Pennsylvania State University Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids
The Pennsylvania State University
Old Main, the main administrative building of Penn State, at University Park.
Former names	• Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania (1855–1862) • Agricultural College of Pennsylvania (1862–1874) • Pennsylvania State College (1874–1953)
Type	• Public • State-related • Land-grant • Space-grant • Multi-campus
Established	1855
Endowment	$1.546 billion (systemwide)
President	Eric Barron
Academic staff	6,010 (full time)
Administrative staff	41,435 (full and part time)
Students	44,817 University Park 33,977 Commonwealth Campuses 630 Dickinson School of Law 800 College of Medicine 795 Great Valley 6,290 PA College of Tech 8,524 World Campus 95,833 Total
Undergraduates	38,594 University Park 32,295 Commonwealth Campuses 6,290 PA College of Tech 4,634 World Campus 77,179 Total
Postgraduates	6,223 University Park 1,682 Commonwealth Campuses 795 Great Valley 630 Dickinson School of Law 800 College of Medicine 3,890 World Campus 14,020 Total
Location	University Park , Pennsylvania 19 Commonwealth Campuses 5 Special-mission campuses , United States 40°47′46″N 77°51′46″W / 40.79611°N 77.86278°W / 40.79611; -77.86278
Campus	University Park Campus: 5,448 acres (22 km²). TOTAL Campuses: 18,370 acres (74 km²)
Colors	Dark Royal Blue and White
Athletics	• Big Ten Conference • NCAA Division I
Nickname	Nittany Lions
Affiliations	• Association of American Universities • Committee on Institutional Cooperation • Middle Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Association
Website	psu.edu

Pennsylvania State University is a college in the state of Pennsylvania. The main campus is in the city of State College, Pennsylvania and it has branch campuses around the state. It was founded in 1855. In 1863, the Pennsylvania state legislature picked the school to be the state's only land grant college. Its purpose is to do teaching, research, and public service. It teaches undergraduate, graduate, professional and continuing education students both in classrooms and online.

Penn State University Park is ranked among the top-fifteen public universities in the United States. Annual enrollment at the main campus totals more than 44,000 graduate and undergraduate students, making it one of the largest universities in the United States. It has the world's largest dues-paying alumni association.

The university's total enrollment in 2009–10 was approximately 94,300 across its 24 campuses and online through its World Campus. The university offers more than 160 majors among all its campuses Penn State has a US$1.52 billion (as of April 30, 2010) endowment. The university's research budget was more than $765 million for the 2009-2009 fiscal year. In fiscal year 2008, the National Science Foundation ranked Penn State 11th among U.S. universities in research income.

Penn State is a school known for its football team. Penn State is a member of the Big Ten Conference.

Organization and administration
Sports
Images for kids
See also

Organization and administration

Penn State is a "state-related" university, part of Pennsylvania's Commonwealth System of Higher Education. It receives money from the Commonwealth. The state appoints 10 out of 32 people on its board of trustees. Penn State is independent and not subject to the state's direct control. For the 2006–2007 fiscal year, the university received 9.7 percent of its budget from state appropriations, the lowest of the four state-related institutions in Pennsylvania. As Pennsylvania's land grant college, the state and federal governments provide matching funds for research and cooperative extension in agriculture, home economics and related fields.

The board of trustees selects a president of the University. The president controls the university, including day-to-day management. In practice, the president gives power to other departments of the administration, to the faculty, and to the student body. Provost Rodney Erickson became interim President on November 9, 2011, after President Graham Spanier was fired.

The executive vice president and provost is the chief academic officer of the University. As of 2011, the provost is Rodney Erickson, and the Associate Vice President and Senior Associate Dean For Undergraduate Education is Jeremy Cohen.

Sports

Penn State's sports teams are nicknamed Nittany Lions, except for the women's basketball team, which is known as the Lady Lions. Almost all teams play in the Big Ten Conference. Two teams in sports that the Big Ten does not sponsor play elsewhere. The women's ice hockey team plays in College Hockey America and the men's volleyball team in the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association.

Images for kids

Old Main circa 1855
The Electrical Engineering and Chemistry Building
Old Main Entrance
Panoramic view of Ag Hill Complex
Nittany Lion Shrine
Main Building at Penn State Great Valley
Schreyer Honors College
Carnegie Building
Huck Institute of the Life Sciences - Gateway to the Sciences
Old Main, the main administrative building of Penn State, located at University Park.
The Forum Building is a classroom building with four classrooms, each capable of containing over 300 students.
Osmond Laboratory
Millennium Science Complex
Pattee Library
The Irvin residence hall in West Halls
Brill Hall
Penn State Dance MaraTHON
Wall near Beaver Stadium
The "S-Zone", within the student section, represents "State".
Former President's house, now adjoined to the Hintz Alumni Center
Rick Santorum, former U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania
Guion Bluford, first African American to go to space
Keegan-Michael Key, actor, comedian, writer
Francisco Sagasti, interim President of Peru
Mark Parker, former president-CEO of Nike, Inc
Steve McCurry, photographer, photographed the Afghan Girl
Saquon Barkley, professional football player
Patricia Woertz, former Executive Vice President of the Chevron Corporation
Jef Raskin, human-computer interface expert, conceived Macintosh project at Apple, Inc
Jonathan Frakes, actor and director
Terry Pegula, billionaire businessman and owner of the Buffalo Bills
Ty Burrell, actor
Mike Doyle, U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania
Julius J. Epstein, Academy Award winning screenwriter of Casablanca
Lara Spencer, American co-anchor of Good Morning America
Paul Berg, biochemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry winner for research on nucleic acids
Charlie Dent, former U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania
Jigme Thinley, former Prime Minister of Bhutan
Ken Frazier, Chairman & CEO of Merck & Co.
Lisa Salters, sports journalist
Franco Harris, former professional football player
Carl Nassib, first openly gay active NFL player
David Taylor, wrestler and 2020 Olympic gold medalist
Kelly Ayotte, former U.S. Senator from New Hampshire
Ali Krieger Two time Olympian, Two time World Cup champion, professional soccer player

Pennsylvania State University facts for kids

Contents

Organization and administration

Sports

Images for kids

See also