A few years later, in 1961, USC-Florence was set up on land donated by the Wallace family six miles east of Florence, South Carolina.

A group of Florence-area citizens continued to push for the establishment of a four-year university in Florence to allow better access to higher education for the people of that area.

After several years of lobbying, Governor Robert E. McNair signed into law an act creating Francis Marion College, effective July 1, 1970.

The newly created Francis Marion College initially enrolled 907 students from 23 of South Carolina's 46 counties.

FMU draws students from across the country and around the world, but remains true to its original mission: to educate the people of the Pee Dee Region and the State of South Carolina.

The Slave Houses, Gregg Plantation, located on the FMU campus, were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

Located on a 400-acre (162 ha) tract of land originally included in a grant by the King of England and later made a cotton plantation by the Wallace Family, Francis Marion University is situated 6 miles (9.7 km) east of Florence.

The campus includes 100 acres (40 ha) of mixed pine-hardwood and bottomland forests accessed by a series of trails.

Francis Marion is also home to a two-story observatory, equipped with a 14-inch (360 mm) reflecting telescope, and a planetarium that offers public shows twice monthly.

The Patriot men's golf team competes in NCAA Division I as a single-sport member of the Southland Conference.