Penn State University Information
Founded in 1855, Penn State is a public, comprehensive university. Programs are offered through the Colleges of Agriculture, Arts and Architecture, Business Administration, Communications, Earth and Mineral Sciences, Education, Engineering, Health and Human Development, Liberal Arts, and Science. Its 6,138-acre campus is located in University Park, 70 miles northwest of Harrisburg.
Penn State University is one of the largest universities in the United States. The university's total enrollment in 2009-10 was approximately 94,300 across its 24 campuses and online through its World Campus. Penn State offers more than 160 majors among all its campuses and in fiscal year 2008 Penn State was ranked 11th among U.S. universities in research income by the National Science Foundation.
Colleges and Schools
· College of Agricultural Sciences
· College of Arts and Architecture
· College of Earth and Mineral Sciences
· College of Health and Human Development
· College of Information Sciences and Technology
· School of International Affairs
Academics
|
ARWU World |
43 |
|
ARWU National |
31 |
|
QS World |
98 |
|
USNWR National University |
47 |
|
WM National University |
7 |
The 2010 Academic Ranking of World Universities ranks Penn State 43rd among universities worldwide. U.S. News & World Report ranks Penn State's undergraduate program 47th in its 2011 American's Best College. In 2010, Penn State was also ranked 98th in the QS World University Rankings.
According to a Wall Street Journal survey released in September 2010, Penn State was ranked #1 among 479 corporate recruiting executives who were asked to identify "whose bachelor degree graduates were the best-trained and educated, and best able to succeed once hired."
Ranking
http://www.psu.edu/ur/rankings/
Research
According to the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, Penn State University is a Research University with very high research activity. Over 10,000 students are enrolled in the University's graduate school (including the law and medical schools), and over 70,000 degrees have been awarded since the school was founded in 1922.
Penn State's research and development expenditure has been on the rise in recent years. For fiscal year 2007 the National Science Foundation reported that Penn State had spent $652,144,000 on R&D and ranked 11th among U.S. universities and colleges in R&D spending. For the 2008-2009 fiscal year, Penn State was ranked 9th among U.S. universities by the National Science Foundation, with $753 million in research and development spending for science and engineering. During the 2009-2010 fiscal year, Penn State received $780 million in research expenditures.
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.
Penn State was one of the founding members of the Worldwide Universities Network (WUN), a partnership that includes 17 research-led universities in the United States, Asia and Europe. The network provides funding, facilitates collaboration between universities, and coordinates exchanges of faculty members and graduate students among institutions.
The Pennsylvania State University Libraries were ranked 14th among research libraries in North America in the 2003–2004 survey released by The Chronicle of Higher Education.
The University's library system began with a 1,500-book library in Old Main. In 2009 its holdings had grown to 5.2 million volumes, in addition to 500,000 maps, five million microforms, and 180,000 films and videos.
Penn State is the home of CiteSeerX, one of the most prominent open access repositories and search engines in computer and information sciences.
The campus is also host to a Radiation Science & Engineering Center, which houses the oldest operating university research reactor. Additionally, University Park houses the Graduate Program in Acoustics, the only acoustics program m in the United States.
Athletics
Penn State participates in the NCAA Division I-A and in the Big Ten Conference for most sports. A few sports participate in different conferences: men's volleyball in the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA); men's lacrosse in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA); women's lacrosse in American Lacrosse conference; and hockey (American Collegiate Hockey Association). The fencing teams operate as independents.
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. This is typically done three or four times, and followed by "Thank you..." "... you're welcome!" when completed. The cheer is by no means restricted to sporting events, as prospective students touring the campus (with the aid of either the Lion Scouts or Lion Ambassadors) will hear plenty of these chants from current students.
Penn State History
http://www.psu.edu/ur/about/historyshort.html
http://www.psu.edu/ur/about/markers/markersother.html
Nittany Lion Mascot
http://www.psu.edu/ur/about/nittany.html
Nittany Lion Shrine
The Lion Shrine at University Park was a gift of the class of 1940 and is the most photographed site on campus.
University Park Campus Map
http://www.campusmaps.psu.edu/print/pdf/extended_color.pdf
http://www.campusmaps.psu.edu/print/
University Park Campus Tour
(Tour includes the Nittany Lion Shrine/Old Main/ HUB/Bakery Creamery/ Bryce Jordan Center/Pattee and Paterno Library/ Boucke)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPQRaNiRpqc&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1Cw2hapYys&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WD-MWUcNmg0&feature=related
Berkey Creamery
Most visitors to the Berkey Creamery at Penn State know only of its famous ice cream, sherbet, and cheeses sold at the store or over the Internet, but what they don't know is that it is the largest university creamery in the nation.
Each year approximately 4.5 million pounds of milk pass through the Creamery's stainless steel holding tanks. About half comes from a 225-cow herd at the University's Dairy Production Research Center, and the rest is purchased from an independent milk producer.
Bryce Jordan Center
The Bryce Jordan Center, located on the campus of the Pennsylvania State University, is centrally located within the state of Pennsylvania and the only entertainment facility of its size in the region.
The 16,000 seat Jordan Center hosts circuses, sports exhibitions, family shows, commencements, lectures, and Big Ten Basketball, as well as some of the top-name performers in the music entertainment industry.
Beaver Stadium
An outdoor college football stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania, on the campus of The Pennsylvania State University. It is home to the Penn State Nittany Lions of the Big Ten Conference. The stadium is named for James A. Beaver, a former governor of Pennsylvania (1887–91) and president of the university's board of trustees.
Beaver Stadium has an official seating capacity of 107,282, making it currently the second largest stadium in the Western Hemisphere and the fourth largest in the world.
Old Main
The main administrative building at Penn State University Park
HUB-Robeson Center
Penn State’s student union building
Pattee and Paterno Library
The library's first collection was a donation of 14 books in 1857. Its first permanent location was in Old Main, with 1,500 books in agriculture and the sciences. In 1904, the library was moved to the Carnegie Building (then "Carnegie Library"), which provided a 50,000 book capacity.
By 1940, the library's collection had grown to 150,000, overcrowding Carnegie by three times its capacity. The library was permanently moved to the Pattee Library building. By the 1960s, the collection had grown to 800,000 books.
The Pattee Library was renovated in the late 1990s, and in 2000, it was rededicated along with the new Paterno Library, a portion of which comprises the former East Wing of Pattee. Today, there are 14 libraries at the University Park campus alone, and the entire system boasts a collection of nearly 5 million items.
Boucke Building
The Global Programs Office is located on the 4th floor of Boucke Building. It deals with all the related documents needed by international students.
On-Campus Housing
There are seven housing complexes located on campus for students attending the University Park campus: East Halls, North Halls, Pollock Halls, South Halls, West Halls, Eastview Terrace, & Nittany Apartments. Each complex consists of a few separate buildings that are dormitories and a commons building which has lounges, the help desk for the complex, mailboxes for each dormitory room, a small food shop, and a cafeteria-style room. Different floors within a building in the complex may be a Special Living Option, meaning students can sign up for that floor if they are in that major.
