What city is the University of Pennsylvania located in? University of Pennsylvania

07.04.2020

Where in 1740 its history began. It was originally planned to create a school for workers in Philadelphia, but after 39 years it was given the status of a university. It was here that a model of education was introduced, providing for training in various programs, and the first undergraduate and graduate programs in the United States appeared. First of all, the University of Pennsylvania is famous for its medical and veterinary schools, which have received worldwide recognition.

History of the institution

Benjamin Franklin founded a college in Philadelphia before. Educational emphasis was placed on developing the practical skills of students and teaching the knowledge needed in later life. This approach contributed to the very rapid and successful development medical school. Already in the mid-1760s. established at the college special school medicine named after Perelman. She was the first in the country, which the university administration is very proud of. A hundred years later, positive results in the treatment and discovery of various drugs, methods and technologies made it possible to create a hospital at the educational institution.

In addition to the development of medicine, Franklin considered it necessary to develop a concept based on the synthesis of applied knowledge, humanitarian and social sciences, public administration, classical subjects, theology and religion.

19th century became a turning point for the university, as the numerous achievements of staff and students made it possible to open new educational institutions. Among them, it is worth noting the following colleges that are part of the structure of the University of Pennsylvania:

Wharton School of Business (1881);
School of Veterinary Medicine;
Student Union, housed in the building of Houston Hall (1896).

The number of faculties was constantly growing, as was the number of students. Already in the 1920s. graduates of the University of Pennsylvania began to receive Nobel Prizes. Throughout the 20th century in educational institution continued to develop as a scientific Research Center and a center for multidisciplinary education. The administration of the university considered it important to stake on computer, medical and social sciences, as well as biomedicine, business and public administration. The leadership of the university supports these trends in the 21st century. The achievements of the students of the University of Pennsylvania allowed the educational institution to enter the top five research centers in the country.

Structure of the University of Pennsylvania

Students of the University of Pennsylvania have the opportunity to study in various educational programs, get a scientific degree, participate in scientific and research activities. All this takes place on the territory of a single campus, in which each faculty implements its projects and scientific research. The educational institution is adjacent to no less famous educational institutions Philadelphia: Drexel University, University of Philadelphia applied sciences and the city's high school, the Wistar Cancer Center.

The main campus of the University of Pennsylvania occupies a vast territory, reaching almost three hundred acres. In the city itself, the university also owns huge areas with scientific and educational buildings, as well as a veterinary clinic.

The following institutions owned by the university are located on campus:

Institute of Contemporary Art, which also works as a museum;
Libraries;
Several museums and galleries;
Sports centers;
Newspaper office founded in 1885 and called the Daily Pennsylvanian;
Twelve student residences;
Schools and colleges, the number of which reaches 12;
Six training centers;
Research institutes.

The buildings of the University of Pennsylvania are built in the neo-Gothic style, the Cope & Stewardson company worked on their construction. Not far from the university there is a cinema, a shop, a chain of restaurants, cafes and pubs.

Getting to the campus is easy, as it is located in the heart of Philadelphia. Students, teachers and tourists get here by three means of transport - by metro, bicycle or car.

The educational institution is headed by the president. From 2004 to the present day, this position has been held by Ami Gutman. In total, more than 1.1 thousand doctors of sciences and professors work at the university, who are assisted by almost 5.5 thousand graduate students. The total number of students for different forms education, courses and programs is 21 thousand.

Educational programs

The structure of the university is determined by the programs that exist here. For bachelors there is an opportunity to study at four schools - arts and sciences, engineering and applied sciences, business and nursing. The first school includes the College of Arts and Sciences (humanities and natural sciences), the post-baccalaureate department - master's and doctoral studies.

Master's programs are more widely represented in schools:

connections named after Annenberg,
the rights,
design,
medicine,
nurses,
dental medicine,
education, business,
social policy and practices
veterinary medicine.

