Rate this HBCU Day 73: Florida Memorial University

[DrBanneker]

We last covered Fayetteville State University which received an average score of 7.5.

See the updated leaderboard here

Today we head to sunny Miami, Florida to profile South Florida's only HBCU: Florida Memorial University. Located in the traditionally Black area of Miami Gardens, FMU probably boasts the best HBCU weather along with the University of the Virgin Islands and similar to UVI, it is a major institution educating Black students from the Caribbean. It has one of the highest percentages of foreign students of any HBCU (almost 20%) with the Bahamas, Jamaica, and even Argentina apparently being the largest sources.

It was originally founded in 1879 as a Baptist seminary, the Florida Baptist Institute, in Live Oak near Tallahassee where it was the local HBCU there before FAMU existed. Some faculty fled to Jacksonville in 1892 after someone fired shots into the school to found the Florida Baptist Academy though the school in Live Oak continued to operate under new leadership.

The two schools merged in 1896 to form a vocational school, the Florida Normal and Technical Institute. In 1918, the school relocated to the site of a former plantation in St. Augustine. In 1965, it moved to Dade County due to fears of violence in the St. Augustine area during the Civil Rights struggles and finally settled in its current spot in 1968. The school's name became Florida Memorial College in 1963 and Florida Memorial University in 2006.

FMU has several unique programs including an aviation and pilot training program similar to Elizabeth City State University and an undergraduate radiochemistry (nuclear chemistry) program that helped produce the first Black female PhD in the field.







Founded: 1879

City, State: Miami Gardens, FL

Type: 4-year, Private not-for-profit (Baptist affiliated)

Nickname: Lions

Enrollment and percent Black enrollment: 1,028 (992 undergraduate), 60-70% Black (non-resident alien large portion of student body and don't list race)

Part-time student percentage: 11%

First Generation Student Percentage: 46%

Percentage of students from households under $30k/over $100k: 64% / 4%

Out of State Percentage: 19%, non-resident alien: 19% (Top States: Washington D.C., New York, Illinois, California) Top International Students: Bahamas, Jamaica, Argentina

Student-to-Faculty Ratio: 15:1

Admissions Acceptance Rate: 57%

4-yr/6-yr graduation rates: 21% / 32%

Transfer out rate: 19%

Male/Female percentages (Female:Male Ratio): 50% male/ 50% female (1:1 ratio)

Tuition: $17k

Median Federal Debt After Graduation: $31k

Median Parent PLUS Loans After Graduation: $15k

Median Earning 10-Years after 10 years from freshman year: $35k

Median Earnings for specific majors after 3 years after graduation:
Psychology: $37k, Criminal Justice: $37k

Top Majors by Degrees:
Business Administration, Computer Science, Aviation/Aeronautics Science, Criminal Justice, Legal Studies, Social Work, Psychology


Endowment: ~$6-10M

Alumni Engagement: N/A

Athletic Conference: The Sun (NAIA)

Mascot: Lions

Main Campus

Aviation Program

Betty T. Ferguson Stadium

Gym

The ROAR Marching Band

Cheerleaders

LionEssence Dancers

Miss Florida Memorial

@GoGetMyDamnBelt_ @mcellas @Groanman @Luke Cage @Mirin4rmfar @intruder @Scientific Playa @loyola llothta @CodeBlaMeVi @Biscayne @Alvin @diggy @DuckDemCrackers @OfTheCross
@invalid @Ziggiy @SupaVillain @Tug life @Idaeo @get these nets @MostReal @Bryan Danielson @Rollie Forbes @Sonic Boom of the South @staticshock @Charlie Hustle @BigAggieLean. @Optimus Prime @How Sway? @DropTopDoc @Anerdyblackguy

 

[DrBanneker]

Notable Alumni:

Arthur J. Hill - former CEO of Peoples National Bank of Commerce and Assistant HUD Secretary

Sybrina Fulton - mother of Trayvon Martin

Samuel Sanes - Administrator (mini-governor) of St. Croix, USVI

Harry Tyson Moore - Brevard County, Florida Civil Rights Activist. Killed when his home was bombed in 1951

Grisha Heyliger-Marten - president of the parliament in Sint Maarten

Vanessa Sanders - first Black woman PhD in radiochemistry

 

[OfTheCross]

We last covered Fayetteville State University which received an average score of 7.5.

See the updated leaderboard here

Today we head to sunny Miami, Florida to profile South Florida's only HBCU: Florida Memorial University. Located in the traditionally Black area of Miami Gardens, FMU probably boasts the best HBCU weather along with the University of the Virgin Islands and similar to UVI, it is a major institution educating Black students from the Caribbean. It has one of the highest percentages of foreign students of any HBCU (almost 20%) with the Bahamas, Jamaica, and even Argentina apparently being the largest sources.

It was originally founded in 1879 as a Baptist seminary, the Florida Baptist Institute, in Live Oak near Tallahassee where it was the local HBCU there before FAMU existed. Some faculty fled to Jacksonville in 1892 after someone fired shots into the school to found the Florida Baptist Academy though the school in Live Oak continued to operate under new leadership.

The two schools merged in 1896 to form a vocational school, the Florida Normal and Technical Institute. In 1918, the school relocated to the site of a former plantation in St. Augustine. In 1965, it moved to Dade County due to fears of violence in the St. Augustine area during the Civil Rights struggles and finally settled in its current spot in 1968. The school's name became Florida Memorial College in 1963 and Florida Memorial University in 2006.

