Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus

Pennsylvania State University, also known as Penn State, is a public, land-grant, research university located in University Park, Pennsylvania.

Penn State was established in 1855, when the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania chartered the school at the request of the Pennsylvania State Agricultural Society. Its goal was to apply scientific principles to farming--a radical departure from the traditional college curriculum grounded in mathematics, rhetoric, and classical languages.

Centre County became the site of the new college in response to a gift of 200 acres from agriculturist and iron master James Irvin of Bellefonte.

In 1863 the Agricultural College of Pennsylvania became the Commonwealth's sole land-grant institution. By 1950 Penn State was distinguished for its research in dairy science, building insulation, diesel engines, and other specialized fields.

In 1953 University President Milton Eisenhower changed the name of the school to The Pennsylvania State University and established a campus post office designated as University Park.

The university has more than 20 campuses in Pennsylvania, including a Virtual World Campus. The main campus is spread aver 5,448 acres.

Penn State is organized into the following academic divisions:

College of Agricultural Sciences
College of Arts and Architecture
College of Communications
College of Earth and Mineral Sciences
College of Education
College of Engineering
College of Health and Human Development
College of the Liberal Arts
Eberly College of Science
Graduate School
School of Information Sciences and Technology
Smeal College of Business

In addition, Pennsylvania State University contains several special-mission units, including Penn state Great Valley; the School of Graduate Professional Studies; Penn State Milton Hershey Medical Center; and Penn State Dickinson School of Law.

U.S. News & World Report America's Best Colleges for 2010 named Penn State tied for 47th nationally among Best National Universities and tied for 15th nationally for Best Undergraduate Top 50 Public National Universities. The magazine also ranked Penn State tied for 17th nationally among undergraduate engineering specialties.

The University Park campus is the administrative and research hub of the University, with more than 40,000 graduate, undergraduate, and professional students and more than 159,000 alumni worldwide.

Penn State has won 64 National Team Championships. The athletic teams are known as the Nittany Lions.

Among the famous alumni of Penn State are Robert Jubelirer, former President Pro Tempore of Pennsylvania State Senate and Lt. Governor of Pennsylvania; Jean Craighead George, Newberry Medal-winning children's author; Steve McCurry, photojournalist; John Pielmeier and Susan Miller, playwrights; Tom Clarke, former president, CEO of Nike, Inc.; Richard A. Zimmerman, former president, CEO of Hershey Foods; Margaret Carlson, first female columnist for Time magazine; Julius J. Epstein, screenwriter ("Casablanca"); John Lewis, dancer, inventor of "Big Baby Shuffle"; Terry Bartlett, Olympic gymnast; Courtney Brown, NFL defensive end; Nate Bump, pro baseball player; and Dan Heisman, chess master.

Campus Location

201 Old Main
University Park, PA 16802-1589
USA
Main Tel: (814) 865-4700
Web Site

The campus is in a small city.

Highlights

Where the school stands out most compared to other schools (details below):

Many students concentrating in engineering, media, nutrition and exercise therapy, science, and computer science and engineering.
Large number of programs of study offered.
Large number of students.
High faculty salary.
Good faculty-to-student ratio.
High male/female ratio.
High SAT scores (combined Verbal and Math).
Number of dorm rooms for students.

Other important characteristics:

Faculty tenure system
On-campus hospital
Library on-campus
Campus housing available
Study abroad option
Distance learning available
Weekend study option
Part-time classes available
ROTC
Athlete financial aid

Degrees Awarded (in 2008-2009)

Degree	Total Earned	Different Programs
Bachelor	9,442	123
Master	1,267	106
	620	87
< 1 year certificate	570	27
Associate	102	7
	23	1

Students

Student enrollment was 43,252 in 2007-2008 (44,281 full-time equivalent).

About 52% of the freshmen class in 2008-2009 was male and women were 48% of the class.

Undergrads are 84% of enrolled students and graduate students are 16%.

Students living in the US make up 100% of incoming freshmen.

Among freshmen students, 100% are full-time and 0% are part-time.

