FAMU

Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University

FAMU
Former names	Florida Agricultural and Mechanical College for Negroes (1909–1953) State Normal and Industrial College for Colored Students (1891–1909) State Normal College for Colored Students (1887–1891)
Motto	Excellence With Caring
Type	Public, HBCU Land-grant
Established	October 3, 1887 (1887-10-03)
Endowment	$127.18 million
President	Larry Robinson (3rd Stint as Interim)
Academic staff	630
Students	9,614
Location	Tallahassee, Florida, U.S. 30°25′04″N 84°17′04″W / 30.4178°N 84.2845°W / 30.4178; -84.2845Coordinates: 30°25′04″N 84°17′04″W / 30.4178°N 84.2845°W / 30.4178; -84.2845
Campus	Urban 420 acres (1.7 km2)
Colors	Orange and Green
Athletics	NCAA Division I – MEAC
Nickname	Rattlers and Lady Rattlers
Mascot	Venom the Rattlesnake
Affiliations	State University System of Florida Urban 13 APLU TMCF
Website	www.famu.edu

Florida Agricultural and Mechanical College Historic District
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
FAMU campus, Lee Hall
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Location	Tallahassee, Florida
Area	370 acres (1.5 km2)
Built	1907
Architect	William Augustus Edwards; Rudolph Weaver, et al.
Architectural style	Colonial Revival, Classical Revival
NRHP Reference #	96000530
Added to NRHP	May 9, 1996

Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, commonly known as FAMU, is a public, historically black university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. Florida A&M University was founded on the highest of seven hills in Tallahassee, Florida on October 3, 1887. It is one of the largest historically black universities in the United States by enrollment and the only public historically black university in Florida. It is a member institution of the State University System of Florida, as well as one of the state's land grant universities, and is accredited to award baccalaureate, master's and doctoral degrees by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The university is a member-school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.

The 2017 edition of the U.S. News & World Report college rankings placed the university #1 among public HBCUs and #7 among all HBCUs. In 2016, FAMU was promoted to the second degree R2: Doctoral University - Higher Research Activity in the Carnegie Classifications by the Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research. In 2015, the National Science Foundation ranked Florida A&M University as the #1 HBCU in the nation for total research and development expenditures.

The introduction of legislation leading to the foundation of the college was due to the initiative of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the abolitionist Jonathan C. Gibbs. The date also reflects the new Florida Constitution of 1885, which prohibited racial integration in schools.