The Furman Advantage

Our advantage lies in our engaged learning, reflection, belonging and mentoring. Each is an element of The Furman Advantage, and each helps to prepare students for lives of purpose and accelerated career and community impact. Furman graduates know how to do the work, in the classroom and in the world, and they are uniquely attuned to how they will make their impact after their four-year journey. Our students are disruptors and diplomats, innovative in their thinking and compassionate in their approach to career, community and life.

It’s a formula that combines with academic excellence, inclusivity and the value that we at Furman place on civic engagement. The results? Graduates who take their next steps with a deep sense of purpose and leadership.

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WHAT IS THE FURMAN ADVANTAGE?

  • A personalized, four-year pathway to graduation.
  • High-impact, engaged learning through research, internships and study away
  • A team of advisors and mentors to help you find your path
  • Centers and institutes focused on our most complex challenges
This TFA slider describes the students journey, a year per slide.

Year One: Explore and Discover

Your first year is an opportunity to discover your skills, interests, values, identity, and goals by taking courses in a variety of different academic fields. Settle into your new environment and gain a sense of belonging. Focus on classroom learning. Build your support network by connecting with your Pathways Program® advisor, peer mentor, and classmates.

Premier academic programs and teaching are our foundation. In small class sizes, students are taught by renowned faculty directly, not by teaching assistants.

In the first year, students are supported by their Pathways advisor and a peer mentor who will answer questions and provide guidance at the start of their path.

Year Two: Examine and Decide

Year two places an emphasis on inquiry and exploration. Students reflect on their ongoing classroom learning and begin the process of career exploration. Through conversations with advisors and mentors students determine what engaged learning experience will be right for them. By the end of sophomore year, students declare a major that connects with life and career goals.

Premier academic programs and teaching are our foundation. In small class sizes, students are taught by renowned faculty directly, not by teaching assistants.

In the sophomore year, students are supported by their Pathways advisor and add a major advisor, building their community of advisors and mentors to help guide them along their path.

Students connect coursework to meaningful experiences, such as research, internships, study away and community engaged learning projects.

The Pathways Program® curriculum includes drafting a resume and completing an informational interview with a professional in the student's field of interest!

Year Three: Connect and Refine

In the third year, use your classroom learning, reflection and support from mentors and advisors to focus your area of study. Take the initiative to seek out engaged learning opportunities such as an internship or a study away, research or community project. You will begin to apply your developing knowledge and skills to meet real-world challenges.

Premier academic programs and teaching are our foundation. In small class sizes, students are taught by renowned faculty directly, not by teaching assistants.

Continue expanding your community of mentors by connecting with faculty and staff through your major and engaged learning experiences!

Students connect work to meaningful experiences, such as research, internships, study away and community engaged learning projects.

Each major offers Years 3 and 4 programming tailored to preparing students for careers and graduate programs in their discipline.

Year Four: Synthesize and Initiate

The fourth year is the culmination of your classroom learning, mentoring and advising, engaged learning experience. Synthesize your experiences, integrating all you have done will help you create your narrative for employers and graduate schools. Talk to your mentors. Connect with the career center and alumni. Talk to prospective employers or apply for graduate school. Take action.

Premier academic programs and teaching are our foundation. In small class sizes, students are taught by renowned faculty directly, not by teaching assistants.

Continue expanding your community of mentors by connecting with faculty and staff through major and engaged learning experiences!

Students connect work to meaningful experiences, such as research, internships, study away and community engaged learning projects.

Each major offers Years 3 and 4 programming tailored to preparing students for careers and graduate programs in their discipline.

The Place For Bold Ideas

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To Reflect on Our Calling

Intentional acts of self-discovery punctuate our students’ four years and lead them to reflect deeply on their strengths and interests. It’s this kind of work that makes them comfortable with who they are and how they aspire to improve the world. And it is that emphasis on reflection that powers The Furman Advantage and drives the change, growth and understanding that our students experience in their four years at Furman.

To cultivate world citizenship

Furman students’ engaged learning experiences translate powerfully into the skills they will need in graduate school or the workforce. That means they graduate ready to navigate a multicultural, ever-changing community and career landscape, where critical thinking, collaboration and the embrace of differences are valued.

