Portal:Philadelphia/Music, Arts & Culture/November 2006

University of Pennsylvania's Quad in the Fall, facing Ware College House.

The University of Pennsylvania is a private, nonsectarian research university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. According to the university, it is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the U.S. and America's first university. Penn is a member of the Ivy League and is also one of the Colonial Colleges. Penn has also been recognized as a leader in the arts and humanities, the social sciences, architecture, communications, and education. It is particularly noted for its professional programs, including schools of business, law and medicine. About 4,500 professors serve nearly 10,000 full-time undergraduate and 10,000 graduate and professional students. Penn is incorporated as "The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania." Penn's academic research programs undertake more than US$700 million in sponsored research a year, involving some 1,000 faculty, 1,000 postdoctoral fellows, 3,000 graduate students, and 5,000 support staff. Much of the funding is provided by the National Institutes of Health for biomedical research, from which Penn is the fourth most funded University.