Scholar on a full load. Confirm the exact amount for your student with the state’s Office of Student Financial Assistance, because award rules are set each year.
FAU’s own merit awards for incoming freshmen are tiered by GPA and test score, and require full-time enrollment (30 credits a year) and a 3.0 FAU GPA to renew:
- Florida residents: from $2,000 over four years (3.7 GPA and 1200 SAT) up to $20,000 over four years for the FAU 100 Scholarship (4.0 GPA and 1410 SAT).
- Non-residents: up to $40,000 over four years at the top tier, which includes the Hoot Scholarship worth $6,815 a year toward non-resident fees. The 3.9 GPA and 1340 SAT tier totals $32,000.
- Grandparent waiver: out-of-state students with a Florida-resident grandparent and at least a 1330 SAT can be billed at the resident rate. FAU lists just ten of these waivers for new first-year students.
- National Merit Finalists: the Benaquisto Scholarship covers the full cost of attendance for up to four years for finalists who name FAU their first choice.
The merit application deadline falls in mid-January. Need-based aid is separate: the FAFSA drives Pell Grants and Florida’s need-based grants. The most recent federal net-price figure we could find for FAU, from 2019-20 data, was an average of $9,711 for students receiving grant aid, which is too old to plan on. Every college must offer a net price calculator, and FAU’s will give a current estimate for your income.
7. What will a four-year degree cost from fall 2027?
FAU has not published 2027-28 budgets, so the defensible estimate is today’s figures multiplied out, with the proposed 3% housing increase as the only announced change. On that basis:
| Student | One year at 2026-27 budget | Four years at that rate |
|---|---|---|
| Florida resident, lives at home | $22,182 | About $88,700 |
| Florida resident, lives on campus | $31,030 | About $124,100 |
| Florida resident, Academic Scholar on campus (tuition covered) | About $25,000 | About $100,200 |
| Non-resident, lives on campus | $47,934 | About $191,700 |
Treat the four-year column as a floor. At 3% a year, a $7,080 first-year double would cost about $7,740 by senior year. The cheapest path through FAU stays the same either way: Florida residency, a full credit load every term so a degree does not stretch to a fifth year, and a bed at home if the commute is reasonable.
Smaller FAU money questions
What is FAU tuition per credit hour?
For 2026-27, FAU charges $203.29 per undergraduate credit hour for Florida residents and $799.72 for non-residents, with fees included. Graduate rates are $371.82 for residents and $1,125.06 for non-residents.
Is a meal plan required at FAU?
FAU’s housing rates page says a meal plan is required for first-year residence halls and Parliament Hall, and it is billed separately from the room. FAU’s on-campus cost-of-attendance budget assumes a plan equal to three meals a day.
Does FAU charge less for Florida residents living in another state temporarily?
Residency for tuition is decided under Florida Statute 1009.21, which generally requires 12 months of legal Florida residence before classes begin and documents to prove it. FAU’s admissions and registrar offices make the determination, so ask them about your specific situation.
Is the Wilkes Honors College more expensive?
Tuition and fees are the same. FAU’s 2026-27 budget for Wilkes Honors College students on the Jupiter campus differs only slightly in housing and food, with an on-campus total of $31,224 for Florida residents versus $31,030 for other undergraduates.
What happens if I do not pay my FAU bill on time?
FAU’s cost-of-attendance page lists a $100 late payment fee for charges not covered by the deadline. Unpaid balances can also lead to holds on registration, so check the bursar’s due dates each term.
Comparing FAU with other schools and family costs
- Family costs in 2027: the complete guide, from childcare to college
- What SNHU students pay per credit, online and on campus
- Grand Canyon University cost, campus vs online
- High Point University’s four-year bill
- Cosmetology school cost by the clock hour
- Daycare cost after tax breaks
Three offices to call before you put down a deposit
- FAU Office of Student Financial Aid, (561) 297-3530. Ask for your student’s budget by housing status and what the aid package assumes about Bright Futures and merit awards.
- FAU Housing and Residential Education, (561) 297-2880. Ask whether the proposed 2027-28 rates have been approved, which halls have space, and which meal plan your hall requires.
- Florida’s Office of Student Financial Assistance. Confirm the Bright Futures award level and per-credit amount for the year your student enrolls, and the renewal GPA and credit rules.
Pricing method: prices were researched in November 2026 for 2027 planning and may change. Figures come from FAU’s 2026-27 cost-of-attendance budgets, FAU Regulation 8.001 (tuition and fees effective fall 2026), the FAU Housing rates page and Board of Trustees materials, FAU Admissions scholarship pages, BocaPost and the Palm Beach Post. This is general cost information, not financial advice; confirm current figures with FAU. See our disclaimer.