The center of education is the School of Arts and Sciences, in the structure of which there are 26 departments. Among them are popular: forensic, anthropological, mathematical, foreign languages and English, historical, sociological, social sciences, political science, astronomical, philosophical and economic. In addition, students are attracted by the opportunity to get an education in the Department of Psychology, South Asian Studies, the Middle East, etc. The school is able to provide training for specialists in a variety of areas and provide knowledge in basic and fundamental sciences.

Bachelors often choose programs related to business and medicine, and masters - engineering, chemical engineering, nanomechanics, mechanics, bioengineering, computer science. Masters and future PhDs prefer to study at the schools of business, architecture, design / urban planning, medicine, dentistry, law, social policy, education, veterinary medicine and nursing.

The specifics of studying at the university include the fact that students can attend classes at any faculty, and from the second year work in scientific and research laboratories.

This university cooperates with various universities around the world - in the States, Europe, New Zealand, Australia, Asia. Thanks to academic mobility programs, students can study for a semester or two at other universities. For example, in colleges in Singapore, Japan, Germany, Italy, Great Britain, Australia.

Admission process

Getting into the University of Pennsylvania is not easy. Pennsylvania students become 10% of the total number of applicants. The commission of teachers very carefully studies each package of papers sent to them. Particular emphasis is placed on the study motivation letters and essay. The requirements are getting tougher every year, so the grades must be excellent, and the reasons for studying at the university must be weighty and well-reasoned. Attention should be paid to the accurate filling of application forms, which should not contain lexical, spelling and punctuation errors.

You can do it in two ways:

Turning to specialized firms, where specialists will help fill out forms, make recommendations, check essays;
On one's own.

Students from other countries must collect a certain package of documents, among which the following are worth noting:

Application, which is filled in electronic form on the website http://www.commonapp.org;
Diploma of education or certificate high school;
Grade transcript;
Exam results - general, which is called SAT, subject (SAT Subject Tests). The latter can often be replaced by an exam with written answers - ACT. SAT reading scores should be at least 730, and math and writing scores should be 750-780. ACT results should range from 31 to 34 points. On the master's programs you will need to take the Gmat test;
The results of the passed test in English - TOEFL;
Recommendations from former teachers, written in English;
A motivation letter that clearly states the reasons for wanting to study at the University of Pennsylvania;
Additional documents that will confirm the non-academic achievements of applicants. These can be sports results, participation in olympiads and competitions, theatrical performances;
Certificate stating that the applicant needs financial assistance.

You need to submit documents for bachelor's, master's or doctoral studies either before November 1 (the results will be known before December 15), or before January 1 (the applicant will know the results at the end of March). Each year, no more than 2.5 thousand students are enrolled, and only 300-400 foreign students. In total, this is only 7-8% of all applications.

Cost of education

The average cost of education is about 66.5 thousand per year (data for the 2015-2016 academic year). This amount includes fees for textbooks and various aids, food, books, campus room fees, medical insurance, student fees, gym fees, and other expenses.

Fixed fees are tuition fees, general and technological fees of an educational nature. The hostel fee can change every year, it all depends on the level of comfort. Personal expenses are phone bills, clinical fees, medical services, laundry, clothing, vacation and travel expenses.

Student expenses do not include travel expenses, student medical insurance, payment for the use of laboratories and experiments, which are practiced in some courses. Insurance is a mandatory component that will help you use the clinic. Those who do not have insurance automatically fall into the student insurance plan, the cost of which changes every year.

Students who do not have enough funds to pay for their studies may apply for financial assistance from the university scholarship fund or various grants. Other sources of financial assistance can be a loan, work after school, a bank loan. Some funds need to be returned, while others do not. The tuition scholarship can be full and partial, capable of covering up to 90% of the cost of staying at the University of Pennsylvania.

