Revised March 2007

Graduate Studies at West Chester

The mission of graduate education at West Chester University is to provide high-quality, accessible graduate degree, professional growth, and certificate programs responsive to students' needs for professional development and educational enrichment. The offerings reflect a wide range of master's programs as well as a selected number of specialist and professional growth opportunities. The quality of programs is enhanced by the graduate students' access to and interaction with faculty and by the richness of the diverse student body. The graduate programs are integrated with the research, outreach, and development functions of the University. The faculty fosters excellence in teaching and promotes an intellectual environment that actively supports quality graduate education. The goals of graduate study at this University are as follows:

1. Foster an attitude of intellectual and creative inquiry and to develop research and analytical skills that are applicable to professional settings.

2. Increase the professional skills and academic competence of students to enable them to make important contributions to their professions.

3. Prepare students for further graduate study.

4. Meet the needs of college graduates who are preparing for changing career roles in the future.

THE GRADUATE STUDIES PROGRAM at West Chester has grown remarkably since its introduction in 1959. Approximately 2,000 students now attend during the fall and spring semesters; some 1,800 enroll for summer sessions. West Chester University's graduate program is the largest within the 14 Commonwealth-owned institutions of higher learning.

The University began as the West Chester Academy in 1812 and functioned as a normal school from 1871-1927. Since it became a four-year college in 1927, West Chester has developed steadily and is now one of the major comprehensive institutions of higher learning in the Philadelphia vicinity.

Facilities for graduate education are excellent. The Commonwealth's extensive building program in the 1950s led to the Schmucker Science Center, a block-long complex of buildings including a planetarium, an astronomical observatory, and modern laboratories; the Elsie O. Bull Learning and Research Center; and the Francis Harvey Green Library, one of Pennsylvania's principal university libraries. The Boucher Science Center was added in 1995, and the Swope Music Building and the Performing Arts Center in 2007. An undergraduate business center is in the planning stage.

The University offers the master of arts, master of business administration, master of education, master of music, master of science, master of science in administration, and master of social work in approximately 50 disciplines or areas of study.

Master's degree programs such as the M.B.A., the M.A. in communicative disorders, the M.S.A., the M.S. in computer science, the M.S.W., and the certificate of advanced graduate study are offered, as well as certificate programs in several areas, including administration, computer science, counseling, elementary education, gerontology, human resource management, leadership for women, literacy (reading), and special education.

In addition to its degree, certification, and certificate programs, West Chester offers certificates in administration, computer science education, and health, as well as nondegree study in a number of areas including art, linguistics, theatre arts, and women's studies.

For the benefit of in-service teachers and other employed persons, West Chester schedules most of its graduate classes during late afternoons and evenings.

Graduate Summer Sessions

Summer school includes two five-week terms plus a three-week post session, devoted primarily to workshops (see "Admission" to apply) and courses/programs offered in program-specific formats (see summer course schedule). Admission to summer sessions courses does not constitute admission to a degree program.

The Campus

The University is located in West Chester, a community in southeastern Pennsylvania strategically located at the center of the mid-Atlantic corridor. The seat of Chester County government for almost two centuries, West Chester retains much of its historical charm in its buildings and countryside, but offers the 20th-century advantages of a town in the heart of an expanding economic area. The University occupies 402 acres. The main campus is situated on 106 acres within the Borough of West Chester; the south campus is located on a 293-acre tract in adjacent townships. Five miles from the main campus is the Graduate Business Center located on McDermott Drive in West Chester. West Chester was settled in the early eighteenth century principally by members of the Society of Friends. With a population of about 20,000, the borough is small enough to have the pleasant aspects of a tree-shaded American town, large enough to provide essential services and the substance of a vigorous community, and old enough to give the student first-hand contact with America's early history. The heart of West Chester is its courthouse, a Classical Revival building designed in the 1840s by Thomas U. Walter, one of the architects for the Capitol in Washington, D.C.

How to Reach West Chester

The Borough of West Chester is easily accessible from all directions both by car and public transportation. Route 3, the West Chester Pike, leads directly into town from center-city Philadelphia. From the Pennsylvania Turnpike, motorists traveling west should take Route 202 south from the Valley Forge Interchange (exit #326), while those traveling east can arrive via Route 100 south from the Downingtown Interchange (exit #312). From the south, Route 202 from Wilmington and Routes 100 and 52 from U.S. Route 1 all lead to West Chester.

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