Tuition and Other Costs (2008-2009)

Item	Cost
State Tuition and fees	$ 13,706
Out-of-state tuition and fees	$ 24,940
Room	$ 4,110
Board	$ 4,160
Books and supplies	$ 1,264
Other	$ 3,510

Financial Aid: Penn State participates in US Title IV financial assistance programs.

Please refer to BrainTrack's financial aid articles section for background information.

Similar Schools

Based on computer comparisons against all other US colleges, these schools appear to be most similar to Penn State:

	School	Location	Enrollment
1	Texas A & M University	College Station, TX	46,542
2	Iowa State University	Ames, IA	26,160
3	University of Colorado at Boulder	Boulder, CO	31,796
4	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University	Blacksburg, VA	29,898
5	University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign	Champaign, IL	42,326
6	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor	Ann Arbor, MI	41,042
7	The University of Texas at Austin	Austin, TX	50,170
8	North Carolina State University at Raleigh	Raleigh, NC	31,802
9	California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo	San Luis Obispo, CA	19,777
10	Clemson University	Clemson, SC	17,585

Faculty

Tenure (2008-2009):

Full-Time Faculty		Total
With tenure		1,343
Without tenure; working toward tenure		412
Without tenure; tenure not available		1,382

Housing and Meals

Penn State provides on-campus housing for 14,539 of its 44,281 (full-time) students (as of 2008-2009). The school requires freshmen to live on campus.

Athletics

School sports include football, basketball, baseball, and track. The school is in the Big Ten Conference for major sports.

The school offers financial aid for athletes. Of students receiving athletic financial aid, 290 male students received the aid (men were 60% of those receiving aid) and 193 women were awarded financial aid based on athletics (representing 40% of students receiving such aid) .

Admissions (2008-2009)

Applicants	Admitted
Men	49%
Women	53%
All	51%

SAT Test Scores:

SAT	Middle 50%
Verbal	530-630
Math	560-670

Programs of Study

(Number of degrees awarded in 2008-2009 in parentheses)

AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT (135 awarded)

Agribusiness/Agricultural Business Operations
Agricultural Business and Management
Agricultural Economics
Agricultural Mechanics and Equipment/Machine Technology
Agricultural Mechanization
Agricultural and Extension Education Services
Agriculture
Food Science

ANIMAL SCIENCE AND CARE (97 awarded)

Animal Sciences

ARCHITECTURE AND PLANNING (90 awarded)

Architecture (BArch, BA/BS, MArch, MA/MS, PhD)
Landscape Architecture (BS, BSLA, BLA, MSLA, MLA, PhD)

ART STUDIES (142 awarded)

Art/Art Studies
Visual and Performing Arts

BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT (1,628 awarded)

Accounting
Actuarial Science
Business Administration and Management
Business/Commerce
Business/Managerial Economics
Finance
Human Resources Management and Services
Labor and Industrial Relations
Logistics and Materials Management
Management Information Systems
Marketing/Marketing Management
Organizational Behavior Studies

COMPUTER SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING (609 awarded)

Computer Engineering
Computer Science
Computer and Information Sciences
Information Science/Studies
Information Technology

CONSERVATION AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (104 awarded)

Forest Sciences and Biology
Forest Technology/Technician
Forestry
Natural Resources and Conservation
Natural Resources/Conservation

DESIGN (12 awarded)

Graphic Design

DRAMA AND PERFORMING ARTS (58 awarded)

Acting
Drama and Dramatics/Theatre Arts
Technical Theatre/Theatre Design and Technology

EDUCATION AND TEACHING (873 awarded)

Adult and Continuing Education Administration
Adult and Continuing Education and Teaching
Art Teacher Education
College Student Counseling and Personnel Services
Counselor Education/School Counseling and Guidance Services
Curriculum and Instruction
Educational Evaluation and Research
Educational Leadership and Administration
Educational/Instructional Media Design
Elementary Education and Teaching
Foreign Language Teacher Education
Higher Education/Higher Education Administration
Music Teacher Education
Secondary Education and Teaching
Social and Philosophical Foundations of Education
Special Education and Teaching
Teaching English as Second/Foreign Language/ESL Language Instructor

ENGINEERING (1,799 awarded)

