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The Pennsylvania State University
Chartered in 1855 as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania (which despite the name was a degree granting institution), Penn State became a Land Grant College in 1863 . In 1874 , the school was renamed The Pennsylvania State College . In 1907 , the university selected for its mascot the Nittany Lion , a name derived from nearby Mount Nittany . By 1950 Penn State had become renown for research in specialized fields. In order to more effectively demonstrate that fact, university president Milton Eisenhower changed the name of the college in 1953 to The Pennsylvania State University, and established a campus post office designated University Park, Pennsylvania . Under Head Football Coach Joe Paterno and president Bryce Jordan, the university joined the Big Ten Conference in 1990 for all sports except for (college) Football , joining the Big Ten Conference for football for the 1993 season. Despite the conference name, Penn State is the Eleventh team in the Big Ten Conference. The President of Penn State is Dr. Graham Spanier . Penn State's colors are Blue and White . HISTORY ]] Penn State was founded on February 22 , 1855 by act P.L. 46, No. 50 of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania. Centre County became the home of the new school when James Irvin of Bellefonte donated 200 Acres (809,000 m²) of land—the first of 10,101 acres the University would eventually acquire. In 1862 , the school's name was changed to The Agricultural College of Pennsylvania, and with the passage of the Morrill Land-Grant Act , Pennsylvania selected the school in 1863 to be the state's sole land grant college. In the following years, enrollment fell as the school tried to balance purely agricultural studies with a more classic education, falling to 64 undergraduates in 1875 , a year after the school's name changed once again to The Pennsylvania State College. George W. Atherton became president of the school in 1882 , and began working to broaden the school's curriculum. Shortly after he introduced engineering studies, Penn State became one of the ten largest engineering schools in the nation. Atherton also expanded the liberal arts and agriculture programs, and as a result, was rewarded with regular appropriations from the state beginning in 1887 . For this, Atherton is widely credited with saving Penn State from Bankruptcy , and is still honored today by the name of a major road in State College and its suburbs, Atherton Street . Contrary to popular belief, Atherton Hall is not named after President Atherton but Frances Atherton (his wife). Atherton's grave rests in front of Schwab Auditorium near Old Main , the University Park campus's central administration building, and is marked by an engraved Marble block resting in front of his statue. In the years that followed, Penn State grew significantly, becoming the state's largest source of baccalaureate degrees and reaching an enrollment of 5,000 in 1936 . Around this time, Commonwealth campuses were started by President Ralph Hetzel to give an alternative to Depression -era students who were economically unable to leave home to attend college. In 1953 , President Milton Eisenhower changed the school's name to The Pennsylvania State University, and under his successor, Dr. Eric Walker , the University developed rapidly. Under his leadership, which lasted from 1956 - 1970 , the University added hundreds of acres of surrounding land, and nearly tripled enrollment to 40,000. Additionally, in 1967 , the Hershey Medical Center , a college of medicine and hospital, was established with a $50 million gift from the Hershey Trust . In the 1970s, The Pennsylvania State University became a State-related institution. As such, it belongs to the Commonwealth System Of Higher Education . In recent years, Penn State's role as a leader in education in Pennsylvania has become well-defined. In 1989 , the Pennsylvania College Of Technology in Williamsport joined ranks with the University, and in 1997 , so did the Dickinson School Of Law . Currently, the University is the largest in Pennsylvania, and in 2003 , it was credited with having the largest impact on the state economy of any organization, generating over $6 billion for the state on a budget of $2.5 billion. Even so, limited growth in state appropriations to the University have turned the school into the least-funded state school in the Big Ten on a per student basis. To make up the difference, the University has turned to seeking philanthropy, with 2003 marking the end of the Grand Destiny campaign–a seven-year effort which raised over $1.3 billion for the University. In 2004 , Penn State started celebrating its 150th anniversary, since 2005 marked the University's Sesquicentennial . On November 20 , 2004 , the ''Swift'' spacecraft was launched into Orbit . The ''Swift'' spacecraft is the first spacecraft to be operated by Penn State (under contract from NASA ), and the Swift Mission Operations Center is located in State College, Pennsylvania. CAMPUSES AND COLLEGES University Park The main campus of Penn State's 24 campuses, University Park, is found next to State College , near the geographic center of the state. With an acceptance rate of 58%, it is regarded as the most selective campus in the Penn State system. Approximately 34,000 undergraduate students and 6,000 graduate students study at University Park. Slightly more than 54% of the students are male, and approximately 25% are from outside of Pennsylvania. About 5,000 students, or 12% of the total student population, are of minority ethnicity, and another 3,000 are international students. Commonwealth campuses Penn State operates 19 Commonwealth Campuses throughout the state, where over 60% of Penn State first-year students begin their education. Some of the larger campuses offer a number of degree programs, but others only offer introductory courses, requiring that students switch campuses to complete any of 160 degree programs offered system wide. Associated institutions [http://www.gv.psu.edu/ Penn State Great Valley School of Graduate Professional Studies] is a special mission campus offering master's degrees, master's certification, and continuing professional education. ACADEMICS Penn State is a research university with highly regarded programs in engineering, architecture, economics, business, and the sciences. The Smeal College of Business is AACSB accredited in business and is one of only four Pennsylvania schools to be AACSB accredited in accounting. In 2003 the university devoted $545 million to research, ranking it 12th in the nation , and its researchers received nearly $400 million in outside grants toward their projects. Over 10,000 students are enrolled in the university's graduate school, and over 70,000 degrees have been awarded since the school was founded in 1922 . The student-to-faculty ratio at Penn State campuses is 16:1. When the medical school, college of technology, and law school are included, the ratio is 15:1. 80% of first-year classes have 50 or fewer students, and classes are even smaller for upperclassmen and for all students at other campuses. The Penn State University Libraries are ranked twelfth among research libraries in North America. The university library system began with a 1,500-book library in Old Main, which has grown to its current 4.8 million volumes, in addition to nearly 500,000 maps, over 5 million microforms, and nearly 160,000 films and videos. Academic firsts Penn State was the first university in the United States to :
