University Of Pennsylvania

Location and Contact Information

The campus is in a large city.

Overview

The University of Pennsylvania, also referred to as U of P, or Penn, is a private university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and a member of the Ivy League.

The university was established in 1740 under the leadership of Benjamin Franklin. In 1755, the school was christened the College of Philadelphia. In 1779, a separate college named University of the State of Pennsylvania was established in the same region. Finally, in 1791, the two Institutions merged to form the University of Pennsylvania.

Penn is one of the premier research universities in the nation, with more than $700 million in annual research and development expenditures. The university's approach is multidisciplinary, with collaborations taking place between faculty and students from across Penn's 12 schools.

The main campus of the university stretches across 279 acres.

The University of Pennsylvania includes the following schools and colleges:

• The School of Arts & Sciences
• The School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS)
• The School of Nursing
• The Wharton School
• School of Medicine
• School of Dental Medicine

Admissions are among the most selective in the country, and Penn consistently ranks among the top 10 universities in the annual U.S. News & World Report survey. Another 10,000 students are enrolled in Penn's 12 graduate and professional schools.

The Wharton School is consistently ranked one of the nation's top three business schools. The School of Nursing is one of the two best, while The School of Arts and Sciences, Graduate School of Education, Law School, School of Medicine, School of Veterinary Medicine, and Annenberg School for Communication all rank among the top 10 schools in their fields.

The student population at Penn is diverse and cosmopolitan in nature, including Native Americans and American Hispanics, as well as Asians, Africans, Canadians, Mexicans, and Europeans. The University has a fraternity house christened "The Castle".

Penn offers opportunities to undergraduate and graduate/professional students to study abroad in more than 60 countries. Penn ranks first among the Ivy League schools and sixteenth nationwide among doctoral/research institutions in the number of students studying abroad, according to the most recent data (Institute for International Education, 2008).

A charter member of the Ivy League, Penn offers intercollegiate competition for men in 17 sports and for women in 16 sports. During the 2009-2010 academic year, there were 8,408 team members participating in 503 intramural teams in 11 sports; 1,300 additional students were members of 38 club sports.

Among Penn's notable alumni are Noam Chomsky, linguist, MIT professor; Harvey Cox, theologian, Harvard Divinity School; Joshua Fishman, linguist, Yiddishist; Charles Addams, creator of "The Addams Family"; Baruch S. Blumberg, Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine; Arnold Eisen, Chancellor, Jewish Theological Seminary; Jon Avnet, film and TV director; actor Bruce Dern; Zane Gray, author of Western novels; Louis Kahn, architect; Chaim Potok, award-winning novelist (The Chosen); Harold Prince, multiple Tony Award-winning producer; Dick Wolf, TV producer, creator of "Law and Order"; Warren Buffett, investor, billionaire; Chuck Bednarik, Philadelphia Eagles linebacker, pro football and college Hall of Famer; Ellie Daniel, four-time Olympic Gold Medalist, member of International Swimming Hall of Fame; Doug Glanville, MLB outfielder, New York Times op-ed column. Benjamin West, founder of the Royal Academy of the Arts; poet Nikki Giovanni; and actor Candace Bergen attended but did not graduate.

Highlights (vs. Other Schools)

• Many students concentrating in religion and philosophy, medicine, business and management, architecture and planning, real estate and construction management, and law.
• Large number of programs of study offered.
• High faculty salary.
• High SAT scores (combined Verbal and Math).
• High percentage of students are from out-of-state.
• Selective admissions.
• Large number of students.
• Good faculty-to-student ratio.
• High yield: the portion of accepted students who enroll.
• Racially diverse student body.

School characteristics:

• The school is private, not-for-profit.
• Academic calender: Semester.
• Carnegie classification: Doctoral/Research Universities, Extensive.

Features of note:

• The school offers a faculty tenure system.
• There is a hospital on campus.
• There are one or more libraries on-campus.
• Campus housing is available.
• Students have meal (board) plans.
• Students may study abroad.
• Distance learning is available.
• Weekend study is an option.
• Part-time classes are available.
• ROTC.

