About
Franklin & Marshall College (F&M) is a private liberal arts college in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1787 as Franklin College and later merged with Marshall College in 1853, it is one of the oldest colleges in the United States. F&M is named after Benjamin Franklin, who gave the college its first endowment, and John Marshall.
Admissions & acceptance rate
First-time freshman admissions: how selective the college is, and how many admitted students choose to enroll.
Graduation rate & outcomes
Completion, retention, and the equity gap between Pell and non-Pell students.
Pell equity
Non-Pell students graduate at a 4.0-point higher rate than Pell recipients.
Program outcomes
Federal Program Performance Data: how each program's graduate earnings and debt measure up under Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment.
Of 41 Title IV programs, 6 pass the federal Gainful Employment test and 0 fail. 35 have graduate earnings too small to publish, so they carry no pass/fail verdict.
Pass / fail distribution
- Passing6 · 14.6%
- No Data35 · 85.4%
- Failing0 · 0.0%
Severity spectrum
Tiers band programs by how far graduate earnings sit above or below the benchmark, from Critical (below −15%) through Safe (above +25%). No data means earnings were privacy-suppressed.
Earnings premium gap
Graduate earnings versus the federal benchmark, worst gaps first.
Debt vs earnings
Median completer debt against median graduate earnings, highest burden first.
Accreditation status & history
Who accredits the institution, current standing, and any past actions.
Middle States Commission on Higher Education
Action history · 2
- Feb 2022Approved for Distance EducationMiddle States Commission on Higher Education
- Jun 2019Renewal of AccreditationMiddle States Commission on Higher Education
Tuition & cost
What families actually pay, broken down by family income.
Net price by family income
Negative values mean aid exceeds the published cost of attendance for that income band.
Federal aid volume & trends
Pell grants and federal Direct Loan volume disbursed to students, and how they've trended.
In AY 2024–25, 326 students received $1.9M in Pell grants, alongside $8.0M in federal Direct Loans.
Pell recipients · 5-year trend
Loan volume by type · AY 2024–25
Loan awards count each loan type a student holds, not unique borrowers; one student may carry several (e.g. subsidized and unsubsidized), so the per-type figures are the reliable detail.
Student loan default rate
The share of student borrowers who default on federal loans within three years, against the national benchmark.
Of 354 borrowers who entered repayment, 4 (1.1%) defaulted within three years — below the 2.3% national rate.
Default rate vs national, by cohort
* Cohorts 2020 and later read near 0% because the federal COVID-19 payment pause (CARES Act) suspended defaults nationwide. These years reflect a national policy, not institutional performance; the 2019 cohort is the last measured under normal repayment.
Academic programs at Franklin and Marshall College
Top program areas ranked by completions.
Top program families by completions
Enrollment trends & demographics
Fall headcount, 12-month unduplicated enrollment, and student body composition.
Gender split
Race / ethnicity composition
Athletics & Title IX gender equity
How athletic participation, aid, and spending are split between men and women.
Men vs women · spending splits
Sport-by-sport · 17
Campus safety & crime statistics
Reported on-campus crimes over the last three years, including violence and hate crimes.
3-year trend
Criminal offenses by type
By location
- On campus25
- Non-campus1
- Public property3
Includes 18 in residence halls (a subset of on-campus, not added to the total).
VAWA offenses
Hate crimes by bias
- Sexual orientation1
Arrests vs disciplinary referrals
Residence-hall fires
- Ben Franklin Hall North1 fireCookingDamage $0-$99
- Kappa Delta1 fireCookingDamage $1,000-$9,999
Data quality: 3 reports were later determined unfounded across the reporting period and are excluded from the totals above.
Student-faculty ratio
Student-to-faculty ratio and instructional staff counts.
Franklin and Marshall College vs Peer comparison
The peer institutions Franklin and Marshall College selected for federal comparison reporting.
