About
Ferrum College is a private college in Ferrum, Virginia. The college was established in 1913 as the "Ferrum Training School" (also referred to as the "Ferrum Institute" by its board of trustees) for primary and secondary education to serve the mountain communities of rural Southwest Virginia.
The school was known as "Ferrum Junior College" between 1940 and 1976. It was founded by the United Methodist Church and gradually developed from primary to post-secondary education. Today, Ferrum enrolls around 800 undergraduate and graduate students and offers over 54 undergraduate majors and four graduate programs. Ferrum College's 700-acre (280 ha) campus is in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains near Rocky Mount, Virginia, in Franklin County.
Its athletic teams, known as the Panthers, compete in Division II of the NCAA in the Conference Carolinas. Ferrum has 11 men's teams and 14 women's teams. The football team is commonly referred to as the "Black Hats".
The Ferrum College campus is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the Virginia Landmarks Register.