Founded in 1871 as an institute for teacher preparation, West Chester University is a comprehensive public institution, offering more than 118 undergraduate, 120+ graduate programs and 4 doctoral programs in more than 50 fields of study.

Campus

Pennsylvania State

25 miles west of Philadelphia

409 acres primarily in the Borough of West Chester

Organized into six colleges and one school:

  • College of Arts and Humanities
  • College of Health Sciences
  • College of Business and Public Management
  • College of the Sciences and Mathematics
  • College of Education and Social Work
  • University College
  • Wells School of Music
Philly Skyline Graphic

Our Philadelphia location offers bachelor's programs in social work and business management as well as a BSN for the registered nurse program. Three master's programs are offered: in social work; public administration; and transformative education and social change.
*The Philadelphia campus offers a tuition differential to make a WCU education even more affordable.

Awards and Recognition

  • U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges Rankings
    • 17th Top Public School: Regional University North
    • 38th Best College for Veterans: Regional University North
    • 68th Regional University North
    • 69th Best Value School
  • Designated a Military Friendly School by Victory Media, publisher of GI Jobs magazine

Admission

(All data are from Fall 2020)

Enrolled First-Year Academic Profile

  • High School GPA: 3.35
  • Combined SAT (Critical Reading & Math): 1111
  • Class Rank: 61%
  • ACT: 22

Applications

  • First-Year Students
    • Total Applications: 13,589
    • Total Admitted: 8,934

    Total Enrolled (full-time and part-time): 2,777

  • Transfer
    • Total Applications: 2,956
    • Total Admitted: 1,942

    Total Enrolled: 1,265

Total Enrollment: 17,552

Undergraduate: 14,592

Undergrad Enrollment Pie Chart 90% Full time Students, 10% Part-Time
  • Full-Time: 13,085
  • Part-Time: 1,507

Graduate: 2,960

Graduate Enrollment Pie Chart 34.4% Full Time; 65.6% Part-Time
  • Full-Time: 1,019
  • Part-Time: 1,941

Costs

Annual Expenses

*For Fall 2020/Spring 2021, the University provided special COVID-19 Relief Credits. The rates listed below are expenses before these credits were applied. Fulltime in-state students saw a 11% cost savings and fulltime out-of-state students saw a 22% cost savings.

 

In-State:

Out-of-State:

Annual Tuition

$7,716.00

$19,290.00

Undergraduate per-credit-hour charges (tuition only)

$322.00

$805.00

*Graduate per-credit-hour charges (tuition only)

$516.00

$774.00

*Charges for students in special programs of study may differ.

  • Required Fees: $2,755.06 (Instructional Technology Fee + General Fee)
  • Room and Board: $9,494.00
    • Room: $5,794.00 (Traditional North Campus Double)
    • Board: $3,700.00 (Unlimited Meals per week + $250 Flex Dollars)
    •

Students who will be utilizing financial aid can review their Cost of Attendance in order to review both billable and non-billable expenses.

Academics

Undergraduate Student to Faculty Ratio: 19:1

Student to Faculty Ratio is 19:1

WCU currently offers 118 undergraduate, 103 master's, 4 doctorate degree programs taught by 695 full-time and 298 part-time faculty.

Degrees Awarded

  • May 2020 Graduates
    • 601 Graduates
    • 2,123 Undergraduates
  • Demember 2019 Graduates
    • 268 Graduates
    • 862 Undergraduates

Degrees Awarded between June 30, 2019 and July 1, 2020

  • Bachelor’s Degrees: 3,388
  • Master’s Degrees: 1,043
  • Doctoral Degrees: 32

** Total count above includes Summer 2019 and January 2020 graduates as well as December 2019 and May 2020 graduates.

Student Body

WCU students primarily come from Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, and Maryland. In total, students come from 29 different states (including Washington, D.C.) and 74 different countries.

Purple & Gold representative people

Undergraduate student body is:

  • 40% male
  • 60% female
  • 22.3% students of color

Housing

Each North Campus residence hall has a trained staff residence director who is assisted by 6-15 resident assistants and 7-8 desk assistants per hall.

In a normal year:

Pie Chart of 93% 92% of first-year students live in campus housing

Pie Chart of 36% 40% of all undergraduates live on campus

Pie Chart of 61% 60% of undergraduate students live off campus or commute

Student Life

Graphic of hands raised

During the 2018-2019 academic year, nearly 8,000 WCU students provided more than 709,000 hours of volunteer service in Chester County and places as far away as South Africa.

WCU offers 299 student clubs and organizations for undergraduate and graduate students


  • Dancing -- swing dance , Irish dance, Bollywood dance club, the "Dream Dance Team"
  • Sports -- Ultimate Frisbee, swim, judo, fencing and soccer
  • Academic & Professional -- Earth & Space Science, Pre-Law Society , Minorities in Medicine
  • Service -- Abbe’ Society, Colleges Against Cancer, Habitat for Humanity
  • Social Equity -- Black Men United, L.A.S.O. (Latin American Student Organization), SAGA (Sexuality and Gender Alliance).
  • Plus, our newest clubs: the Transfer Student Association, WCU Dance Marathon, and Black Graduate Caucus.

Athletics

West Chester University sponsors one of the largest varsity programs in NCAA Division II with 24 intercollegiate men’s and women’s sports. Students participate in NCAA Division II athletics in the PSAC and the ECAC. In the 2019-2020 academic year, there were 557 WCU student-athletes.

  • Recent National Champions:
    • Baseball: 2012, 2017
    • Women’s Field Hockey: 2011, 2012, 2019 (also 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978)
    • Women’s Lacrosse: 2002, 2008
  • WCU has 15 athletic fields on North Campus and South Campus
  • John A. Farrell Stadium is home to the majority of WCU sporting events and has the same artificial turf used by professional football teams.

Fraternities and Sororities

WCU is home to 16 fraternities and 18 sororities for like-minded students who seek groups dedicated to particular service, honor, and study initiatives.

These values-based organizations promote friendship, leadership, scholarship, and service. With 34 chapters, fraternity and sorority life provides a unique opportunity for students to be a part of campus tradition that will last a lifetime.

27%
of first-year men join fraternities

29%
of first-year women join sororities

13%
of undergrad men join fraternities

18%
of undergrad women join sororities

ROTC

The Army ROTC at WCU provides college-trained officers for both Active Components (U.S. Army) and Reserve Components (U.S. Army Reserve and the National Guard).

  • Army ROTC is offered on campus through cooperating institution Widener University.
  • Air Force ROTC is offered off campus at cooperating institution St. Joseph’s University.

Veterans

Yellow Ribbon - Support Out Troops

The Greg and Sandra Weisenstein Veterans Center, at 624 South High Street, offers a location where veterans and active military enrolled at WCU can gather to study, relax, have meetings, and find support.