The University of Pennsylvania (Penn[11] or UPenn[12]) is a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. It is one of nine colonial colleges and was chartered prior to the U.S. Declaration of Independence when Benjamin Franklin, the university's founder and first president, advocated for an educational institution that trained leaders in academia, commerce, and public service. Penn identifies as the fourth oldest institution of higher education in the United States, though this representation is challenged by other universities, as Franklin first convened the board of trustees in 1749, arguably making it the fifth oldest institution of higher education in the U.S.[note 2]
The university has four undergraduate schools and 12 graduate and professional schools. Schools enrolling undergraduates include the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Engineering and Applied Science, the Wharton School, and the School of Nursing. Among its graduate schools are its law school, whose first professor James Wilson participated in writing the first draft of the U.S. Constitution, its medical school, which was the first medical school established in North America, and Wharton, the nation's first collegiate business school. Penn's endowment is $20.7 billion, making it the sixth-wealthiest private academic institution in the nation as of 2022. In 2021, it ranked 4th among American universities in research expenditures according to the National Science Foundation.[13]
The University of Pennsylvania's main campus is located in the University City neighborhood of West Philadelphia, and is centered around College Hall. Notable campus landmarks include Houston Hall, the first modern student union, and Franklin Field, the nation's first dual-level college football stadium and the nation's longest-standing NCAA Division I college football stadium in continuous operation.[14] The university's athletics program, the Penn Quakers, fields varsity teams in 33 sports as a member of NCAA Division I's Ivy League conference.
Penn alumni, trustees, and faculty have included 8 Founding Fathers of the United States who signed the Declaration of Independence,[15][16] 7 who signed the United States Constitution,[17] 24 members of the Continental Congress, 3 Presidents of the United States, [18] 38 Nobel laureates, 9 foreign heads of state, 3 United States Supreme Court justices, at least 4 Supreme Court justices of foreign nations,[19] 32 U.S. senators, 163 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, 19 U.S. Cabinet Secretaries, 46 governors, 28 State Supreme Court justices, 64 living billionaires, and 5 Medal of Honor recipients.[20][21]
Penn dates its founding to 1740, when a plan emerged to build a Philadelphia charity school that would double as a house of worship. After construction was underway, however, the cost was seen to be much greater than the available resources, and the project went unfinished for a decade.
In 1749, Benjamin Franklin—printer, inventor, and future founding father of the United States—published his famous essay, “Proposals Relating to the Education of Youth,” circulated it among Philadelphia’s leading citizens, and organized 24 trustees to form an institution of higher education based on his proposals. The group purchased the building and in 1751, opened its doors to children of the gentry and working class alike as the Academy and Charitable School in the Province of Pennsylvania. Franklin served as president of the institution until 1755 and continued to serve as a trustee until his death in 1790.
Franklin’s educational aims, to train young people for leadership in business, government, and public service, were innovative for the time. In the 1750s, the other Colonial American colleges educated young men for the Christian ministry, but Franklin’s proposed program of study was much more like the modern liberal arts curriculum. His fellow trustees were unwilling to implement most of his then-radical ideas though, and Penn’s first provost, William Smith, turned the curriculum back to traditional channels soon after taking the helm from Franklin.
In addition to challenging the educational conventions of the day, Franklin pushed boundaries that moved science and society forward and helped shape America’s very nationhood. He was a member of the Second Continental Congress, a drafter and signer of the Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution, and played a pivotal role in recruiting French aid for the Americans during the Revolutionary War. Franklin later signed the Treaty of Paris, officially ending the conflict with the British Empire.
His broad knowledge spanned multiple disciplines, and far from regarding it as an end in itself, he saw knowledge as an asset that required practical application to be of value. His many essential inventions range from bifocals and the lightning rod to the iron furnace stove and odometer.
Beyond that, the civic institutions that Franklin helped launch include the country’s first subscription library (1731) and first hospital (1751), in addition to what would become America’s first university, the University of Pennsylvania, in 1749.
In the years that followed, Penn went on to obtain a collegiate charter (1755), graduate its first class (1757), establish the first medical school in the American colonies (1765) and become the first American institution of higher education to be named a university (1779). In 1802, the University expanded to another campus, but by the 1860s had outgrown even that space, so in 1872 the trustees built a new campus in the street-car suburb of West Philadelphia.
Penn's "One University Policy" allows students to enroll in classes in any of Penn's twelve schools.[167]
Penn has a strong focus on interdisciplinary learning and research. It offers double degree programs, unique majors, and academic flexibility. Penn's "One University" policy allows undergraduates access to courses at all of Penn's undergraduate and graduate schools except the medical, veterinary and dental schools. Undergraduates at Penn may also take courses at Bryn Mawr, Haverford, and Swarthmore under a reciprocal agreement known as the Quaker Consortium.
