After Furman
What you can accomplish with a Furman degree
What can you achieve with a Furman education? Our students develop intellectually from a challenging and supportive academic experience and, through high-impact, real-world experiences and mentoring, graduate ready for accelerated career and community impact.
Furman graduates have high rates of job placement and graduate school acceptance, and a deeper sense of purpose and fulfillment. It starts with The Furman Advantage. Designed as an integrated four-year pathway and guided by a diverse community of mentors, The Furman Advantage outlines each student’s college plan to prepare them for meaningful and successful lives and careers. But we offer more than an exceptional education; we focus on belonging by fostering an inclusive community to support and guide you on your journey.
By joining the Furman family, you’ll also become a part of a diverse and international network that will position you for success.
What you’ll find on this page
and preparation
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 while focusing on classroom learning. Build your support network by connecting with your advisor.Go to Year 2
Year two places an emphasis on inquiry and exploration. Students connect their ongoing classroom learning and conversations with advisors and mentors with the idea of an engaged learning experience. By the end, declare a major that meets your life and career goals.Go to Year 3
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.
Go to Year 4
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.
In just six months of graduation, 97 percent of students are employed or in graduate school, nurturing their curiosity and living meaningful lives. You will graduate ready to achieve feats, solve problems and chase your dreams. This is The Furman Advantage.
Premier academic programs and teaching are our foundation. In small class sizes, students are taught by renowned faculty, not their assistants.
For all four years, students have access to a community of advisors and mentors who will answer and ask questions, and help guide them along their path.
Students connect work to meaningful experiences, such as research, internships, study away and community engaged learning projects.
Students are encouraged to develop habits of reflection so that they are able to make informed decisions, tell their story, and graduate confident and prepared for life beyond college.
“Compared to the national average, Furman alumni are three times more likely to be thriving in their lives and well-being. In fact, among Gallup’s five well-being indices – purpose, social, financial, community and physical – Furman alumni scored at least 14 points higher than the national average.”
Proving our value
Top employers and graduate schools are filled with Furman alumni. From landing your dream job to furthering your education, your trajectory begins at Furman.
First Destinations Survey: Class of 2020
Top employers
Top graduate schools
5YEARS IN A ROW
Most Innovative Schools - U.S. News & World Report
#15
Best Schools for Making an Impact - The Princeton Review
Among The Best Value Colleges – The Princeton Review
#2
Best Colleges for Veterans – U.S. News & World Report
The Gallup survey results
To assess and ensure fulfillment of The Furman Advantage, Furman partnered with Gallup to survey our students on their experiences both during their time at Furman and after graduation. This effort also included interviews of our alumni, faculty and staff. Furman University surpasses the national average in Gallup’s “Big Six” college experiences. Positive experiences in these six areas mean that our alumni are more likely to be engaged at work and thriving in well-being.
- 3.4x more likely to be engaged at work
- 2.9x more likely to be thriving in well-being
Our faculty and staff make the difference
Furman faculty and staff are among the most engaged among their peers in higher education and even among employees in other industries. As Gallup’s research in higher education has revealed, faculty and staff engagement is the No. 1 contributor for student engagement:
- Top 5 of engaged faculty and staff in higher education
- Top 25 most engaged employees across all industries
Engaged learning
We recognize that engaged learning experiences, including study away, internships and mentored research, provide a powerful basis for reflection and self-discovery, both of which inform the direction of students’ career or graduate education after Furman. As a result:71%
had an internship or job that allowed them to apply what they were learning in the classroom
- 88% Reported having an engaged learning experience at Furman
- 79% had at least one professor at Furman who made them excited about learning
- 59% Reported having a study away or May Experience
– Senior Survey results for the Class of 2021
What Furman alumni say
Our alumni consistently report benefiting from Furman’s emotional support systems and the engaged-learning experiences they had as students. Compared to the national average, Furman alumni:
- Are three times more likely to be thriving in their lives and well-being, according to Gallup.
- Scored at least 14 points higher than the national average on Gallup’s five well-being indices – purpose, social, financial, community and physical.
As a member of the Georgia Army National Guard, Andy Pascual ’02 supervises the Trial Defense Service, making him the third generation in his family to serve with the United States military. But he spends most of his time as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of Georgia.
Paula DeCesaris ’96 is the deputy director of NASA’s Spacecraft and Vehicle Systems Department in the Engineering Directorate at Marshall Space Flight Center. She’s also part of the effort that will send us to Mars and land the first woman on the moon.
From Greenville, South Carolina, to Kampala, Uganda, LaDavia Drummond Just ’02 follows her faith. After a trip to East African nation in 2016, she moved to its capital city.
As the founder of both Kopis and Vigilix tech companies, Andrew Kurtz ’89 is helping to shape the region’s technology landscape.