Aerospace, Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering
Agricultural/Biological Engineering and Bioengineering
Archeology
Architectural Engineering
Biomedical/Medical Engineering
Chemical Engineering
Civil Engineering
Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering
Engineering Mechanics
Engineering Science
Engineering
Environmental/Environmental Health Engineering
Industrial Engineering
Materials Engineering
Materials Science
Mechanical Engineering
Mining and Mineral Engineering
Nuclear Engineering
Petroleum Engineering
Surveying Engineering

ENGINEERING TECHNICIAN (6 awarded)

Environmental Engineering Technology/Environmental Technology

FAMILY AND SOCIAL WORK (284 awarded)

Community Organization and Advocacy
Human Development and Family Studies
Human Nutrition

FINE ARTS (26 awarded)

Art History, Criticism and Conservation

HOSPITALITY (263 awarded)

Hospitality Administration/Management

LANDSCAPING AND HORTICULTURE (128 awarded)

Agronomy and Crop Science
Horticultural Science
Landscaping and Groundskeeping
Plant Sciences
Soil Science and Agronomy
Turf and Turfgrass Management

LAW (30 awarded)

Law (LLB, JD)

LIBERAL ARTS (1,814 awarded)

African Studies
African-American/Black Studies
American/United States Studies/Civilization
Anthropology
Applied Economics
Chinese Language and Literature
Classics/Classical Languages, Lit & Linguistics
Comparative Literature
East Asian Studies
Economics
English Language and Literature
French Language and Literature
Geography
German Language and Literature
History
International Relations and Affairs
International/Global Studies
Italian Language and Literature
Japanese Language and Literature
Latin American Studies
Liberal Arts and Sciences/Liberal Studies
Linguistics
Medieval and Renaissance Studies
Multi-/Interdisciplinary Studies
Near and Middle Eastern Studies
Political Science and Government
Russian Language and Literature
Social Sciences
Sociology
Spanish Language and Literature
Technical and Business Writing
Women's Studies

MATHEMATICS (145 awarded)

Mathematics
Statistics

MEDIA (847 awarded)

Advertising
Communication Studies/Speech Communication and Rhetoric
Communication, Journalism, and Related Programs
Journalism
Mass Communication/Media Studies
Organizational Communication

MEDICAL ADMINISTRATION (111 awarded)

Health/Health Care Administration/Management

MEDICINE (33 awarded)

Neuroscience
Pre-Medicine/Pre-Medical Studies
Public Health, General (MPH, DPH)

MUSIC (48 awarded)

Conducting
Music History, Literature, and Theory
Music Performance
Music Theory and Composition
Music
Piano and Organ
Voice and Opera

NURSING AND EMERGENCY MEDICINE (288 awarded)

Nursing/Registered Nurse (RN, ASN, BSN, MSN)

NUTRITION AND EXERCISE THERAPY (398 awarded)

Dietitian Assistant
Kinesiology and Exercise Science
Parks, Recreation and Leisure Facilities Management
Parks, Recreation and Leisure Studies
Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions

PHOTOGRAPHY AND COMMERCIAL ART (51 awarded)

Film/Cinema Studies

RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY (78 awarded)

Jewish/Judaic Studies
Philosophy
Religion/Religious Studies

SCIENCE (1,012 awarded)

Acoustics
Animal Physiology
Astronomy
Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology
Biochemistry
Biological and Biomedical Sciences
Biological and Physical Sciences
Biology/Biological Sciences
Biotechnology
Chemistry
Ecology
Entomology
Genetics
Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences
Geology/Earth Science
Medical Microbiology and Bacteriology
Oceanography, Chemical and Physical
Pathology/Experimental Pathology
Physical Sciences
Physics
Plant Pathology/Phytopathology
Plant Physiology
Science, Technology and Society
Toxicology

SCIENCE AND LABORATORY TECHNICIAN (19 awarded)

Biology Technician/Biotechnology Laboratory Technician

SECURITY AND LAW ENFORCEMENT (308 awarded)

Criminal Justice/Law Enforcement Administration
Criminal Justice/Safety Studies
Forensic Science and Technology
Security and Protective Services

THERAPY AND COUNSELING (588 awarded)

Communication Disorders
Counseling Psychology
Educational Psychology
Psychology
School Psychology