Framingham State University (Framingham State or FSU) is a

public university A public university or public college is a university or college that is in owned by the state or receives significant public funds through a national or subnational government, as opposed to a private university. Whether a national universi ...

Framingham, Massachusetts Framingham () is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. Incorporated in 1700, it is located in Middlesex County and the MetroWest subregion of the Greater Boston metropolitan area. The city proper covers with a pop ...

. It offers

undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry-le ...

programs as well as graduate programs, including

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

, MEd, and MS.

History

As the first secretary of the newly created Board of Education in

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Horace Mann Horace Mann (May 4, 1796August 2, 1859) was an American educational reformer, slavery abolitionist and Whig politician known for his commitment to promoting public education. In 1848, after public service as Secretary of the Massachusetts Sta ...

instituted school reforms that included the creation of an experimental

normal school A normal school or normal college is an institution created to train teachers by educating them in the norms of pedagogy and curriculum. In the 19th century in the United States, instruction in normal schools was at the high school level, turni ...

, the first one in the United States, in

Lexington Lexington may refer to: Places England * Laxton, Nottinghamshire, formerly Lexington Canada * Lexington, a district in Waterloo, Ontario United States * Lexington, Kentucky, the largest city with this name * Lexington, Massachusetts, the oldes ...

, in July 1839. Cyrus Peirce was its first principal or president. A second normal school was opened in September 1839 in West Barre (the school later moved to Westfield) followed by

Bridgewater State College Bridgewater State University is a public university with its main campus in Bridgewater, Massachusetts. It is the largest of nine state universities in Massachusetts. Including its off-campus sites in New Bedford, Attleboro, and Cape Cod, BSU h ...

the next year. Growth forced the first normal school's relocation to West Newton in 1843, followed in 1853 by a move to the present site on Bare Hill in Framingham. In 1922, the Framingham Normal School granted its first

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

in Education degrees in conjunction with a four-year study program. Ten years later, with degreed teachers becoming the norm, the normal schools were renamed State Teachers Colleges. The name was changed in 1960 to the State College at Framingham when

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degrees were added. At present, Masters' of Education, Arts, and Science degrees are granted as well. In 2007, the college began offering the Master's of Business Administration (MBA) degree. In October 2010, seven of the state colleges became state universities, unaffiliated with the

University of Massachusetts The University of Massachusetts is the five-campus public university system and the only public research system in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The university system includes five campuses (Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, Lowell, and a medical ...

system. The measure was signed into law by Massachusetts Governor

Deval Patrick Deval Laurdine Patrick (born July 31, 1956) is an American politician, civil rights lawyer, author, and businessman who served as the 71st governor of Massachusetts from 2007 to 2015. He was first elected in 2006, succeeding Mitt Romney, who ...

on July 28, 2010.

Timeline of name changes

The school has had several names in the past: * 1839 opened as The Normal School in Lexington * 1844 designated The Normal School in West Newton * 1845 designated The State Normal School in West Newton * 1853 designated The State Normal School in Framingham * 1865 designated The Framingham Normal School * 1889 designated The Framingham State Normal School * 1932 became State Teachers College at Framingham * 1945 became Framingham State Teachers College * 1960 became State College at Framingham * 1965 became Framingham State College (FSC) * 2010 became Framingham State University (FSU)

Campus

The campus is located in

. Seven residence halls house over 1,500 students. The Henry Whittemore Library has over 200,000 volumes, Wi-Fi, access to over 70,000 electronic journals, and includes Archives and Special Collections. Framingham State University is located on the 282 foot (86 meter) high Bare Hill (also known as Normal Hill) and provides views of Boston, Massachusetts 20 miles (32 kilometers) away.

Sustainability

In 2007, the school signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment. That year, Massachusetts issued Executive Order No. 484, which mandated reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption for all state agencies and institutions. Greenhouse gases must be reduced 80% by 2050. In 2010, the school adopted a plan to convert its heating plant to natural gas and to convert its central chilled water plant to electric chillers. Framingham State University was named a "Green College" by the Princeton Review in 2010 and 2011. It was one of 22 schools in Massachusetts to receive the distinction, and one of 311 nationwide. It was named to the list again in 2013.

Organization

Framingham State University is led by an eleven-member Board of Trustees. The governor appoints nine trustees to five-year terms, renewable once. The Framingham State University Alumni Association elects one trustee for a single five-year term. Finally, the student body elects one student trustee for a one-year term. In addition to five full board meetings each year, which are open to the public, the board also meets in standing committees. The university's annual budget is $105 million, and the school has 775 full and part-time employees. Framingham State University is

accredited Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...

by the

New England Commission of Higher Education The New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE) is a voluntary, peer-based, non-profit membership organization that performs peer evaluation and accreditation of public and private universities and colleges in the United States and other ...

