Ferrum College is a private college in Ferrum, Virginia, USA, in the scenic Blue Ridge Mountains of Southwest Virginia. Ferrum College has the second-oldest environmental science program in the nation and was ranked 41st by US News and World Report in Comprehensive Colleges–Bachelor's (South) for 2006. The college itself is on the Virginia Historic Register. Roberts Hall and Beckham Hall are part of the Ferrum College Historic District and listed in the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places. Ferrum was founded in 1913. It is a liberal arts institution founded on Christian principles and related to the United Methodist Church. Ferrum's official mission is to educate students in the disciplines of higher learning and to help them be thoughtful and perceptive, to be articulate and professionally capable, and to be caring and concerned citizens of their community, nation and world. The branch schools closed as public education took hold in the area. The elementary division closed in the early 1940s, followed by the high school division in 1955 to allow the program to concentrate on its junior college offerings.