In 1898, the institution was again renamed to Ferris Institute.

At this same time, the school was incorporated with capital stock of $50,000. In January 1894, the School moved into and dedicated its new building, Old Main, on the corner of Oak and Ives Streets.

By the beginning of the next semester in January 1885 the school changed its name to Ferris Industrial School. The goal of the school was to provide students with marketable skills for a changing society. Ferris grants professional doctorate degrees via its optometry and pharmacy colleges and a multidisciplinary doctorate of education in community college leadership.įerris State University seal, prominently displaying the school's year of foundation, 1884īig Rapids Industrial School, as it was originally named, opened on September 1, 1884, in temporary quarters in the Vandersluis Block (present location of J.C. Two- and four-year degrees are offered through eight academic colleges and graduate degrees from six. Today, Ferris is the ninth-largest university in the state with 14,560 students studying on its main campus, at one of the 19 off-campus locations across the state, or online. It is also the only public university in Michigan to be founded by an individual. From its foundation, the school accepted female students beginning with its first graduating class. It was founded in 1884 as the Big Rapids Industrial School by Woodbridge Nathan Ferris, an educator from Tioga County, New York, who later served as governor of the State of Michigan and finally in the US Senate where he remained until his death in 1928.

Ferris State University ( FSU or Ferris) is a public university with its main campus in Big Rapids, Michigan.

Ferris state free mac office