Francis Cole Higgins was born on September 23, 1913, in Flemington, New Jersey. He became deaf at three years old due to an unknown cause. Francis Higgins attended the Flemington, New Jersey Grammar School. He completed his studies there in 1927 and then attended the New Jersey School for the Deaf until 1931. Higgins then earned his Bachelor of Science degree at Gallaudet College in 1936 and then his Master of Science from Rutgers in 1938. He spent the next nine years teaching at the Kentucky School for the Deaf, then taught Chemistry and other science courses at Gallaudet College until his retirement in 1983. He taught for three more years at the Northwest Campus on a volunteer basis.

Higgins married in 1939 to Catherine Bronson of Alabama. They had five children, including a set of triplets. He was actively involved in the Baptist Church of the Deaf in Washington, DC, where he served as lay leader for more than forty years. He has also been actively involved in the Kentucky Chapter of the Gallaudet College Alumni Association and the GCAA itself. He has earned numerous recognitions, including the Man of the Year Award from Alpha Sigma Pi, Man of Merit from Delta Epsilon, awards from the National Fraternal Society of the Deaf, Tower Clock, and religious organizations.