“Public doctoral/professional university with professional doctorates in optometry, pharmacy, engineering, and business.”
Ferris State University is a public career-and-technical-oriented university founded in 1884 by Woodbridge N. Ferris as the Big Rapids Industrial School, and it has kept that hands-on, workforce-facing identity ever since. Spread across an 880-acre main campus in Big Rapids — a small mid-Michigan college town about an hour north of Grand Rapids — plus the Kendall College of Art and Design campus in downtown Grand Rapids and 19 statewide off-site locations, Ferris enrolls roughly 10,500 students across eight colleges: Arts, Sciences & Education; Business; Engineering Technology; Health Professions; the Michigan College of Optometry; the College of Pharmacy; the Kendall College of Art and Design; and the College of Education & Human Services. The university is best known nationally for professional programs that are unusual in the Midwest: it is one of the only places in the region where an international undergraduate can move directly into optometry, pharmacy, or design. Student life feels practical and tight-knit rather than flashy. Ferris keeps a strong Bulldogs athletic program (NCAA Division II across most sports, D-I in hockey), a student body where many undergraduates work in labs, studios, or clinics tied to their major from year one, and traditions such as Dawg Days orientation and the Big Rapids homecoming parade. Housing is largely residential for freshmen, and the university runs one of Michigan's better-regarded co-op and internship pipelines for skilled trades, automotive engineering, welding engineering, HVAC, surveying, and digital animation. Big Rapids itself is affordable — room and board costs are well below downstate Michigan — and the Muskegon River corridor gives students easy outdoor access. For international students, Ferris is a relatively small, approachable option (about 100–200 international undergraduates) with clearly published English-proficiency thresholds, a Woodbridge N. Ferris scholarship stack that awards up to $10,000 per year automatically based on GPA and test scores, and an Office of International Education that issues I-20s and handles F-1 advising directly. Many Ferris programs — notably optometry, pharmacy, engineering technology, computer information systems, and Kendall's design tracks — lead to careers where Michigan-based employers routinely sponsor CPT and OPT, making Ferris a pragmatic entry point into the US job market without the sticker price of flagship R1s.
Visa, OPT, H-1B alumni outcomes, and acceptance rates by country — sourced from FOIA, USCIS H-1B Hub, and DHS SEVIS.
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Test Optional — You can submit scores if they help your case, but they're not required.
Official SourcePriority
Priority for scholarship consideration
Regular (Fall)
International applicants encouraged to apply earlier for visa processing
The deep admissions playbook beyond the headline acceptance rate — round-by-round breakdowns, nationality data, requirements, and contact paths.
Tuition & Fees (All Students)
$14,778
/yr
Beyond the sticker price — every named scholarship, the financial aid policy, need-aware notes, and a personalized net-cost estimate.
How life on campus actually feels — clubs, sports, traditions, housing realities, and how the school integrates with its city.
4 years
Four-year clinical doctorate at the Michigan College of Optometry — the state's only optometry school — with early hands-on patient care at the University Eye Center in Big Rapids.
4 years
A signature Ferris program combining engineering coursework with shop-floor work on engines, drivetrains, and EV systems, feeding directly into Michigan's auto-industry engineering pipeline.
4 years
Studio-intensive BFA at Kendall College of Art and Design in downtown Grand Rapids, producing designers who go on to Steelcase, Herman Miller, Whirlpool, and the broader West Michigan design ecosystem.
Where alumni go after graduation — top industries, grad-school continuation, and the qualitative outcomes story.
Sticker price (annual, out-of-state): $14,778
Net-cost estimate is US-resident-only — international applicants are typically excluded from need-based aid at most schools and should treat the sticker price as the planning baseline.