FMU has several unique programs including an aviation and pilot training program similar to Elizabeth City State University and an undergraduate radiochemistry (nuclear chemistry) program that helped produce the first Black female PhD in the field.







Founded: 1879

City, State: Miami Gardens, FL

Type: 4-year, Private not-for-profit (Baptist affiliated)

Nickname: Lions

Enrollment and percent Black enrollment: 1,028 (992 undergraduate), 60-70% Black (non-resident alien large portion of student body and don't list race)

Part-time student percentage: 11%

First Generation Student Percentage: 46%

Percentage of students from households under $30k/over $100k: 64% / 4%

Out of State Percentage: 19%, non-resident alien: 19% (Top States: Washington D.C., New York, Illinois, California) Top International Students: Bahamas, Jamaica, Argentina

Student-to-Faculty Ratio: 15:1

Admissions Acceptance Rate: 57%

4-yr/6-yr graduation rates: 21% / 32%

Transfer out rate: 19%

Male/Female percentages (Female:Male Ratio): 50% male/ 50% female (1:1 ratio)

Tuition: $17k

Median Federal Debt After Graduation: $31k

Median Parent PLUS Loans After Graduation: $15k

Median Earning 10-Years after 10 years from freshman year: $35k

Median Earnings for specific majors after 3 years after graduation:
Psychology: $37k, Criminal Justice: $37k

Top Majors by Degrees:
Business Administration, Computer Science, Aviation/Aeronautics Science, Criminal Justice, Legal Studies, Social Work, Psychology


Endowment: ~$6-10M

Alumni Engagement: N/A

Athletic Conference: The Sun (NAIA)

Mascot: Lions

Main Campus

Aviation Program

Betty T. Ferguson Stadium

Gym

The ROAR Marching Band

Cheerleaders

LionEssence Dancers

Miss Florida Memorial

@GoGetMyDamnBelt_ @mcellas @Groanman @Luke Cage @Mirin4rmfar @intruder @Scientific Playa @loyola llothta @CodeBlaMeVi @Biscayne @Alvin @diggy @DuckDemCrackers @OfTheCross
@invalid @Ziggiy @SupaVillain @Tug life @Idaeo @get these nets @MostReal @Bryan Danielson @Rollie Forbes @Sonic Boom of the South @staticshock @Charlie Hustle @BigAggieLean. @Optimus Prime @How Sway? @DropTopDoc @Anerdyblackguy

I give it a 5.

I wouldn't recommend it due to the price vs. quality aspect. But it works.

 

[Rollie Forbes]

Great work as always, @DrBanneker. One of my favorite things about this series is that you bring awareness to our smaller/lesser known schools. Thank you for putting in the work to spotlight our sacred institutions.

 

[AggiePride336.]

Nice looking campus. I probably wouldn’t get anything done at a school like that, right on the water.

This is a school I didn’t know about. Thanks for bringing awareness. That tuition is high, and looking at the top majors, I don’t think it would be a school I’d consider. Although, with Computer Science, and Aviation programs they offer, there is potential to make some decent money.

With the info presented, I’d give them a 5.5 which rounds to a 6.

 

[mcellas]

My aunt went there its a decent school, glad to see FLo Mo get love. If I was in admissions there I would recruit up north students. An HBCU in Miami 20 minutes from the Beach it sells itself.

 

[BunchePark]

I got FLO-MO stories but they're not the best

not really the university's fault tho

this is also 15-20 yrs ago too

 

[get these nets]

Great profile. I always forget how big Florida is and have often confused this school with Bethune Cookman.

They overcame some accreditation issues recently, resolved in June 2022. I hope they've turned the corner.
Even split of men/women.....which is noteworthy, and their completion numbers are decent relative to some of the better-resourced schools that have been profiled.

 

[diggy]

My boy used to go down there and stay with some people that were enrolled to run full court almost every weekend for a while.

 

[CodeBlaMeVi]

Nice looking campus. I probably wouldn’t get anything done at a school like that, right on the water.

This is a school I didn’t know about. Thanks for bringing awareness. That tuition is high, and looking at the top majors, I don’t think it would be a school I’d consider. Although, with Computer Science, and Aviation programs they offer, there is potential to make some decent money.

With the info presented, I’d give them a 5.5 which rounds to a 6.

It’s not right on the water but it has a lake. It’s on the outskirts of hoodish suburbs. It hasn’t been in the news in a few years so that’s a step in the right direction.

I’m familiar with Flo-Mo. They cut a lot of programs from a lack of enrollment. I don’t want to seem like I’m railroading so I will say, go if you can’t get in any other 4-year university. Other than that, go the community college route.

 

[get these nets]

Great work as always, @DrBanneker. One of my favorite things about this series is that you bring awareness to our smaller/lesser known schools. Thank you for putting in the work to spotlight our sacred institutions.

Real talk.

I either wasn't aware of, confused with another, or uninformed about some of the colleges that have been profiled.

 

[WTFisWallace?]

An HBCU in Miami 20 minutes from the Beach it sells itself.

You’d be lying. Maybe at 4am when the only traffic is people leaving the casino, clubs, and strip.


You could be 10 blocks away from the actual beach…in Miami, it’s still 30 minutes away.

 

[mcellas]

You’d be lying. Maybe at 4am when the only traffic is people leaving the casino, clubs, and strip.


You could be 10 blocks away from the actual beach…in Miami, it’s still 30 minutes away.

closer to the beach than where they are from

 

[get these nets]

The ROAR Marching Band

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