Penn State

president

Neeli Bendapudi, Ph.D., President, Penn State

Overview

The Pennsylvania State University, founded in 1855, is the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s sole land-grant institution and its largest public university. Penn State’s land-grant mission embraces teaching, research, and public service in order to support the citizens of the Commonwealth, collaborating with industrial, educational, and agricultural partners to create, disseminate, integrate, and apply knowledge that is valuable to society.

Economic Impact

Penn State is an economic powerhouse, contributing more than $11.6 billion to the state’s economy and supporting, directly and indirectly, more than 105,000 jobs across Pennsylvania in FY 2017, according to a 2019 study.

Academic Programs

• Penn State offers more than 275 undergraduate majors, with four-year degrees offered at all 20 of our undergraduate campuses.
• The Graduate School at Penn State offers more than 300 graduate degree programs, including doctorates and both academic and professional master's degrees.

Research

• The University consistently ranks near the top nationally in annual spending on science and engineering research.
• $993 million in total research support, of which $610 million comes from federal sources.
• The University consistently ranks near the top nationally in annual spending on science and engineering research.

People

Employees: 34,604 employees university-wide (full- and part-time), which includes 6,462 full-time faculty members, all locations. (source: Data Digest)

Penn State faculty national awards (Source: SVP for Research):

• Members of National Academies of Sciences (13), Engineering (7)
• Members of American Academy of Arts and Sciences (10)
• National Academy of Inventors (16)
• National Academy of Medicine (2)
• American Academy of Nursing (3)

Students: 88,914 total, all locations (as of Fall 2021) (source: Data Digest)

• Total undergraduates: 73,476
• Total graduate/professional: 15,438
• University Park: 47,560
• Other campuses: 24,475
• Penn State World Campus: 15,342

Alumni:

(sources: PSAA Sourcebook; Data Digest)

• More than 759,000 living alumni worldwide
• More than 382,000 alumni reside in Pennsylvania
• The Penn State Alumni Association has more than 172,370 members.
• Since its founding, Penn State has conferred more than 934,486 degrees, with 23,303 awarded in the 2020-21 academic year.

Athletics

(source: PSUsports.com)

• Penn State fields 15 men’s and 14 women’s intercollegiate athletic teams.
• Penn State student-athletes continue to graduate well above their peers nationwide: The NCAA reported that Penn State student-athletes at the University Park campus earned a Graduation Success Rate (GSR) of 92% to tie the school's all-time record of 92, which was previously set in the 2020 NCAA report. Nittany Lion students posted a 92% graduation rate compared to the 89% average for all Division I institutions for students entering from 2011-12 through the 2014-15 academic year.
• 80 team national championships all-time (since 1924), including nine NCAA titles.
• Penn State has won 208 Conference Regular Season and 94 Conference Tournament titles all-time, including 119 Big Ten Conference Regular Season and Tournament Championships.

Campuses

Penn State has 24 campuses, encompassing more than 22,000 acres, across the Commonwealth—a campus within practical commuting distance of virtually every Pennsylvanian. Most offer the first two years of baccalaureate instruction as well as a limited number of four-year degree programs. More than half of the undergraduates who complete studies at University Park start at another Penn State campus.

The University also includes Penn State Great Valley School of Graduate Professional Studies, Penn State College of Medicine at The Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Penn State Law (University Park), Dickinson Law (Carlisle), Penn State World Campus (online programs), and the Pennsylvania College of Technology (Williamsport).

Through Invent Penn State, an initiative to drive job creation, economic development and student career success by connecting researchers with the people who can help bring their discoveries to the marketplace, the University has created 21 innovation hubs designed to bolster entrepreneurship and economic development in communities surrounding Penn State campuses across the Commonwealth.

In addition to overarching contributions, the 2019 economic impact study highlighted the significant local influence of Penn State’s campuses on the state’s economy and citizenry. Outside of University Park and Penn State Health, the study found that Penn State operations and student spending at campus locations across the Commonwealth combined for more than $2 billion in total economic contributions, with most of those impacts coming in the county in which each campus is situated.

Rankings

• Penn State rose to 93rd in the world in the 2023 QS World University Rankings, and came in 9th among all public U.S. universities, even as the number of institutions ranked increased 9% in size over the past year to include more than 1,400 of the world’s leading universities.
  —QS World University Rankings, 2023
• Penn State ranked No. 53 out of 2,000 institutions internationally for the quality of its education, employability, faculty and research.
  —Center for World University Rankings, 2022-23
• Based on the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals, Penn State ranked 3rd in the U.S. and 47th in the world out of 1,406 participating international institutions, placing the University in the top 3% of universities worldwide.
  —Times Higher Education (THE) University Impact Rankings, 2022
• Penn State ranked No. 80 internationally among 1,750 institutions based on 13 indicators that measure academic research performance and global and regional reputation.
  —U.S. News Best Global Universities, 2022
• Penn State World Campus ranks among the best online degree programs, including graduate programs in engineering, business, education, and information technology; bachelor's degree programs; and the best online undergraduate and graduate degree programs for veterans.
  —U.S. News “Best Online Programs,” 2022
• Penn State ranks 31st among national public universities in U.S. News & World Report’s annual “Best Colleges” ranking for 2022-23. Penn State is in the top 25 among American Association of Universities public institutions, and ties at 77th overall among more than 443 institutions included in the "National Universities" ranking. Individual undergraduate program rankings released by U.S. News include seven top-10 ratings for select programs in engineering and business, among others.
  —U.S. News & World Report, "Best Colleges”, 2022
• Penn State has been ranked as the No. 21 school for undergraduate entrepreneurship studies in the U.S. in annual ratings of the top schools for entrepreneurship studies. Among schools in the Northeast, Penn State came in at No. 5.
  —The Princeton Review/Entrepreneurship Magazine, 2021
• International students: Listed at 14th among U.S. institutions hosting international students in 2020-21, with 8,267 students at University Park in addition to more across the Commonwealth. Penn State is the No. 1 receiving institution in the state and 2nd in the Big Ten.
  —according to Open Doors: Institute of International Education, 2021
• Study abroad: Ranked 18th in terms of sending students abroad in 2020-21, sending 1,189 University Park students abroad in 2020-21 as well as more from campuses across the Commonwealth.
  —according to Open Doors: Institute of International Education, 2021