Franklin College was founded nearly 200 years ago with a straightforward purpose: to make education more widely available. Today, with an enrollment of roughly 1,000 students, it holds dearly to that mission, providing a high-quality liberal arts and sciences education. It delivers a meaningful college experience in an accessible and affordable setting for students who might not feel at home at a massive university. These include many first-generation students and those who simply prefer a more focused, connected learning environment.

The result is an institution that alumni describe as “life-changing,” “home-like,” “tight-knit” and packed with new experiences and opportunities. They extol a supportive environment in which they were encouraged to grow and succeed. And they invariably sum up their Franklin College years by saying the College helped them get where they are today, and that they want to see it offer that impact to other young men and women in perpetuity.

Franklin Forward: The Campaign for Franklin College builds on a strong period of institutional momentum. The College has recorded three consecutive years of freshman enrollment increase, risen in the U.S. News & World Report’s Top Performers in Social Mobility ranking among the national liberal arts colleges and expanded its campus with the opening of the Johnson Memorial Health Athletic Annex and the Center for Tech Innovation. Franklin has also launched a competitive esports program and introduced new academic offerings — including cybersecurity, neuroscience, sports communication, sports and fitness management and concentrations in game development and digital marketing — designed to meet evolving workforce demands.

With the Franklin Forward campaign, Franklin College looks to continue this positive and energizing activity into the future, working from a position of strength and stability to shape the Franklin College of tomorrow.

When Board of Trustees Chair Pete Cangany ’80 says he wouldn’t be where he is today without Franklin College, he means it. At any other college, he says he might not have graduated, let alone gone on to a successful 37-year career at the global business services firm, Ernst & Young, where he retired as a partner in 2017. Cangany points out that…

“…because of the small classroom sizes and the close interaction with the professors at Franklin, it’s very difficult to get lost. They were there when I needed encouragement to better apply myself academically, as well as to assist me in landing valuable internships and ultimately guide me in opening the doors to EY.”