To receive a scholarship or grant, you must collect a list of documents and submit them to the appropriate department. When requesting a certain amount, the student must be prepared for the fact that its size will be determined individually. There is always an opportunity to get a nominal scholarship, but for this you need to study well and have high results in the chosen subjects. For example, you can get a Woodrow Wilson scholarship, which is provided for the implementation of research and scientific projects. Undergraduate students may apply to receive funding from NASA. The main thing is to prove that the research or project has a perspective and is relevant. For undergraduates, there is a Faber Scholarship available in Engineering and Engineering Sciences.

Research Center

The university is considered the largest research institute in the United States, which develops various areas of applied, engineering, computer, natural sciences, IT technologies, programming. Among the achievements made within the walls of the university, one can note the creation of an electronic digital computer and the COVOL programming language, the discovery of vaccines against hepatitis B and rubella. Archaeologists and historians of the University of Pennsylvania are constantly involved in expeditions, studying Egyptian and South American antiquities. Also, it was here that the method of artificial insemination was discovered, which made it possible to fight infertility. Important discoveries were made in the field of chemistry (conductive polymers), economics and management.

Huge amounts of money are allocated annually for research, which amount to millions of dollars.

The University of Pennsylvania is proud of its alumni, nine of which are Nobel laureates. According to official US statistics, a fairly large number of young people who graduate from university become billionaires.

Striking results are also demonstrated by the sports teams of the university, which constantly take first places in various student championships. Notable alumni of the institution include:

Ninth President William Henry Harrison;
Businessman and 45th US President Donald Trump;
The most successful and richest investor in the world is Warren Buffett;
Benjamin Franklin, who helped sign the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution;
George Washington, who took part in the drafting and signing of the US Constitution (along with ten other American politicians);
Justices of the Supreme Court such as J. Wilson and W. Brennan;
World famous philanthropist W. Annenberg;
E. Rendel, former governor of Pennsylvania;
Cesar Virata, who in 1981-1986. was the Prime Minister of the Philippines;
Azikiwe Nnamdi, former first the President of Nigeria;
Kwame Nkrumah - the first President of Ghana;
Elon Musk, founder of X.com, SpaceX and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Tesla Inc.
Members of Congress;
Many mayors of American cities;
Several American ambassadors;
Heads of corporations and companies;
statesmen and officials.

The Wharton School of Business is considered the best in the world for teaching MBAs and public administration. It only competes with Harvard Business School. But it is at the University of Pennsylvania that the trends that shape business education around the world are being formed. People who graduate from Wharton Business School earn at least $200,000 a year. School graduates are highly valued in the business environment, and employers are chasing after them.

It was originally founded as a charity school. Largely through the efforts of Benjamin Franklin and other leading Philadelphians, it became an academy in 1751, with Franklin as president of the first board of trustees. In 1755 it was incorporated as a college and an academy of Philadelphia. With the founding of the first medical school in colonial America in 1765, the institution actually became a university, but it was named so only in 1779, in the same year the university received state support for some time.

It has been a private and controlled institution since 1791, although it continues to receive state aid. The university has about 25,000 students.

Studying programs

The University of Pennsylvania consists of 4 schools, which in turn are divided into many directions. Here are the most popular ones:

Finance.
Nursing business.
Economy.
Business.
Political Science and Public Administration.
Biology.
Philosophy.
Operational management.
History.
Informatics.

Tuition fees at the University of Pennsylvania

Types of fees	Accommodation on campus	Accommodation off campus	Living at home with family
Education

Accommodation

Books and supplies
Transportation
Personal expenses
Total:

student life

The University of Pennsylvania has 25 teams in the NCAA Division and participate in Ivy League games. The University of Pennsylvania is also known for its strong basketball and lacrosse teams. The university offers student housing in almost all of its schools. However, many students live in apartments and houses off campus.

More than 25% of students are members of student clubs, which include nearly 50 fraternities and sororities. The University of Pennsylvania offers a range of student services, including a women's center, employment services, day care, health care, and health insurance. The university also offers a range of clubs and organizations, from dance groups such as the Latin & Ballroom Dance club to student publications such as the Penn Political Review. The university also works closely with the West Philadelphia area through community service and advocacy groups.

