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The Pennsylvania State University (commonly known as '''Penn State''') is a State-related , Land-grant University . The University has 24 campuses throughout the U.S. state of Pennsylvania , including a virtual World Campus . The enrollment at Penn State is over 84,000 students, placing it among the ten largest public universities in the United States . Penn State offers more than 160 majors and administers a $1.4 billion ( USD ) endowment. CAMPUSES AND COLLEGES University Park The largest of Penn State's 24 campuses, University Park , is almost entirely within the boundaries of State College borough, a site chosen to be near the geographic center of the state. With an acceptance rate of 54 percent,2 it is the most selective campus in the Penn State system, due primarily to the fact that students select University Park as their first-choice campus at a far greater rate than Penn State's other undergraduate campuses.3 During the fall 2006 semester, 36,612 undergraduate students and 6,302 graduate students were enrolled at University Park.4 Of those, 45.2 percent were female5 and 25.5 percent were not Pennsylvania residents.6 Colleges The University Park campus is organized into 13 distinct "colleges":7 In addition, the Penn State Board of Trustees voted in January to create a School of International Affairs, with the first classes to be admitted for the fall 2008 semester.8 The school will be part of the Dickinson School Of Law at its University Park campus location.9 Map depicting the locations of Penn State's 19 Commonwealth Campuses and the University Park campus. Commonwealth campuses See Also: Pennsylvania State University Commonwealth Campus In addition to the University Park campus, 19 Campus Locations throughout the state offer enrollment for undergraduate students. Over 60 percent of Penn State first-year students begin their education at a location other than University Park. All of these smaller campuses offer a limited number of degree programs, but any student in good academic standing is guaranteed a spot at University Park to finish his or her degree if required or desired. Most students do complete their degree program at University Park (known as "change of assignment," since Penn State campuses are not independently operated and therefore "transferring" is an inaccurate term)."Why should you start your education at The University of Pittsburgh?" Published by the Undergraduate Admissions Office, The Pennsylvania State University. 2006. Special-mission campuses 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. Located in Malvern, Pa., it also offers classes at the old Philadelphia Navy Yard . Penn State Hershey Medical Center And College Of Medicine in Hershey, Pa., is Penn State's medical school and teaching hospital. Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center has become only the ninth hospital in the United States and 16th worldwide to implant the CardioWest temporary Total Artificial Heart. A 60-year-old man suffering from end-stage heart failure received the device in a six-hour surgery on Wednesday (May 2). The procedure was performed by a surgical team led by Walter Pae Jr., Penn State Heart and Vascular Institute's program director, cardiac surgery. Pennsylvania College Of Technology , in Williamsport, Pa., offers certificates as well as degrees in over 100 technical fields. Located in Carlisle, Pa., The Dickinson School Of Law Of The Pennsylvania State University merged with Penn State in 2000. As of fall 2006, students have the choice of beginning their studies in either Carlisle or University Park. In 1998, the University launched Penn State World Campus , or Penn State online, which offers over 50 online education programs, degrees, and certificates. Distance education has a long history at Penn State, which was one of the first universities in the country to offer a correspondence course for remote farmers in 1892. Examples of online programs include a master's in homeland security and public health preparedness, a bachelor of science in nursing, a master's in business administration, and certificates in applied statistics and economic and community development. Penn State's World Campus offers nine graduate degrees, 16 graduate certificates, 13 undergraduate degrees, and 16 undergraduate certificates. World Campus students come from 50 U.S. states, 43 countries, and seven continents. Demographics and trends Racially, the University is representative of the state of Pennsylvania , although less diverse than comparable institutions. As of fall 2006, the racial makeup of the Penn State system, including all campuses and special-mission colleges, was 80.2 percent white, 4.0 percent African-American, 5.3 percent Asian-American, 3.1 percent Hispanic-American, 0.1 percent Native American, and 7.3 percent international students.10 Over the past decade, minority enrollment as a percentage of total enrollment has risen 3.5 percent,11 while minorities as a percentage of total teaching positions rose 2.0 percent from 1997 to 2002.12 ORGANIZATION Penn State is a "state-related" university, part of Pennsylvania's Commonwealth System Of Higher Education . As such, although it receives funding from the Commonwealth and is connected to the state through its board of trustees, it is otherwise independent and not subject to the state's direct control. For the 2006-2007 fiscal year, Penn State received 9.7 percent of its budget from state appropriations, the lowest of the four state-related institutions in Pennsylvania.13 Initial reports concerning the 2007-2008 fiscal year indicate that Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell is recommending a 1.6 percent increase in state appropriations.14 Penn State's appropriation request, submitted to the Pennsylvania Department of Education in September, requested a 6.8 percent increase in funding.15 Board of Trustees The university is governed by the 32-member board of trustees. Its members include the president of the University, the Governor Of The Commonwealth , and the state secretaries of agriculture, education, and conservation and natural resources. The other members include six trustees appointed by the Governor, nine elected by alumni, and six elected by Pennsylvania agricultural societies. Six additional trustees are elected by a board representing business and industry enterprises.16 The current chair of the board of trustees is James S. Broadhurst, a 1965 graduate of Penn State and CEO of Eat'n Park Hospitality Group, Inc. 17 The main responsibilities of the board are to select the president of Penn State, to determine the goals and strategic direction of the University, and to approve the annual budget.18 Regular meetings of the board are held bi-monthly and take place primarily on the University Park campus, although on occasion meetings are held at other locations within the Commonwealth.19 Administration , the main administrative