Resilient and Adaptable

Comfortable outside their comfort zone, and thoughtful adapters to change. Furman students love a good challenge. But even better, they welcome a good failure. Their ability to bounce back stronger and wiser from a mistake is part of what makes them so successful in their careers and respected in their communities.

Aspirations and Results

The Furman Advantage: We know it works. This ground-breaking, measurable approach to teaching, learning and living combines classroom instruction with real-world experiences and self-discovery, to offer every student an unparalleled, individualized education. Employers recognize its value and benefit from our approach, because they know our students go beyond a college experience to engage in a personalized, integrated four-year pathway that prepares them for lives of purpose and impact.

Pathways Program®

Partners in Progress

Partners in Progress

Together Furman’s institutes form a collective of expertise, extending a rich spectrum of immersive learning experiences and path-defining opportunities to students. The diversity of thought and specialization within this portfolio intersects with the liberal arts and sciences mission, allowing us to make progress toward a more equitable world on an array of fronts.

Measurable Gains

How do we know The Furman Advantage works? Along the way, we carefully track and assess our academic, advising and mentoring successes, in addition to the outcomes of our students. 

In 2016, we partnered with Gallup to assess the impact of The Furman Advantage. The key finding: our approach is working. Furman alumni surpassed the national average in Gallup’s “Big Six” college experiences. The survey also found that Furman students are 3.4 times more likely to be engaged at work and 2.9 times more likely to be thriving in wellbeing. And that’s just where they start. 

Read more about how we know The Furman Advantage is preparing our students to be innovators and contributors, community leaders and engaged citizens. And learn about The Duke Endowment’s $52.5 million support for The Furman Advantage.

This carousel is presenting alumnus.
Yunhui Yang

Meet An Alumnus

""To be honest, I never thought about graduate school before I came to Furman. It was like, college, done. But after college, I want to achieve more, which is something Furman and Dr. Harris gave me.”"
Yunhui Yang, '19
Noelle Warner

Meet An Alumnus

""That’s what I love so much about the English major. It doesn’t matter what industry you’re in, those critical-thinking skills and being able to deep dive and analyze things, no matter what it is, are so important.""
Noelle Warner, '19
Rachel Simon

Meet An Alumnus

""When I got the Metropolitan Fellowship, that was the key, integral thing in helping me. The (Furman Metropolitan Fellowship) guys had lots of connections to a lot of different people and a lot of great companies.""
Rachel Simon, '19

Addison’s four-year pathway

Addison Smith ’22
Majors: Spanish and Politics and International Affairs
Mobile, Alabama

When Addison Smith ’22 came to Furman for a tour of the campus, he “just fell in love with it,” he says. “I could feel the sense of community when we drove in the gates. I’ve felt that every day since I’ve been here.”

  • Becomes an admissions ambassador, giving tours of campus to prospective students.
  • Joins orientation staff to extend his leadership experience, named an orientation leader his sophomore, junior and senior years.
  • First year, joins the two-year Shucker Institute for leadership development, serves as programs and events coordinator his junior year.
  • Summer after first year, becomes the
    first intern with Carly Fiorina Enterprises in Alexandria, Virginia, with financial support from the internship office.
  • Joins The Riley Institute’s Advance Team, helping plan and organize the campus visits of high-level national speakers.
  • Sophomore year was elected Student Government Association president of his class.
  • Joins Heller Service Corps, a volunteer public service organization with more than 800 student members. Joins the leadership team in his sophomore year. His junior year, becomes director of programs. As a senior, becomes student director of the organization.
  • The summer between sophomore and junior years, volunteers with the Greenville Hispanic Alliance, serving as a translator and helping migrants complete naturalization paperwork.
  • Mentors and tutors Hispanic youth in Greenville.
  • The same summer, is a research fellow investigating the effects of COVID-19 on immigration to the United States.
  • Summer before senior year works at the lobbying firm McGuireWoods Consulting in Washington, D.C.
  • Applying to law school and to teach English in Spain.

For a more in-depth understanding of the Furman Advantage, download the guide below!

#THEFURMANADVANTAGE