SAT and ACT ranges are from the 25th to the 75th percentile. Undergraduate admissions to the University of Pennsylvania is considered by US News to be "most selective." Admissions officials consider a student's GPA to be a very important academic factor, with emphasis on an applicant's high school class rank and letters of recommendation.[172] Admission is need-blind for U.S., Canadian, and Mexican applicants.[173]
For the class of 2026, entering in Fall 2022, the university received 54,588 applications.[174] The Atlantic also ranked Penn among the 10 most selective schools in the country. At the graduate level, based on admission statistics from U.S. News & World Report, Penn's most selective programs include its law school, the health care schools (medicine, dental medicine, nursing, veterinary), the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and Wharton business school.
In 2018, the university's nursing school was ranked number one by Quacquarelli Symonds.[193] That year, Quacquarelli Symonds also ranked Penn's school of Veterinary Medicine sixth.[194] In 2019, the Perelman School of Medicine was named the third-best medical school for research in U.S. News & World Report's 2020 ranking.[195]
The University of Pennsylvania Health System, also known as UPHS, is a multi-hospital health system headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, owned by Trustees of University of Pennsylvania. UPHS and the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania together constitute Penn Medicine, a clinical and research entity of the University of Pennsylvania. UPHS hospitals include the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania,[196] Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, Pennsylvania Hospital, Chester County Hospital, Lancaster General Hospital, and Princeton Medical Center.[197] Penn Medicine owns and operates the first hospital in the United States, the Pennsylvania Hospital.[198] It is also home to America's first surgical amphitheatre[199] and its first medical library.[200]
U.S. News & World Report's 2024 rankings place Penn 6th of 394 national universities in the United States.[203] The Princeton Review student survey ranked Penn in 2023 as 7th in their Dream Colleges list.[210] Penn was ranked 4th of 444 in the United States by College Factual for 2024.[211] In 2023, Penn was ranked as having the 7th happiest students in the United States (the highest in the Ivy League).[212][213]
Among its professional schools, the school of education was ranked number one in 2021 and Wharton School of Business was ranked number one in 2022[214] and 2024 [215] and the communication, dentistry, medicine, nursing, law and veterinary schools rank in the top 5 nationally.[216] Penn's Law School was ranked number 4 in 2023[217] and Design school, and its School of Social Policy and Practice are ranked in the top 10.[216]
Penn offers unique and specialized coordinated dual-degree (CDD) programs, which selectively award candidates degrees from multiple schools at the university upon completion of graduation criteria of both schools in addition to program-specific programs and senior capstone projects. Additionally, there are accelerated and interdisciplinary programs offered by the university. These undergraduate programs include:
Huntsman Program in International Studies and Business[175]
Jerome Fisher Program in Management and Technology (M&T)[176]
Roy and Diana Vagelos Program in Life Sciences and Management (LSM)[177]
Nursing and Health Care Management (NHCM)[178]
Roy and Diana Vagelos Integrated Program in Energy Research (VIPER)[179]
Vagelos Scholars Program in Molecular Life Sciences (MLS)[180]
Singh Program in Networked and Social Systems Engineering (NETS)[181]
Digital Media Design (DMD)[182]
Computer and Cognitive Science: Artificial Intelligence[183]
Accelerated 7-Year Bio-Dental Program[184]
Accelerated 6-Year Law and Medicine Program[185]
Dual-degree programs that lead to the same multiple degrees without participation in the specific above programs are also available. Unlike CDD programs, "dual degree" students fulfill requirements of both programs independently without the involvement of another program. Specialized dual-degree programs include Liberal Studies and Technology as well as an Artificial Intelligence: Computer and Cognitive Science Program. Both programs award a degree from the College of Arts and Sciences and a degree from the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Also, the Vagelos Scholars Program in Molecular Life Sciences allows its students to either double major in the sciences or submatriculate and earn both a BA and an MS in four years. The most recent Vagelos Integrated Program in Energy Research (VIPER) was first offered for the class of 2016. A joint program of Penn's School of Arts and Sciences and the School of Engineering and Applied Science, VIPER leads to dual Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science in Engineering degrees by combining majors from each school.
For graduate programs, Penn offers many formalized double degree graduate degrees such as a joint J.D./MBA and maintains a list of interdisciplinary institutions, such as the Institute for Medicine and Engineering, the Joseph H. Lauder Institute for Management and International Studies, and the Institute for Research in Cognitive Science.
The University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy and Practice, commonly known as Penn SP2, is a school of social policy and social work that offers degrees in a variety of subfields, in addition to several dual degree programs and sub-matriculation programs.[186][187][188] Penn SP2's vision is: "The passionate pursuit of social innovation, impact and justice."[189]
Originally named the School of Social Work, SP2 was founded in 1908 and is a graduate school of the University of Pennsylvania. The school specializes in research, education, and policy development in relation to both social and economic issues.[190][191]
The School of Veterinary Medicine offers five dual-degree programs, combining the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (VMD) with a Master of Social Work (MSW), Master of Environmental Studies (MES), Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Master of Public Health (MPH) or Masters in Business Administration (MBA) degree. The Penn Vet dual-degree programs are meant to support veterinarians planning to engage in interdisciplinary work in the areas of human health, environmental health, and animal health and welfare.[192]