List of Pennsylvania Colleges and Universities (2023)

FAQs

How many colleges and universities are in Pennsylvania? ›

The Keystone State has nearly 300 colleges, universities, and technical schools for prospective students of all career interests.

1. University of Pennsylvania. The University of Pennsylvania (Penn, or UPenn) is a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia.

Based on data from the U.S. Department of Education, of the 61 colleges or universities in Pennsylvania with available data, University of Pennsylvania, located in Philadelphia, ranks as the hardest school to get into.

Among the institutions with the lowest acceptance rate, colleges included, UCLA is the only public university with the lowest acceptance rate while the college with the lowest acceptance rate is Dartmouth College. The rest of the U.S. higher educational institutions with low acceptance rates are privately-owned.

1. California: Along with having the most colleges by state in the U.S., California also has the highest number of top-ranked institutions. Some of the top ranked colleges on the list include Stanford University, Pomona College, and California Institute of Technology.

List of Private Colleges and Universities in Pennsylvania. There are 93 private colleges and universities in Pennsylvania enrolling 264,215 students. Explore the list below to find the private college match for you.

Chatham University is a 150-year old educational institution in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that today has over 2,200 undergraduate and graduate students in over 60 degree programs studying on campus or online. Chatham was chartered on December 11, 1869, under the name Pennsylvania Female College.

The University of Pennsylvania (Penn) was founded in 1740 by Benjamin Franklin - the famous diplomat, author, inventor, and scientist. Penn is one of eight private universities known as the Ivy League. There are over 21,000 students at Penn, including 4,500 international students.

Midstate college listed as 'most expensive' college in the United States. LANCASTER, Pa. (WHTM) — College tuition can be very expensive, with most students in the year 2023 paying $9,571 a semester, according to prosperityforamerica.org. Many different factors go into the overall cost of tuition for students.

While all the different undergraduate schools are competitive, some are more so than others. Wharton (9% acceptance rate) is the most competitive school, while the UPenn School of Nursing (25% acceptance rate) is the least competitive of the four. Also, Students in UPenn Nursing School skew female.

What is the richest school in PA? ›

Established in 1911 in southwestern Utah, Dixie State University features a 100% acceptance rate. The campus, which sits adjacent to the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area, serves more than 11,000 students, about 60% of whom attend full time. Dixie maintains a 20-to-1 student-to-faculty ratio.

Unofficially, 2.0 is the lowest GPA accepted into a standard college, so while there's a chance that college admission is possible, it's not likely at more than a few institutions.

OVERALL GPA POLICY

The most common overall GPA requirement is a 2.0. This means that a student's cumulative GPA from all terms, excluding grades received from other institutions, must be at least 2.0 at the end of each semester or quarter.

Harvard University

This Ivy League school is the oldest higher education institution in the country and has the largest endowment of any school in the world. Harvard University is a private institution in Cambridge, Massachusetts, just outside of Boston.

1. Massachusetts. Massachusetts has the best-ranked public schools in the United States and is the second-most educated state, just behind the District of Columbia. About 90.40% of Massachusetts adults have a high school diploma, and 42.90% have a Bachelor's degree or higher.

According to the data, Massachusetts ranks no. 1 on both education attainment and quality of education. The five states with the highest percentage of college degree holders were also the top ten most educated states.

Evangelical Theological Seminary is the smallest college with 180 students including both undergraduate and graduate students.

What Pennsylvania university has the largest student population? ›

List of Colleges by Enrollment. Below is a ranking of the 187 colleges in Pennsylvania with the largest enrollment of full and part time students. Penn State Main Campus tops the list with a population of 88,914 students.

These are: Wabash College, Crawfordsville, Indiana. Hampden–Sydney College, Hampden Sydney, Virginia. Morehouse College, Atlanta, Georgia.

Harvard University, founded in 1636, claims to be "the oldest institution of higher education in the United States".

The Easiest Ivy League schools to get into

Cornell is the easiest and youngest Ivy League school. It was established in 1865 and is situated in Ithaca, New York. Out of 49,114 candidates, Cornell accepted 5,330, for an admission percentage of around 10.9%.

The acceptance rate at Penn State is 49.1%.

For every 100 applicants, 49 are admitted. This means the school is moderately selective.

Nationwide, the high school with the most students graduating from Harvard, Princeton or MIT is Thomas Jefferson High School in Alexandria, Virginia, with 79 total.

Harvard University, with a $50.9 billion endowment as of 2022, is the wealthiest university in the world.

2023 Cheapest Pennsylvania Colleges

Strayer University-Pennsylvania is the cheapest school with tuition & fees of $13,515 and Strayer University-Allentown Campus ($13,515) and Strayer University-Center City Campus ($13,515) are following it in the list of Pennsylvania Colleges with the Lowest Tuition & Fees.

