Framingham State University

Framingham State University is a public university in Framingham, Massachusetts. It offers undergraduate programs in a range of subjects, including art, biology, and communication arts, and graduate programs, including MBA, MEd, and MS.

As the first secretary of the newly created Board of Education in Massachusetts, Horace Mann instituted school reforms that included the creation of an experimental normal school, the first one in the United States, in Lexington, 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 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.

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.

All Framingham State University teams compete at the NCAA Division III level. All teams compete in the Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference. Men's programs include baseball, cross country, football, basketball, ice hockey, and soccer.

Women's programs include cross country, lacrosse, softball, basketball, field hockey, soccer, and volleyball. All teams compete on campus, except for the baseball and softball teams who play on fields off-campus, as well as the ice hockey team who skates at the Loring Arena in Framingham.

The university also offers a wide variety of intramural programs that include everything from badminton to golf, to dodgeball. There is also a state-of-the-art athletic and recreation centre that includes basketball courts, a volleyball court, and a weight room.