Tuition and Financial Aid (2009-2010)

Financial Aid

UPenn participates in US Title IV financial assistance programs.

In 2009-2010, 61% of students received financial aid of some sort.

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

Similar Schools

Based on proprietary BrainTrack computer comparisons against all other US colleges, these schools appear to be most similar to University Of Pennsylvania:

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Degrees Awarded (in 2009-2010)

Faculty

Tenure (2009-2010):

Students

Student enrollment was 24,107 in 2009-2010 (24,794 full-time equivalent).

About 49% of the freshmen class in 2009-2010 was male and women were 51% of the class.

Undergrads are 48% of enrolled students, graduate students are 43%, and those seeking first-professional graduate degrees represent 9%.

Students under 25 years old represent 59% of the student body. About 5% of the school is at least 40 years of age.

Admissions Summary (2009-2010)

SAT Test Scores:

Room and Board

UPenn provides on-campus housing for 6,819 of its 24,794 (full-time) students (as of 2009-2010). The school requires freshmen to live on campus.

Students may purchase a meal plan which includes 19 meals weekly.

Athletics

School sports include football, basketball, baseball, and track. The school is in the Ivy Group for major sports.

Graduate School Focus

UPenn offers graduate (post-Bachelor) studies. The highest degree offered is the Doctorate (Research/Scholarship & Professional Practice).

Graduate offerings include continuing professional education and medical degrees.The school's Graduate School Carnegie Classification is Comprehensive Doctoral With Medical/Veterinary.

Programs of Study

(Number of degrees in 2009-2010 in parentheses)

ARCHITECTURE AND PLANNING (258 awarded)

• Architecture (BArch, BA/BS, MArch, MA/MS, PhD)
• City/Urban, Community and Regional Planning
• Landscape Architecture (BS, BSLA, BLA, MSLA, MLA, PhD)

ART STUDIES (9 awarded)

• Visual and Performing Arts

BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT (1,621 awarded)

• Accounting
• Accounting and Finance
• Actuarial Science
• Business Administration and Management
• Business, Management, Marketing & Related Support Services
• Business/Commerce
• E-Commerce/Electronic Commerce
• Finance
• Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration
• Insurance
• International Business/Trade/Commerce
• Management Information Systems
• Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods
• Marketing/Marketing Management
• Non-Profit/Public/Organizational Management
• Operations Management and Supervision
• Organizational Behavior Studies
• Public Finance
• Retailing and Retail Operations
• Sales, Distribution, and Marketing Operations

COMPUTER SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING (197 awarded)

• Artificial Intelligence and Robotics
• Computer Engineering
• Computer Graphics
• Computer Systems Networking and Telecommunications
• Computer and Information Sciences

CONSERVATION AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (37 awarded)

• Environmental Science
• Environmental Studies
• Natural Resources Management and Policy

DESIGN (3 awarded)

• Graphic Design

DRAMA AND PERFORMING ARTS (4 awarded)

• Drama and Dramatics/Theatre Arts

EDUCATION AND TEACHING (472 awarded)

• Counselor Education/School Counseling and Guidance Services
• Curriculum and Instruction
• Education
• Educational Leadership and Administration
• Educational Statistics and Research Methods
• Elementary Education and Teaching
• English/Language Arts Teacher Education
• Foreign Language Teacher Education
• Higher Education/Higher Education Administration
• Mathematics Teacher Education
• Reading Teacher Education
• Science Teacher Education/General Science Teacher Education
• Secondary Education and Teaching
• Social Studies Teacher Education
• Social and Philosophical Foundations of Education
• Teaching English as Second/Foreign Language/ESL Language Instructor

ENGINEERING (482 awarded)

• Archeology
• Biomedical/Medical Engineering
• Chemical Engineering
• Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering
• Engineering
• Geological/Geophysical Engineering
• Materials Engineering
• Mechanical Engineering
• Systems Engineering

FAMILY AND SOCIAL WORK (241 awarded)