What documents are needed for admission to the University of Pennsylvania

Application for admission.
High school report card.
Academic achievement report.
Consultant recommendation.
Two recommendations from teachers.
Consent to early application.
Report card for the first half of the year.
Certificate.
SAT or ACT test results.

Famous Alumni

A lot came out of Pennsylvania prominent personalities: from breakthrough scientists to presidents. Some of them are:

Donald Trump. President, businessman, investor.
Sharon Stone. Model, actress, producer.
Warren Buffett. Businessman, investor.
Candice Bergen. Television producer, model, photojournalist.
Elon Musk. Businessman, investor, inventor.
Elizabeth Banks. Producer, actress.
Noam Chomsky. Linguist, scientist, historian.
John Legend. TV producer, musician.
William Carlos Williams. Poet, author, writer.
I. M. Pei. Architect.
Dick Wolf. TV producer.
Safra A. Katz. Entrepreneur.
S. Everett Koop. Physicist, surgeon.
Marcus Foster. Lecturer.
Gareth Riesman. Astronaut.

There is a myth that a freshman should never cross the compass that is laid out in the center of Locust Walk, or you will fail your first midterms. Rumor has it that the upperclassmen invented this myth to strike up a conversation with the freshmen.

The Penn Relays, held every year at the University of Pennsylvania, is the largest and oldest track and field event in the United States, dating back to 1895. The event attracts hundreds of participants every year.

Traditionally, at midnight on the eve of the first microeconomics exam, hundreds of freshmen gather on the balcony of the junior class of the Lower Quadrangle of the campus to shout.

University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn listen)) is a private Ivy League research university located in the University City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Chartered in 1755, Penn is the sixth oldest institution of higher education in the United States. It is one of nine colonial colleges founded before the Declaration of Independence. Benjamin Franklin, Penn founder and first president, advocates educational program, trained leaders in commerce, government and civil service similar to the modern liberal curriculum. The university coat of arms has a dolphin on a red chief adopted from Benjamin Franklin's own coat of arms.

As of 2018, distinguished alumni include 14 heads of state, 64 billionaire alumni; 3 US Supreme Court judges; 33 US Senators, 44 US Governors and 159 members of the US House of Representatives; 8 US signers of the Declaration of Independence; 12 signers of the United States Constitution, 24 members of the Continental Congress, and two Presidents of the United States, including the current president. Other notable alumni include 27 Rhodes Scholars, 15 Marshall Scholarship recipients, 16 Pulitzer Prize winners and 48 Fulbright Scholars. In addition, some 35 Nobel Prize winners, 169 Guggenheim Fellows, 80 members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and many Fortune 500 executives have been affiliated with the university.

history

Academy and College of Philadelphia (c. 1780), 4th and Arch Streets, Philadelphia, home of what became the university from 1751 to 1801

9th Street Campus (above Chestnut Street): Medical Hall (left) and College Hall (right), both built 1829–1830

The University of Pennsylvania considers itself the fourth oldest institution of higher education in the United States, although this is disputed by Princeton and Columbia Universities. In addition, the university views itself as the first university in the United States with both undergraduate and graduate studies.

In 1740 a group of Philadelphians joined together to erect a large preaching hall for the traveling evangelist George Whitefield, who toured the American colonies delivering open air sermons. The building was designed and built by Edmund Woolley and was the largest building in the city at the time, drawing thousands of people the first time he was preaching. It was originally planned to serve as a charity school as well, but the lack of funds forced the chapel's plans and the school to be put on hold. According to Franklin's autobiography, it was in 1743 when he first had the idea of founding an academy "thinking Reverend Richard Peters a fit person to run such an institution". However, Peters refused a random request from Franklin and nothing else was done for another six years. In the autumn of 1749, now more eager to establish a school for the education of future generations, Benjamin Franklin circulated a pamphlet entitled "Proposals Relating to the Education of the Youth in Pennsylvania", his vision for what he called "the public Academy of Philadelphia". Unlike other colonial colleges that existed in 1749—Harvard, William and Mary, Yale and Princeton new school-Franklin will not only focus on education for the clergy. He advocated an innovative concept higher education, one of which will teach both the decorative knowledge of the art and the practical skills needed to make a living and make public service. The proposed training program could be the country's first modern humanitarian syllabus, although it was never implemented because William Smith (1727-1803), an Anglican clergyman who became the first provost and other trustees strongly favored the traditional curriculum.

