St. Francis College, often referred to as St. Francis or SFC, is a private, coeducational college located in Brooklyn Heights, New York, in the United States. The campus comprises five interconnected buildings, occupying half of a city block in Downtown Brooklyn. It was founded in 1859 by friars of the Order of Servant Franciscans, a Franciscan order, as the St. Francis Academy and was the first private school in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn. St.