University of Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of founder and first president Benjamin Franklin, who had advocated for an educational institution that trained leaders in academia, commerce, and public service.

The university has four undergraduate schools and 12 graduate and professional schools. Schools enrolling undergraduates include the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Engineering and Applied Science, the Wharton School, and the School of Nursing. Among its graduate schools are its law school, whose first professor, James Wilson, helped write the U.S. Constitution; and its medical school, the first in North America.

In 2023, Penn ranked third among U.S. universities in research expenditures, according to the National Science Foundation. As of 2024, its endowment was $22.3 billion, making it the sixth-wealthiest private academic institution in the nation. The University of Pennsylvania's main campus is in the University City neighborhood of West Philadelphia, and is centered around College Hall. Campus landmarks include Houston Hall, the first modern student union; and Franklin Field, the nation's first dual-level college football stadium and the nation's longest-standing NCAA Division I college football stadium in continuous operation. The university's athletics program, the Penn Quakers, fields varsity teams in 33 sports as a member of NCAA Division I's Ivy League conference.

Penn alumni, trustees, and faculty include eight Founding Fathers of the United States who signed the Declaration of Independence, seven who signed the U.S. Constitution, 24 members of the Continental Congress, two Presidents of the United States, 38 Nobel laureates, nine foreign heads of state, three United States Supreme Court justices, at least four Supreme Court justices of foreign nations, 32 U.S. senators, 163 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, 19 U.S. Cabinet Secretaries, 46 governors, 28 State Supreme Court justices, 36 living undergraduate billionaires (the largest number of any U.S. college or university), and five Medal of Honor recipients.