Furman University's Mission and Purpose, in summary, is to provide a distinctive undergraduate education encompassing humanities, fine arts, social sciences, mathematics and the natural sciences, and selected professional disciplines.  Furman nurtures a commitment to independent thought and lifelong learning.  By providing students with a broad exposure to the liberal arts, it seeks to produce graduates grounded in the traditional sources of knowledge yet capable of devising new solutions to problems in their chosen fields.

To these ends, the Mission of the Office of Financial Aid is to preserve and protect the integrity of the total University Mission and Purpose while being proactive and facilitating the delivery system of funds from federal, state, university, and external financial assistance programs to prospective and currently enrolled students.  This will be accomplished through the following endeavors:

1.  To provide the materials and information to accomplish the completion of the financial assistance application process.

2.  To present professional, efficient, and sensitive service to all clientele- students, parents, colleagues, University personnel- as well as exterior publics involved in the total education financing environment- while remaining committed to the individualized needs of students.

3.  To utilize the newest technological advances to enhance the processing of aid for all students and yet treat each student individually with the utmost care, recognizing the confidentiality of their specific situation.

4.  To assure all staff are highly trained in all facets of the profession in order to better inform, counsel with confidence, listen and react with compassion, lead with intelligence, thought and planning, and persevere with patience and diligence, while continuing to be financially innovative and creative.

5.  To develop an awarding strategy that maximizes the use of the university's institutional financial aid goals and accomplishes recruitment and retention enrollment goals for  size, gender, geographic and socioeconcomic profile.

6.  To position the office as a known leader in the field and profession in order to rise above the status quo or minimal goals and standards and to maintain continuous   improvement in the operation of the financial aid office.