Franklin assembled a board of trustees from among the leading citizens of Philadelphia, the first such non-religious board in America. At the first meeting of the 24 members of the Board of Trustees (November 13, 1749), the question of where to find the school was the main concern. Although much down Sixth Street from the old Pennsylvania State House (later renamed and famously known from 1776 as "Independence Hall"), was offered at no cost by James Logan, its owner, the trustees realized that the building, built in 1740, which was still vacant, would be an even better site. The dormant building's original sponsors still owed significant construction debts and asked the Franklin group to take over the debts and, by extension, their dormant trusts. On February 1, 1750, the new council took over the building and trusts of the old board. On August 13, 1751, the "Academy of Philadelphia", using the Great Hall at 4th and Arched Streets, admitted its first high school students. A charity school was also chartered on July 13, 1753, in accordance with the intentions of the original donors of the "new building", although this only lasted a few years. On June 16, 1755, the "College of Philadelphia" was chartered, paving the way for the addition of student instruction. All three schools share the same board of trustees and were considered part of the same institution. The first exercises for opening production were held on May 17, 1757.

1755 Charter creating the College of Philadelphia

"Quad" in autumn, from Fisher-Hassenfeld College House, facing Ware College House

The institution was known as the College of Philadelphia from 1755 until 1779. In 1779, distrusting the then Prevost in the Rev. William Smith of the "loyalist" trend, the revolutionary state legislature created the University of Pennsylvania. The result was a split, with Smith continuing to run a weakened version of the College of Philadelphia. In 1791, the legislature issued a new charter, a merger of the two institutions into new university Pennsylvania twelve people from each institution on new composition Board of Trustees.

Penn has three claims to be the first university in the United States, according to University Archives director Mark Fraser Lloyd: The 1765 founding of America's first medical school made Penn the first institution to offer both a "bachelor" and professional education; 1779 charter made it the first American institution of higher education to take the name "University"; and existing colleges were established in seminaries (although, as described earlier, Penn adopted the traditional seminary curriculum as well).

After being located in downtown Philadelphia for over a century, the campus was moved across the Schuylkill River to a property purchased from Blockley Almshouse in West Philadelphia in 1872, where it has since remained in the area now known as University City. Although Penn began working at the academy or high school in 1751 and received his collegiate charter in 1755, he originally designated 1750 as the founding date; this is the year that appears on the first iteration of the University of Printing. Some time later in his early history, Penn began to view 1749 as the date of its establishment and this year has been cited for over a century, including a centenary celebration in 1849. In 1899, the board of trustees voted to adjust the founding date earlier again, this time in 1740, the date "the creation of the earliest of many educational trusts the university undertook." The board of trustees voted in response to Penn's three-year campaign by the General Alumni Society to retroactively revise the university's founding date to appear older Princeton University which was chartered in 1746.

Early campuses

The Academy of Philadelphia Boys' High School, began operations in 1751 in an unused church building at 4th and Arch Streets which sat unfinished and dormant for over ten years. After receiving a collegiate charter in 1755, the first classes for the College of Philadelphia were taught in the same building, which in many cases were the same boys who had already graduated from the Academy of Philadelphia. In 1801, the university moved to the unused Presidential House at 9th and Market Streets, buildings that both George Washington and John Adams refused to occupy while Philadelphia had a temporary national capital. Classes were held at the mansion until 1829, when it was demolished. Architect William Strickland designed twin buildings on the same site, College Hall and Medical Hall (both 1829–1830), which formed the core of the Ninth Street Campus until Penn's move to West Philadelphia in the 1870s.