A larger shape on any axis means this institution outperforms its peers on that dimension. For acceptance rate and net price, lower raw values are inverted so "more selective" and "more affordable" appear larger.
| Carnegie | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SubjectFranklin and Marshall College | 84% | — | 1,808 | $39,061 | Baccalaureate |
Amherst College | 94% | 9.0% | 1,914 | $18,246 | Baccalaureate |
Bates College | 90% | 13.3% | 1,760 | $30,703 | Baccalaureate |
Bowdoin College | 95% | 7.1% | 1,881 | $20,786 | Baccalaureate |
Bucknell University | 86% | 28.9% | 3,969 | $40,429 | Baccalaureate |
Carleton College | 90% | 20.4% | 2,128 | $27,320 | Baccalaureate |
Colby College | 89% | 7.1% | 2,412 | $23,939 | Baccalaureate |
Colgate University | 91% | 13.9% | 3,211 | $29,107 | Baccalaureate |
College of the Holy Cross | 87% | 17.6% | 3,126 | $36,868 | Baccalaureate |
Colorado College | 88% | 18.5% | 2,056 | $31,678 | Baccalaureate |
Connecticut College | 82% | 37.0% | 1,990 | $33,998 | Baccalaureate |
Davidson College | 91% | 13.4% | 1,869 | $18,127 | Baccalaureate |
Dickinson College | 80% | 42.1% | 2,314 | $32,191 | Baccalaureate |
Furman University | 79% | 42.9% | 2,554 | $29,997 | Baccalaureate |
Grinnell College | 88% | 14.5% | 1,788 | $15,608 | Baccalaureate |
Hamilton College | 91% | 13.6% | 2,031 | $28,314 | Baccalaureate |
Haverford College | 90% | 12.4% | 1,431 | $25,210 | Baccalaureate |
Kenyon College | 82% | 31.0% | 2,249 | $29,383 | Baccalaureate |
Lafayette College | 88% | 31.4% | 2,775 | $32,496 | Baccalaureate |
Macalester College | 87% | 28.5% | 2,138 | $29,980 | Baccalaureate |
Middlebury College | 91% | 10.7% | 2,803 | $25,934 | Baccalaureate |
Oberlin College | 81% | 34.2% | 2,909 | $39,184 | Baccalaureate |
Pomona College | 93% | 7.1% | 1,700 | $19,424 | Baccalaureate |
Reed College | 71% | 24.6% | 1,358 | $39,951 | Baccalaureate |
Skidmore College | 83% | 21.1% | 2,704 | $34,581 | Baccalaureate |
Swarthmore College | 92% | 7.5% | 1,623 | $18,686 | Baccalaureate |
The University of the South | 80% | 56.9% | 1,724 | $27,498 | Baccalaureate |
Trinity College | 84% | 29.2% | 2,238 | $35,009 | Baccalaureate |
Union College | 80% | 43.9% | 2,065 | $36,000 | Baccalaureate |
Williams College | 94% | 8.3% | 2,164 | $14,852 | Baccalaureate |
| Peer group median | 88% | 18.5% | 2,097 | $29,682 |
Franklin and Marshall College Institutional Research office
The IR team responsible for the institution's federal reporting.
The Office of Institutional Research provides reliable, consistent, and comprehensive data and analyses to support the College’s strategic initiatives and decision-making.
Visit IR office page- Alan S CanigliaVice President for Institutional Research and Chief Strategy Officer
Common Data Set (2)
The institution's official annual Common Data Set publications — the most detailed reference for enrollment, admissions, and outcomes.
Reports & documents (2)
Dashboards, factbooks, data dictionaries, and other reference material published by the IR office.
- DFR reportIPEDS Data Feedback Report 20242024nces.ed.gov
- Strategic planL&AD: Leveraging Excellence, Accelerating Discovery2022Franklin and Marshall College's strategic plan, L&AD, spans from 2022 to 2027 and focuses on leveraging excellence and accelerating discovery to secure the college's standing among top liberal arts institutions. It outlines five key goals centered around curriculum revitalization, student empowerment, resource optimization, community building, and cultivating a culture of philanthropy. The plan also includes a flexible implementation strategy aimed at improving financial viability, educational visibility, and community engagement.fandm.edu
Grants & funding (4)
Federal grant awards and open funding opportunities awarded to this institution.
- awardFaculty Grants and Fellowships Spring 2024institution_site$2,630,627
- opportunitySummer Research Scholars Programinstitution_site$340,800
- opportunityInnovation Fund Inaugural CohortF&M Innovation Fundinstitution_site
- awardNSF CAREER Grant for Willie WilsonNational Science Foundationinstitution_site
Frequently asked questions about Franklin and Marshall College
Quick answers to the questions most often asked about Franklin and Marshall College.
What is the graduation rate at Franklin and Marshall College?
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Who runs Institutional Research at Franklin and Marshall College?
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