St. Francis College is a private, independent, co-educational college offering a liberal arts education at an affordable price. Its goal is to promote the intellectual, social, emotional, spiritual, and physical development of students. St Francis is located in historic Brooklyn Heights, at 180 Remsen Street, between Court and Clinton streets. The college was founded by Franciscan Brothers in 1858, as St. Francis Academy, the first private school in the diocese of Brooklyn. The school was established in a building on Baltic Street to educate boys of the diocese. The school's explosive growth in a little more than 25 years resulted in receiving permission from the state legislature for the school trustees to establish a literary college under its current name, and to give the power to confer diplomas, degrees, and honors. Thus in June 1885, St. Francis College conferred its first bachelor of arts degree, and seven years later, the first bachelor of science degree was granted. In the ensuing years, the school continued its growth and built a new facility on Butler Street in 1926. An charter to the college trustees was granted by the Regents of the University of the State of New York in 1957. In 1960, the school embarked upon an expansion program. It was relocated to Remsen Street, where it had purchased two office buildings from Brooklyn Union Gas Company, allowing it to double its enrollment. In a few years' time, St. Francis College became a co-educational institution and enlarged its campus by purchasing additional property on both Remsen and Joralemon streets. The college expanded its facilities with the construction of a science building, physical education complex, housing for the Franciscan Brothers, as well as more space for faculty. St Francis offers more than 350 degrees in the liberal arts and sciences. The college's 19 academic departments offer a sweeping variety of classes, majors and minors that cover such areas as the humanities, natural and social sciences, and fine arts. In addition, various pre-professional programs include accounting, business management, information technology, health sciences, and education. In addition to the academic curricula, a wide variety of activities are available on the campus that provide opportunities for students' personal growth and development. The campus bookstore, career development center, student counseling center, and the library are some of the other facilities provided.