Campus expansion and student housing

In the 1800s, Penn was the main regional institution, and most students lived in the Philadelphia area. The medical school creates a significant exception to this trend, as it has been able to attract a more diverse student population. By the mid-1850s, over half of the medical school's population was from the southern states. Prior to the construction of the quadrangle in 1895, there were several small dormitories and several boarding houses that were approved by the university, inspected, and supervised. Construction of the Quadrangle charted Penn's growth in acreage and number of buildings between 1889 and 1909, but also nearly quadrupled the size of a student's body and a surge in out-of-state and international students. By 1931 Freshmen were required to live in the quadrangle unless they received official permission to live with their families or other relatives. However, during this period and into the early post-World War II period, the school continued to have a large commuting population, causing some to label the school as a "suburban school." However, in addition to a significant student body from the Delaware Valley, the university attracted international students and students from most of the fifty states in the early 1960s.

After World War II, Penn began a capital spending program to overhaul its grounds, especially student housing. The large number of students transferring to universities under the GI Bill, and the resulting increase in Penn's student population, emphasized that Penn had outgrown previous expansions that ended during the Great Depression era. During this period, Penn continued to expand the dormitory building, with the eventual completion of the quadrangle's perimeter in the 1950s. Referring to the events of this time period, one Penn Trustee remarked, "[t]he brick and mortar capital campaign of the sixties... The facilities that transformed Penn from a suburban school into a residential one...."

Quadrangle residence halls housed only male students until 1971. Student housing for women was largely limited to Sergeant Hall, who housed 175 female undergraduate and graduate students. In the late 1940s, two-thirds of Penn's female students were commuters. Non-commutative women were housed in the sergeant's hall or in scattered locations throughout the campus. Penn addressed this injustice by building Hill Hall, now Hill College House, in 1960. The development of the shared ed dormitory now known as Kings Court—English House began shortly thereafter thanks to contributions from Thomas in English, a wealthy Penn pupil. Part of the Kings Court dormitory was used to house nursing students starting shortly after World War II, and donations to English house, eventually led to the integration of the buildings as a single shared residence ed.

On-campus student housing expansion continues today, with the construction of the new College House and New College House West. Along with increasing the availability of on-campus housing, the university announced that for the first time in the university's history, freshmen and sophomores will be required to live in on-campus residences after the New College House West opened in 2021.

The University of Pennsylvania was founded in the 1740s. Among its founders was Benjamin Franklin, who in 1749 organized teaching at the Pennsylvania Academic Charitable School. The main task of the Franklin school was to prepare students for leadership in business, management and service to society, so the curriculum of the future University of Pennsylvania was truly revolutionary. Other higher schools at that time they gave mainly religious education, but here the emphasis was placed on versatile education.

Later, many more revolutionary things appeared at the University of Pennsylvania - both for the country and for the whole world. Here was the first student union and the first two-tiered football stadium on the campus, the first collegiate business school (opened in 1881) and the first electronic digital computer ENIAC (in 1946). In 1994, a woman, Judith Rodin, took over as president of the University of Pennsylvania for the first time. This happened earlier than any other Ivy League school.

Today the University of Pennsylvania has three campuses and more than 25 thousand students. Competitive selection to this university is one of the toughest in the United States. In 2018, 40,413 applicants applied to the University of Pennsylvania, and only 9% of them received an invitation. Among foreigners, the share of applicants is even lower: 6% of the total number of applicants.

The University of Pennsylvania is a national research center. It has 138 research centers on campuses and an annual research budget of $96 million. Total number teaching staff, as well as master's and doctoral students engaged in research at the University of Pennsylvania, exceeds 10,000 people.

The University of Pennsylvania has 36 sports teams and over 300 student organizations, which allows you to find an additional activity for every taste. Students are also actively involved in volunteer projects and socially significant events.

The University of Pennsylvania has four undergraduate schools and 12 postgraduate schools.