Student life

Framingham State University has an Office of Student Involvement and Leadership Development and a Center for Inclusive Excellence. It has a relatively small campus which sits on roughly . Framingham State University also owns and operates a radio station WDJM-FM on 91.3 FM.

Enrollment

Total enrollment (Fall 2021): 4,495 total (3,213 undergraduate and 1,282 graduate students) * Men: 44% (1,398 students) * Women: 56% (1,815 students) * Commuters (degree seeking full-time undergraduates only): 53% (1,445 students) * Residents (degree seeking full-time undergraduates only): 47% (1,279 students)

Athletics

Framingham State University fields 14 varsity athletic teams (6 men's, 8 women's) competing at the

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is a division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that choose not to offer athletic scholarships to their ...

level and 4 club athletic teams (1 men's, 2 women's, 1 co-ed) that compete in various leagues. The athletic teams are known as the

Framingham State Rams The Framingham State Rams are composed of 14 varsity teams (6 men's, 8 women's) representing Framingham State University in intercollegiate athletics. All teams compete at the NCAA Division III level and all teams compete in the Massachusetts Stat ...

Notable alumni

Anna Brackett Anna Callender Brackett (May 21, 1836 – March 18, 1911) was an American philosopher known for being a translator, feminist, and an educator. Her philosophical achievements are oftentimes overlooked. She translated Karl Rosenkranz's ''Peda ...

, nineteenth century philosopher, educator * Olivia A. Davidson, co-founder of

Tuskegee Institute Tuskegee University (Tuskegee or TU), formerly known as the Tuskegee Institute, is a private, historically black land-grant university in Tuskegee, Alabama. It was founded on Independence Day in 1881 by the state legislature. The campus was de ...

and wife of

Booker T. Washington Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, orator, and adviser to several presidents of the United States. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the dominant leader in the African-American c ...

Lucie Caroline Hager Lucie Caroline Hager (, Gilson; December 29, 1853 – 1903) was an American author of poetry and prose. She also taught in country schools and worked as a bookkeeper. Early life and education Lucie Caroline Gilson was born in Littleton, Massachus ...

(1853–1903), author * Jennie Howard, member of a pioneering group of educators who founded

normal schools A normal school or normal college is an institution created to train teachers by educating them in the norms of pedagogy and curriculum. In the 19th century in the United States, instruction in normal schools was at the high school level, turn ...

in Argentina * Paul J. LeBlanc, President of Southern New Hampshire University; former President of

Marlboro College Marlboro College was a private college in Marlboro, Vermont. Founded in 1946, it remained intentionally small, operating as a self-governing community with students following self-designed degree plans culminating in a thesis. In 1998 the coll ...

Christa McAuliffe Sharon Christa McAuliffe ( Corrigan; September 2, 1948 – January 28, 1986) was an American teacher and astronaut from Concord, New Hampshire, who was killed on the Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' on mission STS-51-L where she was serving as a ...

(Class of 1970), astronaut, participant in

Teacher in Space Project The Teacher in Space Project (TISP) was a NASA program announced by Ronald Reagan in 1984 designed to inspire students, honor teachers, and spur interest in mathematics, science, and space exploration. The project would carry teachers into space ...

, died in

Space Shuttle Challenger disaster On January 28, 1986, the broke apart 73 seconds into its flight, killing all seven crew members aboard. The spacecraft disintegrated above the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 11:39a.m. EST (16:39 UTC). It w ...

. Center and memorial on campus in McAuliffe's honor. * Brian J. Moran, Chair of the Democratic Party of Virginia * Rebecca Pennell, first woman college professor in the United States, and niece of

Charlotte Champe Stearns Charlotte Champe Eliot (née Stearns; October 22, 1843September 10, 1929), was an American school teacher, poet, biographer, and social worker. She was the mother of T.S. Eliot, a famous poet, editor and literary critic, spouse of Henry Ware Eli ...

, mother of T. S. Eliot. * Richard Thompson, Member of the Maine House of Representatives * Ruth Graves Wakefield, inventor of the chocolate chip cookie * Electa Nobles Lincoln Walton (1824–1908), educator, lecturer, writer, and suffragist

References

External links

*
Official athletics website
{{authority control Educational institutions established in 1839 Framingham, Massachusetts Public universities and colleges in Massachusetts Universities and colleges in Middlesex County, Massachusetts