 the university of maine at farmington, established in 1864 as maine's first public institution of higher education, is a public liberal arts college, and a founding member of the council of public liberal arts colleges offering programs in teacher education, human services and arts and sciences as a part of the university of maine system. the school is also at times referred to as umaine farmington or umf for short. ==history== in march 1863, a normal school act passed into law, and that fall, farmington was chosen from a list of possible locations for a normal school â the first public institution of higher education in the state of maine. the first class graduated from the western state normal school in 1866. the school merged into the university of maine system in 1968 to become "the university of maine at farmington." many early graduates attended the school for its liberal arts offerings alone. among these were the stanley brothers, famous for building the stanley steamer automobile; and john frank stevens, engineer of the panama canal. another famous graduate from the university is comedian bob marley, who graduated with a degree in community health. interest in the liberal arts continued unabated until the college offered its first degree programs in the liberal arts in 1971. by the 1974â75 school year, nearly 300 students were enrolled in liberal arts majors. ==academics==  the university of maine at farmington has been ranked among the top schools in the liberal arts and comprehensive college categories by u.s. news & world report in its "america's best colleges" college and university rankings for 16 consecutive years (1998â2013)."americaâs best colleges 2009", u.s. news & world report. accessed 2009-03-07. the university has a 15:1 student/faculty ratio and an average class size of 
Educational_institutions_established_in_1864 Farmington,_Maine New_England_Association_of_Schools_and_Colleges University_of_Maine_at_Farmington University_of_Maine_at_Farmington_alumni