Penn and the Ivy League

About the University of Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania (Penn) was founded in 1740 by Benjamin Franklin - the famous diplomat, author, inventor, and scientist. Penn is one of eight private universities known as the Ivy League. There are over 21,000 students at Penn, including 4,500 international students. Over 4,700 faculty members teach at Penn. In the past two decades, Penn has been home to 8 MacArthur Award recipients, 4 National Medal of Science recipients, 4 Nobel Prize recipients, and 2 Pulitzer Prize recipients. The University of Pennsylvania is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in the US and in the world. Each year US News & World Report ranks Penn in the top 10 of their national Best Colleges rankings. The 2016 Academic Ranking of World Universities ranked Penn #18 among all universities worldwide. Penn's business school, Wharton, is the oldest school of business in the US and has been ranked #1 by Business Week, Wall Street Journal, and Financial Times magazines.

 

What is the Ivy League?

The Ivy League is a group of 8 United States universities principally founded in the 1700’s, early in the nation’s history, and well-known for their academic excellence and outstanding faculty. The Ivy League includes the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia, Harvard, Dartmouth, Yale, Cornell, Brown, and Princeton.

Ivy League schools are considered prestigious, and are ranked among the best universities in the world.