• Public Administration
• Public Policy Analysis
• Social Work

FINE ARTS (69 awarded)

• Art History, Criticism and Conservation
• Fine/Studio Arts

LAW (350 awarded)

• Advanced Legal Research/Studies, Gen (LLM, MCL, MLI, MSL, JSD/SJD)
• Law (LLB, JD)

LIBERAL ARTS (1,367 awarded)

• African Studies
• African-American/Black Studies
• Anthropology
• Classics/Classical Languages, Lit & Linguistics
• Comparative Literature
• Demography and Population Studies
• East Asian Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics
• East Asian Studies
• Economics
• English Language and Literature
• English Language and Literature/Letters
• French Language and Literature
• Geography
• German Language and Literature
• Historic Preservation and Conservation
• History and Philosophy of Science and Technology
• History
• Humanities/Humanistic Studies
• International Relations and Affairs
• International/Global Studies
• Italian Language and Literature
• Latin American Studies
• Liberal Arts and Sciences/Liberal Studies
• Linguistics
• Political Science and Government
• Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics
• Russian Language and Literature
• Semitic Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics
• Social Sciences
• Sociology
• South Asian Studies
• Spanish Language and Literature
• Urban Studies/Affairs
• Women's Studies

MATHEMATICS (50 awarded)

• Mathematics
• Statistics

MEDIA (148 awarded)

• Communication Studies/Speech Communication and Rhetoric

MEDICAL ADMINISTRATION (98 awarded)

• Environmental Health
• Health/Health Care Administration/Management

MEDICINE (568 awarded)

• Advanced/Graduate Dentistry and Oral Sciences
• Dentistry (DDS, DMD)
• Endodontics/Endodontology (Cert, MS, PhD)
• Health Professions and Related Clinical Sciences
• Medical Scientist (MS, PhD)
• Medicine (MD)
• Neuroscience
• Oral Biology and Oral Pathology (MS, PhD)
• Oral/Maxillofacial Surgery (Cert, MS, PhD)
• Orthodontics/Orthodontology (Cert, MS, PhD)
• Pediatric Dentistry/Pedodontics (Cert, MS, PhD)
• Periodontics/Periodontology (Cert, MS, PhD)
• Public Health
• Veterinary Medicine (DVM)

MUSIC (17 awarded)

• Music

NURSING AND EMERGENCY MEDICINE (314 awarded)

• Adult Health Nurse/Nursing
• Clinical Nurse Specialist
• Critical Care Nursing
• Family Practice Nurse/Nurse Practitioner
• Maternal/Child Health and Neonatal Nurse/Nursing
• Nurse Anesthetist
• Nurse Midwife/Nursing Midwifery
• Nursing Administration (MSN, MS, PhD)
• Nursing/Registered Nurse (RN, ASN, BSN, MSN)
• Pediatric Nurse/Nursing
• Perioperative/Operating Room and Surgical Nurse/Nursing
• Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse/Nursing

PHOTOGRAPHY AND COMMERCIAL ART (20 awarded)

• Film/Cinema Studies

REAL ESTATE AND CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT (56 awarded)

• Real Estate

RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY (143 awarded)

• Jewish/Judaic Studies
• Logic
• Philosophy
• Religion/Religious Studies

SCIENCE (518 awarded)

• Biochemistry
• Biochemistry/Biophysics and Molecular Biology
• Bioinformatics
• Biology/Biological Sciences
• Biomathematics and Bioinformatics
• Biomedical Sciences
• Biophysics
• Biostatistics
• Biotechnology
• Cell/Cellular and Molecular Biology
• Chemistry
• Environmental Biology
• Epidemiology
• Geology/Earth Science
• Immunology
• Pharmacology
• Physics

SECURITY AND LAW ENFORCEMENT (24 awarded)

• Criminology

THERAPY AND COUNSELING (308 awarded)

• Bioethics/Medical Ethics
• Cognitive Science
• Community Health Services/Liaison/Counseling
• Counseling Psychology
• Developmental and Child Psychology
• Psychology