Skip to content
The Ledger
The Rise · HBCU

FMU(Florida Memorial University)

School colors: Blue & Orange

FloridaMemorialU- - 52273368773
2C2K Photography, 2022-07-29 21:42:57, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Miami Gardens, Florida · Founded 1879

Private · Four-year · ~1,400 students

www.fmuniv.edu · official site

Founding

Florida Memorial University began in 1879, when members of the Bethlehem Baptist Association founded the Florida Baptist Institute in Live Oak, Florida, as a college of instruction for ministers and children. Amid racial hostility, president Matthew Gilbert and staff left Live Oak for Jacksonville, where he founded the Florida Baptist Academy in the basement of Bethel Baptist Church with Sarah Ann Blocker as its main instructor.

Source: About FMU, Florida Memorial University, read 2026-09-14.

What the school says about itself

On the record
  • Florida Memorial University is a private coeducational institution with the distinction of being one of the oldest academic centers in the state, and the only historically Black university in South Florida. Source, read 2026-09-17.

On the official record

Campus address
15800 NW 42 Avenue, Miami Gardens, FL 33054-6199
Control
Private not-for-profit
Students
~1,400 students
Directory id
133979
OPE id
00148600
Student aid
Takes part in Title IV student aid
Title III Part B list, FY 2026
Listed
Location
15800 NW 42 Avenue, Miami Gardens, FL. See it on the Ledger map.
Where this location comes fromCampus location from IPEDS 2024-25This campus location comes from the federal IPEDS 2024-25 record, used as published, so the pin on the map is the campus.IPEDS Institutional Characteristics, Directory information (HD2024), 2024-25 collection, file dated 2025-09-21, retrieved 2026-09-14: coordinate 25.918278, -80.270753 as published. The Census Bureau geocoder also matched this address exactly on 2026-09-14.

Sources

  1. U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. IPEDS Institutional Characteristics, Directory information (HD2024), 2024-25 provisional data collection. Unit id 133979. https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/datacenter/data/HD2024.zip. File dated 2025-09-21.
  2. U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education. Higher Education Programs Eligibility Matrix, sheet 'HBCU', dated 2026-06-08. https://www.ed.gov/media/document/fy-2026-higher-education-programs-eligibility-matrix-june-8-2026-114185.xlsx.
  3. About FMU, Florida Memorial University. https://www.fmuniv.edu/about-fmu/. Read 2026-09-14.
  4. Students: 1,365 total, Fall 2023 (1,299 undergraduate, 66 graduate). IPEDS Fall Enrollment 2023, derived variables (DRVEF2023). https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/datacenter/data/DRVEF2023.zip. File dated 2024-09-30, read 2026-09-17.
  5. Home, Florida Memorial University. https://www.fmuniv.edu/. Read 2026-09-17.
  6. School colors: Blue & Orange. Values as stated. Florida Memorial University, Wikipedia (revision 1368435345). Read 2026-09-16.
  7. Photograph: 2C2K Photography, 2022-07-29 21:42:57, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:FloridaMemorialU-4_-_52273368773.jpg. Retrieved 2026-09-16.
  8. U.S. Census Bureau Geocoder, batch address service, benchmark Public_AR_Current. https://geocoding.geo.census.gov/geocoder/.

Enrollment is the official 2023 count, rounded. Tap a school for its source.

Machine-readable: /api/v1/hbcus/florida-memorial-university · All HBCUs

These campuses have gathered generations. TheCookout is where the newBWS community gathers now. Pull up a plate.