Francis Marion University (also known as FMU or simply Francis Marion) is located in Florence, South Carolina. It is a liberal arts school named after American Revolutionary War hero Brigadier General Francis Marion, who was nicknamed "The Swamp Fox". The university dates back to 1957, when the University of South Carolina set up a freshman center at the Florence County Library. A few years later, in 1961, USC-Florence was set up on land donated by the Wallace family. In 1966, many in the Florence area pushed to establish a four year university. Gov. Robert E. McNair eventually signed into law an act creating Francis Marion College, effective July 1, 1970. It achieved university status in 1992. Francis Marion University now enrolls over 4,000 students. Francis Marion is one of South Carolina's 13 state-supported universities.

Most of the buildings have been constructed or renovated since 1970 and are in accordance with required standards. The Francis Marion Campus has many different buildings. The Hyman Fine Arts Center, the Leatherman Science Facility, Founders Hall, the Lee Nursing Building, the Academic Computer Center, and the University Commons building are just some of the many. Also located on campus is James A. Rogers Library. This is South Carolina's sixth largest academic library, and is also the largest academic library in northeastern South Carolina. It houses nearly 400,000 volumes, 1,600 current subscriptions, 500,000 microforms, access to more than 5,000 full-text journals, more than 10,000 electronic books and 40 electronic databases so one can access information from almost anywhere.

While 95 percent of the 3,700 students come from South Carolina, the University enrolls students from 31 states and 24 foreign countries, allowing the FMU community to experience the diversity of people from other cultures. The student-faculty ratio is 17 to 1, and the overall class size is 20. The average age of undergraduates is 22, while the average age of graduate students is 36.

According to the 2006-07 Student handbook, there are a total of 216 professors. 173 of those professors are full time. All faculty members have advanced degrees, and 84 5ercent of the full-time faculty hold doctoral or terminal degrees.

Francis Marion University is fully accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) to award bachelor's and master's level degrees. The university is approved by the S.C. State Board of Education and is a member of the American Council on Education and the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. A number of FMU's individual academic programs have also been accredited by specialized agencies.

Located about seven miles east of Florence, the 400-acre campus is known for its beautiful foliage and landscaping. The campus includes 100 acres of mixed pine-hardwood and bottomland forests accessed by a series of trails. Several acres have been set aside as an Arboretum that is being developed into a resource with many of the native species of the area.

The University has had four (4) presidents to date: Dr. Walter Douglas Smith (1969 to 1983), Dr. Thomas C. Stanton (1983 to 1994), Dr. Lee A. Vickers (1994 to 1999), and Dr. Luther Fred Carter is currently the president.

In order to be admitted to the University, one must fill out an admission application and send in a $30 (non-refundable) application fee. A Student must also have his or her high school transcript, SAT scores and/or ACT scores sent to the University. A student must have completed 20 core course hours in their high school.

In order to transfer into the university, a student must have at least 22 transferable hours and a minimum of a 2.0 GPA. A transfer student must also have a final high school transcript sent to the Francis Marion Admissions Office. A transfer student who has less than 22 transferable hours will be considered a freshmen and must meet all freshmen requirements.

Information can be found in the Francis Marion Student Handbook 2006-07.

This information taken from Wikipedia.com