building at Penn State University Park, at night.]] See Also: History of the Pennsylvania State University#Past presidents of Penn State The president of the University is selected by the board and is given the authority for actual control of the university, including day-to-day management. In practice, this responsibility is delegated by the president to other departments of the administration, to the faculty, or to the student body. The current president of the university is Graham Spanier . The executive vice president and provost is the chief academic officer of the University. The current provost is Rodney Erickson. Tuition According to a recent survey by ''USA Today'', Penn State's "flagship" campus, University Park, has the highest in-state Tuition rates among comparable institutions nationwide.20 While a task force formed in 2001 to study options for tuition projections determined that the University's operating Efficiency is among the highest in postsecondary education,21 it found that tuition increases at Penn State still consistently outpaced increases at other Big Ten Conference institutions.22 Student leaders of The Council of Commonwealth Student Governments (CCSG), one of the University's most highly-regarded student organizations has led annual rallies to lower rate hikes at each of the 19 commonwealth campuses and at the Pennsylvania state capitol in Harrisburg .2324 In 2005, the board of trustees proposed a tuition freeze at the undergraduate Campus Locations (except University Park) as part of its state appropriation request.25 ACADEMICS Penn State is a research university with highly regarded programs in engineering, architecture, economics, business, and the sciences. As of February 2007, only 23 Pennsylvania colleges and universities held AACSB accreditation in business and accounting. The Smeal College Of Business , Penn State Erie, The Behrend College , Penn State Harrisburg , and Penn State Great Valley were among the institutions accredited.26 Penn State offers an accelerated Premedical - Medical Program in cooperation with Jefferson Medical College .27 Students in the program spend two or three years at Penn State before attending medical school at Jefferson. 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 1922.28 Research During the 2006 Fiscal Year , Penn State's research budget totaled US$ 638 million, 56 percent of which was funded by federal agencies including the Department of Energy and the Department of Defense. National Science Foundation reports indicate that in 2004 (the latest year that figures were available), Penn State ranked ninth in the country in terms of research expenditures. The University is also supported by private industry, ranking second nationwide in terms of research funding from that sector.2930 The Applied Research Lab (ARL), located near the University Park campus, has been a research partner with the United States Department Of Defense since 1945 and conducts research primarily in support of the United States Navy . It is the largest component of Penn State's research efforts statewide, with over 1,000 researchers and other staff members.31 The Penn State University Libraries were ranked 14th among research libraries in North America in the most recent annual survey released by The Chronicle Of Higher Education .34 The University's library system began with a 1,500-book library in Old Main, which has grown to 4.8 million volumes, in addition to 500,000 maps, five million microforms, and 160,000 films and videos.35 The campus is also host to a Radiation Science & Engineering Center , which houses the oldest operating university Research Reactor . Ranking and reputation See Also: Pennsylvania State University rankings Pennsylvania State University was ranked #47 on ''U.S. News and World Report'''s 2007 list,36 and 11th in a 2003 '' ranks Penn State fifth nationally with criteria based on research, community service, and social mobility.37 It has also been ranked #99 worldwide by the "Times Higher Education Supplement." {Link without Title} ATHLETICS See Also: Penn State Nittany Lions 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. The fencing teams operate as independents.39 Athletic teams at Penn State have won 113 NCAA national championships, the most recent of which was in 2007 when Women's Rugby, Men's Gymnastics and Men's/Women's Fencing all won their respective national titles. Since joining the Big Ten in 1991, Penn State teams have won 38 regular season conference titles and nine tournament titles, including nine consecutive titles in women's soccer (tied for the longest title streak in Big Ten history).4041 Penn State has one of the most successful overall athletic programs in the country, as evidenced by the University's top 25 finish in the NACDA Director's Cup every year since the ranking's inception 13 years ago. The Director's Cup is a list compiled by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics that charts institutions' overall success in college sports. In the history of the Directors’ Cup, the Nittany Lions have finished in the top 10 seven times and the top five a four times.42 In 1999, ''Sporting News'' named Penn State as the country's best overall athletic program, citing its consistent and wide-ranging athletic successes along with its athletes' long-standing tradition of excelling in the classroom. In fact, Penn State student-athletes receive academic honors that often far exceed those awarded to other Division 1-A schools. In 2006, a school record 78 students received Academic All- Big Ten honors, the highest among schools in the Big Ten for the seventh time in nine years.43 Despite widespread success in the overall athletic program, however, the school is best known for its Football Team , which draws a very large following. Penn State's Beaver Stadium has the second largest seating capacity (over 107,282) of any stadium in the nation, behind only Michigan Stadium. The football team is led by legendary coach Joe Paterno, who at 81 is in his 42nd year as head coach (as of the 2007 season). He is the second all-time winningest coach in Division I-A history (trailing Bobby Bowden of Florida State). The University also opened a new Penn State All-Sports Museum in February 2002. This two-level museum is located inside Beaver Stadium .44 Penn State's most well-known athletic cheer is "We are...Penn State." Typically, the students and cheerleaders shout "We are," followed by a response of "Penn State" from the rest of the fans. The cheer ends with the students shouting, "Thank you," and the fans responding with "You're welcome!" STUDENT LIFE The University's fight song is " Fight On, State ," and other notable songs performed at public celebrations include the Penn State Alma Mater and " Hail To The Lion ." As of 2005, Penn State has more students registered on the Facebook social networking website than any other university.45 Diversity |
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