Sports teams who compete for Florida A&M are known as the "Rattlers." FAMU offers men's sports in basketball, baseball, football, swimming, golf, track and field, and tennis. It also offers women's sports in bowling, basketball, softball, swimming, track and field, tennis and volleyball.
The university was founded on October 3, 1887, as the State Normal College for Colored Students, and began classes with only 15 students and two instructors. The original college was located in a single white-framed building and had three departments of study and recreation. It was not until 1905, when management of the Normal College was transferred to the Florida Board of Control, that Florida A&M was officially designated an institution of higher education.
FAMU remains a predominantly black school, with 95 percent professing African heritage. Its main areas of research are in the agriculture and health sciences field, but there are also colleges of law, pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences. The university is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.