Framingham State University

Framingham State University (Framingham State or FSU) is a public university in Framingham, Massachusetts. The university, previously known as the Normal School in Lexington was founded in 1839 as the first state-supported normal school in the United States before becoming a full-fledged university. It offers undergraduate programs as well as 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. The initial name of the school was the "Normal School in Lexington". Cyrus Peirce was its first principal or president.

A second normal school was opened in September 1839 in 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, where it was first named the "Normal School in West Newton" before changing again to the "State Normal School in West Newton" two years later in 1845.

The school would last in West Newton for only ten years before moving to its present site on Bare Hill in Framingham in 1853. At this time, the school became the "State Normal School in Framingham". Nevertheless, the school would change its name two more times in its first decades in Framingham, becoming "Framingham Normal School" in 1865 and "Framingham State Normal School" in 1889. In 1922, the school granted its first Bachelor of Science in Education degrees in conjunction with its adoption of a four-year study program. Ten years later, all Massachusetts' normal schools were renamed state teachers colleges, with degreed teachers predominating its graduating classes; the school thus became the "State Teachers College at Framingham". This name, however, would last only until 1945 when it was slightly adjusted to the "Framingham State Teachers College".

In 1960, the name changed yet again to the "State College at Framingham" after Bachelor of Arts degrees were added. This name was slightly adjusted five years later to just "Framingham State College", the name it would subsequently take into the twenty-first century. In subsequent years, Masters' of Education, Arts, and Science degrees were added as well, which remain a part of the school's curriculum today. In 2007, the college began offering the Master's of Business Administration (MBA) degree. In October 2010, seven of the state colleges became state universities, unaffiliated with the University of Massachusetts system. At this time, the school adopted its current name: Framingham State University. The measure was signed into law by Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick on July 28, 2010.

The 73-acre (30 ha) campus is located in Framingham, Massachusetts. Seven residence halls house over 1,500 students. The Henry Whittemore Library has over 200,000 volumes, Wi-Fi, access to over 70,000 electronic journals, and includes Archives and Special Collections. Framingham State University is located on the 282-foot (86-meter) high Bare Hill (also known as Normal Hill) and provides views of Boston, Massachusetts 20 miles (32 kilometers) away.

In 2007, the school signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment. That year, Massachusetts issued Executive Order No. 484, which mandated reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption for all state agencies and institutions. Greenhouse gases must be reduced 80% by 2050. In 2010, the school adopted a plan to convert its heating plant to natural gas and to convert its central chilled water plant to electric chillers.

Framingham State University was named a "Green College" by the Princeton Review in 2010 and 2011. It was one of 22 schools in Massachusetts to receive the distinction, and one of 311 nationwide. It was named to the list again in 2013.