Rankings ''The Public Ivies: America's Flagship Public Universities'', a book published by Greene's Guides, included Penn State among the Public Ivies , public universities that purportedly offer an academic experience of Ivy League or close caliber combined with affordably priced tuition. ''The Fiske Guide to Colleges 2006'' gives Penn State - University Park an academic rating of 4.5 stars out of 5. Shanghai Jiao Tong University's Academic Ranking of World Universities 2005 ranks Penn State - University Park as the #30 university in the U.S. and the #39 university in the world. According to U.S. News Best Colleges 2006 , Penn State nationally Ranks :
According to U.S. News Best Graduate Schools 2007, Penn State ranks
The National Research Council (NRC) rated Penn State's Department of Geography #1 in the United States in 1995. STUDENT LIFE Over seven hundred student organizations exist , as well as one of the largest Greek systems in the country, with approximately 12% of the University Park population affiliated with a Greek organization. Most of the student organizations are headquartered at the Hetzel Union Building (HUB), which underwent significant renovations and enlargement beginning in 1997 . It is also the home to LateNight Penn State, an endeavor designed to provide weekend entertainment in an alcohol-free environment. Every February, thousands of students participate in the Penn State Dance Marathon (Thon), the largest student-run Philanthropy in the world. Participants stand for 48 hours straight, dancing once every hour. Thon raises millions of dollars annually for pediatric cancer care and research, generally through the Four Diamonds Fund . This event has inspired many similar events at other universities throughout the country. The student run newspaper is '' The Daily Collegian ''. In addition to the traditional paper publication, ''The Collegian'' went online as ''The Digital Collegian'', starting in summer of 1996 . The university yearbook is named ''La Vie''. The student-run radio station is WKPS The LION 90.7 FM. In addition, WPSU-FM (radio) and WPSU-TV (television) originate their broadcasts from the Penn State campus. Penn State has more students registered on the Facebook website than any other university. {Link without Title} In 2005, the Penn State Blue Band was honored with the Sudler Trophy . The Trophy, which has been presented by the John Philip Sousa Foundation since 1982, is regarded as the nation's highest accolade for collegiate bands. Distinguished Groups ATHLETICS ]] Penn State's mascot is the (EIVA); men's Lacrosse in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC); and women's lacrosse in American Lacrosse Conference. {Link without Title} The fencing teams operate as independents. The team's fight song is "Fight On State" and other notable songs played at athletic endeavors include the Alma Mater and "Nittany Lion". Penn State has a large football following and attracts tens of thousands of visitors to its campus; the surrounding area is known as "Happy Valley" for tailgating and games on autumn Saturdays in Beaver Stadium . The stadium is the second-largest in the country with a Seating Capacity of over 107,282. The largest crowd ever at Beaver Stadium was on September 14 , 2002 , as 110,753 watched the Nittany Lions defeat the University Of Nebraska by a score of 40-7. The school has long been known as " Linebacker U" for the number of quality linebackers that it has produced. Joe Paterno has been the head coach for the Nittany Lion football team since 1966. He has led Penn State to 354 victories, placing him second for all-time Division I-A wins, trailing only Florida State University's Bobby Bowden with 359. These two coaches faced one another in the 2006 FedEx Orange Bowl . It took 3 overtimes and 5 hours before Penn State kicked a game-winning Field Goal for a 26-23 victory. Penn State plays in two football "trophy games" with other members of the Big Ten. They are for the Governor's Victory Bell with the University Of Minnesota and the season-ending Land Grant Trophy game versus Michigan State University . Penn State has many notable achievements in other sports. The school has a strong history in both men's and women's Volleyball . In 1994, Penn State became the first team outside of the state of California to win a NCAA division I national championship in men's volleyball. Penn State's women's volleyball team has won 8 Big Ten championships in 14 years, including the 2003, 2004 and 2005 titles, and was the NCAA division I national champion in 1999 (the only Eastern school to ever win it). Penn State has been a powerhouse in Fencing , winning 9 National Championships in the sport since 1990. The school also is home to the Horace Ashenfelter Indoor Facility. The men's and women's basketball teams play in the Bryce Jordan Center . Most of the other indoor teams play at Rec Hall , which was previously the long term home for the basketball teams as well. Additionally, the university operates the Penn State Golf Courses , two courses for the golf teams, students, faculty and the general public. Ground has been broken for the construction of a new Baseball stadium named Medlar Field At Lubrano Park . It will be host to both the university baseball team as well as the State College Spikes , a Minor League baseball team. Construction of the new ballpark is expected to be complete in June 2006. The ballpark will be oriented to the east, offering views of Mount Nittany. The University also opened a new Penn State All-Sports Museum in February 2002. This two-level 10,000-square-foot museum is located adjacent to Beaver Stadium. PRESIDENTS See: Presidents Of The Pennsylvania State University {Link without Title}
NOTABLE PEOPLE Penn State has more than 460,000 living alumni that are located in all 50 states and many countries around the world. The university also has the largest dues-paying Alumni Association in the world with over 156,100 members. REFERENCES
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