Schools of the University of Pennsylvania:

The College of Penn (School of Arts and Sciences)

School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

School of Nursing

The Wharton School

Annenberg School of Communication

School of Arts and Sciences (MA)

School of Dentistry

School of Education

School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (MSc)

School of Design

School of Law

Perelman School of Medicine

School of Nursing (Master's)

School of Social Policy and Practice

School veterinary medicine

The Wharton School (master's)

Maritime Grant
Space-grant
VS-grant
Multi-campus

Pennsylvania State University(commonly referred to as Penn State or BP listen)) is state-bound, land grant, doctoral university campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as Pennsylvania High School Farmers, the university conducts teaching, research and public service. Its teaching mission includes, master's, professional and continuing education offered through full-time education and online delivery. Its park university campus, the flagship campus, is within the State College Borough and College Borough. It consists of two law schools: Penn State Law, on the school's Park University campus, and Dickinson Law, located in Carlisle, 90 miles south of State College. The College of Medicine is located in Hershey. Penn State has 19 other COMMONWEALTH campuses and 5 special mission campuses located throughout the state. Penn State has been named one of the "Public Ivies," a publicly funded university regarded as providing a quality of education comparable to those of the Ivy League.

The annual admissions on the Park University campus has over 46,800 graduate and undergraduate students, making it one of the largest universities in the United States. It has the world's largest paying alumni association fees. The university's total enrollment in 2015-16 was approximately 97,500 across its 24 campuses and online through World Campus.

The university offers over 160 majors across all campuses and manages $3.62 billion (as of June 30, 2016) in endowments and similar funds. research spending at the university was $836 million during fiscal year 2016.

Each year, the university hosts the Penn State IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon (THON), which is the world's largest student philanthropy. This event is held at the Bryce Jordan Center on the University Park campus. In 2014, THON lifted the program record to $13.3 million. The university's track and field teams compete in the division division of the NCAA and are collectively known as the Penn State Nittany Lions. They compete in the Big Ten Conference for most sports.

history

Early years

Old Main c. 1855

The school was founded as a chartering institution on February 22, 1855, by Act PL 46, No. 50 of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as Pennsylvania Farmers High School. Center County, Pennsylvania, became the home of the new school when James Irvine of Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, donated 200 acres (0.8 km2) of land - the first of the 10,101 acres (41 km2) the school would eventually acquire. In 1862, the school's name was changed to Agricultural College of Pennsylvania, and with the passage of the Morrill Land-Grant Acts, Pennsylvania chose the school in 1863 to be the state's only land-grant college. School name changed to state college in Pennsylvania in 1874; enrollment dropped to 64 students the following year as the school tried to balance purely agricultural studies with a more classical education.

modern era

In 1970, the university became a state-affiliated institution. Thus, it now belongs to the Commonwealth system of higher education. In 1975, the lyrics at Penn State's alma mater songs were revised to be gender-neutral in honor of International Women's Year; the revised text was taken from the writer's posthumously published autobiography original text, Fred Lewis Patti, and Professor Patricia Farrell acted as a spokesperson for those who wanted change.

In 1989, the Pennsylvania College of Technology in Williamsport joined the ranks with the university, and in 2000, so did Dickinson School of Law. The university is currently the largest in Pennsylvania, and in 2003 it was credited with having the second largest impact on the state's economy of any organization, generating an economic impact of over $17 billion on a budget of $2.5 billion. To offset Short of funds due to limited growth in public appropriations at Pennsylvania State University, the university focused its efforts on philanthropy (2003 marked the end of the seven-year Grand Destiny campaign—a effort that raised over $1.3 billion).

scandal child sex abuse

In 2011, the university and its football team received much international media attention and criticism due to a sex abuse scandal in which former football team defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky allegedly covered up cases of child sexual abuse. Sports director Timothy Curley and Gary Schultz, senior vice president of finance and business, were charged with perjury. As a result of the scandal, coach Joe Paterno was fired and school president Graham B. Spanier was forced to resign. Sandusky, who maintained his innocence, was charged and subsequently convicted in June 2012 of 45 counts of abuse.

