Which Are The Best Universities In Philadelphia?

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Philadelphia and the surrounding counties (the suburbs of Philadelphia), make up one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United States of America. Tourism, Health Care, Biotechnology, Information Technology and Financial Services are the key sectors for employment. In addition higher education is also a major component of Philadelphia’s economy.

Many well known and nationally ranked universities are located in Philadelphia or it’s immediate suburbs.

University of Pennsylvania:

• University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) is a world famous Ivy League university located in the University City neighborhood of Philadelphia. University City is very close to the Center City Neighborhood of Philadelphia. The University was founded by Ben Franklin. The first school of Medicine (Perelman School of Medicine) and the first school of Business (Wharton School) in North America was started by UPenn.

• So far, 14 foreign heads of states have graduated from UPenn. Eight individuals who signed the Declaration of Independence and twelve who signed the United States Constitution graduated from UPenn. Last but not the least, the current President of the United States of America, President Donald Trump, is a graduate of UPenn!

• A business degree from UPenn is extremely coveted by business families all across the world, particularly in India. One of the halls at the Wharton School of Business is named after Dhirubhai Ambani (the founder of Reliance Industries, one of the biggest industrial groups in India).

Drexel University:

• Drexel University was founded in 1824. The main campus is located in University City as well. Drexel has a cooperative education program (students will have the opportunity to work full time prior to graduation). Drexel is known for its College of Engineering. It is one of the toughest engineering schools to graduate from (Drexel has the quarter system. There are four terms and each term is about 10 weeks long).

• The main campuses of of Drexel University and University of Pennsylvania are very close to each other. This area of University City is one of the fastest growing areas of Philadelphia. In addition to both universities there is Children’s’ Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), Penn Medicine and Penn Presbyterian Medical Center. In addition to employing thousands of people, these entities also planned billions of dollars of investments in the next ten years.

• University City neighborhood is part of West Philadelphia. This neighborhood has changed dramatically in the last 15 years.

Thomas Jefferson University:

• I graduated from an University that is now part of Thomas Jefferson University. Jefferson was established in 1884. The university has two main campuses. In Center City, Jefferson occupies several blocks closer to the Reading Terminal Market. Market East Station, one of the tree major train stations of Philadelphia was renamed to Jefferson Station a couple of years ago. Thomas Jefferson is known for it Sidney Kimmel Medical College and its college of pharmacy and nursing.

• The second campus is now in East Falls neighborhood of Philadelphia. This campus was the main campus of Philadelphia University (my alma mater). Philadelphia University and Thomas Jefferson merged in 2017. East Falls is in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia (one of the tougher neighborhoods of Philadelphia). The East Falls campus is very beautiful and has a park like setting.

Saint Joseph’s University.

• Saint Joseph’s University is technically in Philadelphia but is on the boundary of Philadelphia and Montgomery County Pennsylvania (one of the richest counties in the United States). It was founded in 1851. The university offers 60 undergraduate programs and 53 graduate programs.

• The basket ball team (Hawks) are a NCAA Division 1 program. If Philadelphia’s professional basketball team, the Seventy Sixers are not playing well, basketball crazy fans in the city will start paying close attention to the Hawks and Temple Owls!!

• Saint Joseph is mostly known for its College of Arts and Sciences and Haub School of Business.

Temple University.

• Unlike the other universities on this list, Temple University is a public research university. The others are private universities. The University was founded in 1884. Temple is located in the North Philadelphia neighborhood of Philadelphia. The main campus is fairly close to City Hall Philadelphia, about 1.5 miles (North Philadelphia has been gentrified significantly in the past 10 years). Temple University also has campuses in Japan and Italy.

• Temple University is known for its Fox School of Business and Lewis Katz School of Medicine. Temple is one of the largest universities in the United States when we talk about combined education in the fields of medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, podiatry and law.

• Temple has a NCAA – 1 basketball team (Temple Owls). The team has the 5th most wins in NCAA Basketball history.

Villanova University.

• Established in 1842, Villanova is a private Catholic university that is just outside the Philadelphia City boundary (in a town known as Radnor). It is about six miles from Saint Joseph’s University. SEPTA has a train station in the campus (Thorndale Line). You can take take the train from 30th Street Station and reach Radnor in about 25 minutes.

• The administration is mostly lead by priests and the students for the most part are Catholic. The campus is absolutely beautiful. Compared to University of Pennsylvania, Drexel and Temple, the Villanova campus will look very rural! Villanova is known for Business, Management and Marketing.

• Villanova’s NCAA – 1 basketball teams are some of the best in the country. The men’s basketball team won the NCAA Championships twice recently (2016 and 2018). Pro Football Hall of Fame player, Howie Long, played for Villanova and earned a degree in communications.

Swarthmore College:

• Swarthmore College is an Ivy League college. It is located outside the Philadelphia city limits in a town called Swarthmore (20 miles from City Hall). The college is fairly close to the Philadelphia International Airport. It is one of the best liberal arts colleges in the United States and was founded in 1869 (consistently ranking in the top three).

• The university also ranks number three in the United States in the ratio between Nobel Prize winners to graduates. Alumni include Sally Ride (first American woman in space), Robert Zoellick (former President of the World Bank) and John C. Mather (Nobel Prize for Physics in 2006).

• Swarthmore College also has a SEPTA station and is easy to get to from Center City Philadelphia.

Valley Forge Military Academy and College:

• When discussing colleges in Philadelphia, one should not forget the Valley Forge Military Academy and College. The Academy and College is in a town called Wayne (close to Valley Forge National park). The park is 20 miles from City Hall and very close to other universities like Villanova and Eastern University.

• It is a private college and the administration is completely either current or retired military personnel. School follows the American military traditions. There are three programs at the academy: They are Pre-Engineering and Physical Sciences, Liberal Arts and Justice and Security Studies.

• Notable alumni include: Larry Fitzgerald (NFL player), Norman Schwarzkopf (US Army General who lead Coalition Forces during the Gulf War) and author J.D. Salinger.

In addition to these universities, Philadelphia and its surroundings also have several other small but prestigious universities and colleges like: Haverford College, Bryn Mawr College, Gwynedd Mercy College, La Salle University and Eastern University.

Are you thinking of going to an university in Philadelphia?

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