Franklin and Marshall College

Private · Selective · PA

Photo: Smallbones (CC0)

School data & stats

TypePrivate

LocationPA · Northeast

SettingUrban

Undergrads1,799

Student:faculty9:1

Outcomes

4-yr grad rate76.4%

6-yr grad rate83.8%

Drop-out rate9.8%

Study abroad—

Cost

In-state tuition$71k

Out-of-state tuition$71k

Application fee—

Community

Racial diversity40.9%

Gender diversity51.4%

International17%

Identity—

Overview

Franklin & Marshall College is a private liberal arts college in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, formed in 1853 from the merger of two colonial-era institutions: Franklin College, chartered with support from Benjamin Franklin himself, and Marshall College, named for Chief Justice John Marshall. The result is a serious, pre-professionally minded liberal arts school with a longer institutional memory than its single campus suggests. F&M sits inside Lancaster proper rather than on an isolated quad, giving it a more urban, small-city feel than most peer liberal arts colleges, and the college leans into that setting rather than treating it as incidental.

Academics

The college is known for rigorous programs in government, business, organizational studies and society, and the sciences, with an especially strong record of sending graduates into law school, medical school, and doctoral programs. Faculty teach their own courses at every level rather than delegating introductory work to graduate assistants, since F&M has no graduate students of its own to hand that off to. Independent research is built into the curriculum through programs like the Hackman Scholars, which fund students to work directly alongside faculty on original research over the summer, and class sizes stay small enough that this kind of close mentorship is the norm rather than the exception.

Campus & student life

Residential life runs through a house system that sorts students into affiliated houses for social life and community-building, giving campus culture a more structured backbone than a typical dorm-and-dining setup. Lancaster itself is a historic small city rather than a sleepy college town, which means students have real restaurants, a working downtown, and internship opportunities within walking distance instead of a shuttle ride away. Athletics compete at the Division III level, and the balance of serious academics with a livable, walkable city around it is part of what distinguishes F&M from more rural liberal arts peers.

Getting in

Admission is holistic, weighing academic rigor and intellectual seriousness over any single formula, and the college pays real attention to demonstrated interest in its pre-professional strengths — government, business, or the sciences in particular. Essays that show genuine curiosity and a clear sense of why F&M's blend of small-college intimacy and career-minded academics fits the applicant tend to stand out in a pool that skews toward students who already have a direction in mind.

After graduation

Graduates move in strong numbers into law, medicine, business, and doctoral study, helped along by a career center and an alumni network that leans heavily into those same fields. The government department in particular has a long track record of placing students into Washington-adjacent careers and top law schools.

Worth knowing

The house system is worth understanding before enrolling, since it shapes social life more than a typical dorm arrangement would and gives students an affiliation that persists across all four years. Lancaster's small-city setting, rather than a rural or major-metro one, is also a genuine trade-off worth weighing against more isolated or more urban liberal arts alternatives.

fandm.edu ↗

Admissions

Acceptance rate28.2%

Enrolled mid-50%SAT 1310–1463 · ACT 30–33

Test policyoptional

Rec letters2

Deadlines (2026–27 cycle)

Early decisionNov 15

Regular decisionJan 15

Verified from the school’s admissions page ↗

Applying (2026-27 cycle)

Apply through Common App or Coalition (Scoir).

Early decision IIJan 15

Early Decision I and Early Decision II are binding plans; a Regular Decision applicant may switch to Early Decision I by December 9 or to Early Decision II by February 3.

Interviews: Interviews are optional and not required, offered as an informal way to strengthen an application.

Verified from the school’s admissions pages ↗