A subcommittee of the Board of Trustees engaged former FBI Director Louis Freeh to head an independent investigation into the university's handling of incidents. Freeh released their findings in July 2012, announcing that Paterno, along with Spanier, Ker and Schultz, "hid[ed] Sandusky's activities from the board of trustees, community and university authorities" and "failed to protect against a sexual predator that harmed children in over ten years." On July 23, 2012, the National Collegiate Athletic Association announced a series of sanctions against Penn State and the Nittany Lions football team for their leadership role in the Penn State sex abuse scandal. NCAA violates Penn State football with a $60 million fine, which is a ban from ball games and after playing a season for 4 years, cutting scholarships from 25 to 15 per year for four years, vacating all wins from 1998 through 2011 and 5 year trial period.

The effect of the sanctions was later questioned, and emails surfaced that said high-ranking officials within the NCAA did not believe the organization had jurisdiction to pass down the original sanctions. Follow-up messages Email put forward under the subpoena, cited by Mark Emmerty, president of the NCAA, while agreeing to the initial sanctions were made possible by a bluff on the part of the NCAA. On September 8, 2014, the sanction, following a report by former U.S. Senator and Athletics Integrity Monitor George J. Mitchell citing Penn States' progress in implementing reforms, was formally lifted by the NCAA and all previous records were reinstated.

A study led by former U.S. Attorney General Richard Thornburgh, who was left in the Paterna family to review the Freeh report, concluded that the report, which placed so much blame on Penn State and Paterno, was a "peak injustice" that one could not rely on . He found that not only was the evidence "far away" showing Paterno was trying to cover up the Sandusky scandal, but that it was "nasty". In November 2014, State Senator Jake Korman released emails showing "regular and substantive" contacts between NCAA officials and Freeh investigators, suggesting that Freeh's findings were orchestrated.

Paterno was honored posthumously by the State of Pennsylvania during the September 17, 2016 football game that marked the 50th anniversary of his first game as head coach. The controversial tribute was met with both a standing ovation from the fans and protests inside and outside the stadium.

Death of Timothy Piazza

On February 2, 2017, Timothy Square, a pledge to the Beta Theta Pi fraternity at the university, died while undergoing hazing activities at the university. Eighteen members of the Penn State Beta Theta Pi fraternity were charged in connection with Piazza's death and the twinnings closed and banned the campus indefinitely.

Campuses

university park

The largest of the university's 24 campuses, University Park is almost entirely within the boundaries of the State College District, a site chosen because it is close to the geographic center of the state. With an undergraduate acceptance rate of 50 percent, it is the most selective campus in the Penn State system, largely due to the fact that students choose University Park as their first campus choice to a much greater extent than other university campuses. During the fall semester of 2018, 40,363 undergraduates and 5,907 graduate students were included in University Park. Of these, 46.5 percent were women and 42.4 percent were non-Pennsylvania residents.

Transport access:

The Park University campus is located downtown at the intersection of Interstate 99 and US Route 322, and south of Interstate 80. Prior to joining the turnpikes, University Park was near the Haven Lock Altoon branch line of the Pennsylvania Railroad. The last run of intercity trains from Buffalo or Harrisburg via Lock Haven was in 1971. Today, the nearest rail passenger access is at Lewistown, 31 miles to the southeast. University Park Airport, serving four regional airlines, is adjacent to University Park.

Commonwealth campuses

In addition to the Park University campus, 19 campus locations across the state offer enrollment for students. More than 60 percent of Penn State first-year students begin their studies elsewhere than University Park. Each of these friendly campuses offers a unique set of study programs based on student demographics. Any student in good academic standing is guaranteed a place at University Park to complete their degree if needed or desired, known as the "campus change" or more accurately the "2+2 program"; where a Penn State student can start at any Penn State campus, including University Park, for 2 years and end at any Penn State for the last 2 years.