Established in 1853, St. Francis Xavier University is an open institution, which is associated with the Universities Canada, Canadian Bureau for International Education, International Association of Universities, and Canadian University Society for Intercollegiate Debate, and Canadian University Press. The university is known to be a member of the Maple League. It mainly focuses on liberal arts studies. Earlier, it was named as the Arichat College. The university was renamed to its current name in 1855, and in 1866, it was granted university status. In 1868, the university offered its first degrees. The infrastructure of the university is designed and built by the famous architect Henry Frederick Busch. The number of students increased at the university when it began admitting female students and became a coeducational institution. The university is managed and administered by the Board of Governors. The university campus comprises seven residential halls, namely Fraser Houses in Bishops' Hall, MacPherson, MacDonald in Cameron Hall, Chillis and MacNeil Houses in MacKinnon Hall, MacIsaac Hall, Lane Hall, O'Regan Hall, and Riley Hall. The students are provided with all the facilities required at the campus. They experience a calm learning environment. In addition, the campus features two apartment-style accommodations, namely Somers and Power Halls and Governors Hall. The campus also has a fitness & wellness center, various clubs for extra-curricular activities, sports rooms, football fields, and an auditorium. All the sports competitions, annual functions, inter-college seminars, quizzes, events, and fests conducted by the university are held within the campus. The library at the campus holds up to thousands of magazines, books, journals, and research papers. The campus is nearby many medical shops, stationery shops, and general stores. Several cafes and restaurants are also located close to the campus. Public conveyance is easily available from the campus. The university offers undergraduate and postgraduate programs. It consists of about 3,895 students. The undergraduate program has 3,884 students, and over 101 students come under the postgraduate program. The academic structure of the university includes four faculties, namely Faculty of Arts, Faculty of Education, Faculty of Science, and Faculty of Business. Each faculty has several departments. The Faculty of Arts includes courses like Fine Arts, Anthropology, Economics, Humanities, Philosophy, Political Science, and Development Studies. The Faculty of Science offers Biology, Environmental Sciences, Chemistry, Computer Science, Earth Sciences, Aquatic Resources, and Engineering. Business Faculty comprises Information Systems, Management, Finance, and Marketing. The Faculty of Education offers degrees in Adult Education. The students learn under skilled faculty members.