FERRIS STATE UNIVERSITY

public, coeducational institution of higher learning in Big Rapids, Mich., U.S. An applied polytechnic university, Ferris State consists of the Colleges of Allied Health Sciences, Arts and Sciences, Business, Education, Optometry, Pharmacy, and Technology. It offers over 100 undergraduate programs, five master's degree programs, and doctoral degrees in optometry and pharmacy. Total enrollment exceeds 11,000. The university was founded in 1884 by educator Woodbridge Ferris, who later served as governor of Michigan and as a U.S. senator. Ferris organized the Big Rapids Industrial School, later renamed the Ferris Institute, in order to train lumberjacks for employment in the changing industrial economy. The school joined the state higher-education system in 1950; in that year the school suffered a fire that nearly destroyed the campus. It became Ferris State University in 1987.