What is the #1 hardest school to get into? ›

Niche, a ranking and review site, recently published its list of the “2023 Hardest Colleges to Get Into.” Using data from the U.S. Department of Education on various colleges' acceptance rates and SAT/ACT scores, they found, unsurprisingly, Harvard University to be the most difficult college to get into.

To have the best shot of getting in, you should aim for the 75th percentile, with a 1560 SAT or a 35 ACT. You should also have a 3.9 GPA or higher. If your GPA is lower than this, you need to compensate with a higher SAT/ACT score.

We take a hard look at the many roles you serve as a student, sibling, athlete, son or daughter, volunteer, and/or employee. Assembling a class of students with diverse interests and experiences is a task that we take seriously. Penn State does not have a minimum GPA or standardized test score used for admission.

So, what town is No. 1? According to the study, it's Villanova, which is located in Montgomery County and Delaware County. Of the city, Suburbs101.com states, “Home to some of the most affluent residents of Pennsylvania, Villanova has a median household income of over $250,000.

Millersville University (MU) is once again listed as one of the nation's safest schools and the safest school in Pennsylvania!

Counting all degrees, Harvard University comes in first place in terms of the total number of billionaire alumni. The University of Pennsylvania comes in first if only bachelor's degrees are counted, according to the most recent 2022 Forbes report.

You should also have a 4.18 GPA or higher. If your GPA is lower than this, you need to compensate with a higher SAT/ACT score. For a school as selective as Harvard, you'll also need to impress them with the rest of your application. We'll cover those details next.

Any lower than 3.5, however, you'll have to either have an impressive, relevant achievement or pray for a miracle to get an offer. Therefore, it is best to aspire for the maximum 4.0 to play it safe. But as long as you have at least a 3.7 GPA, you can still get a serious chance at consideration for an offer.

For example, Stanford, which tops the list of the hardest school to get into in the world, receives on average over 55,000 applications every year. Of these thousands of applications, they admit less than 2,200 students. That's a low, low admission rate of 3.9%.

What college has the best dorms? ›

But where can you find the best college dorms in America? The Princeton Review recently released its 2022 ranking of the best college dorms, based on student ratings of their dorms and residence halls. Taking the top spot is Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.

Normally, you would expect the highest score to be the 'perfect' 4.0 score, however, there are several things that a student can do to receive an even higher score. For example, one student actually managed to get a 10.03 GPA score. He did this by taking 17 advanced classes at his school, which awarded him many points.

A 1.9 GPA is equivalent to 74% or C grade. The national average GPA is 3.0 which means a 1.9 is well below average and has much room for improvement.

Students who drop below a minimum GPA, often 2.0, typically receive academic probation. If students fail to make progress or continue to receive low grades, the college can expel them. Schools generally avoid expelling undergraduates for one failing grade or even one semester with low grades.

The lowest possible grade is usually equal to a 0.0 on any scale and most times correlates to an "F" or the failing grade for the course. The scale coverts linearly from the 0.0 to 4.0 with your grade whether you are on a number or letter grading system for the class.

Since this GPA is significantly below a 2.0, it will make things very difficult for you in the college application process. 0.19% of schools have an average GPA below a 1.5. You can apply to colleges and have a good shot at getting admitted. You have a low chance of getting into with a 1.5 GPA.

Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus is the largest college with 88,914 students including both undergraduate and graduate students. The Pennsylvania State University with 88,914 students and Temple University with 35,626 students are following it in the list of Largest Pennsylvania Colleges with Most Students.

In addition to the 12 academic colleges at the University Park campus, Penn State offers 6 other academic colleges across Pennsylvania that allow students to finish their degrees at a campus other than University Park.

115 COLLEGES IN PENNSYLVANIA

According to College Navigator, there are 22 public colleges, 88 private non-profit colleges, and five private for-profit colleges in Pennsylvania.

What University has the highest acceptance rate in Pennsylvania? ›

Those schools have been keeping the acceptance rate in high level in recent years. Clarion University of Pennsylvania has the highest acceptance rate as of 99.21% for academic year 2021-2022 in Pennsylvania. For the ranking, we only include 4-years colleges with at least 100 new students (freshmen).

Penn State does not have a minimum GPA or standardized test score used for admission. There are no such things as “cut-offs.”

University Park is the most selective campus, and some special programs are more competitive than others. Review the requirements for individual programs and campuses, and consider alternatives, which may provide an alternate path for admission.

Penn is one of eight private universities known as the Ivy League. There are over 21,000 students at Penn, including 4,500 international students. Over 4,700 faculty members teach at Penn.

“Together, Bloomsburg, Lock Haven, and Mansfield embody the power of three, which will create a higher education experience, the likes of which is not possible without integration,” Bashar Hanna, president of Bloomsburg and interim president of Lock Haven and Mansfield, said in a statement.

Berry College, tucked into the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, covers more than 27,000 acres — nearly twice the land area of Manhattan. Not surprisingly, Berry College boasts not only the largest contiguous college campus in the U.S., but the largest one in the world.

Carnegie Mellon University

#2 Best Colleges in Pennsylvania.