Pennsylvania State University Diploma: An Agricultural Experiment That Grew Beyond the Fields
The Pennsylvania State University, commonly referred to as Penn State, is a public state-related research university with multiple campuses and facilities located throughout Pennsylvania. It works across a network of campuses and online programs, integrating undergraduate and postgraduate education with research and public service. It is publicly funded, but not government owned, and is independently governed.
Founded in 1855, the institution was then called the Farmers’ High School of Pennsylvania. That’s a bit of a misnomer, though, as it was founded as a college with degree-granting powers. The name suggested an outreach to farming families skeptical of the value of a classical education in ancient languages and philosophy.
Its first students came in 1859. The academic calendar and lessons connecting scientific study to agricultural practice enabled students to follow the planting, growing and harvesting seasons. The first graduating class, eleven men, completed their studies in 1861. These early days ignited a lifelong passion for using knowledge to address common problems.
After the passage of the federal Morrill Act in 1863, the college was designated Pennsylvania’s land-grant institution. This broadened its educational aims to include agriculture, engineering and other fields. In the late nineteenth century under President George W. Atherton, there was an expansion of programs in engineering, science and liberal arts.
After 1874 it was called Pennsylvania State College, and in 1953 took its present name. These changes were the result of the gradual development of a specialist agricultural college into a much more broadly based university. For further details on the university’s development, see Penn State’s official history.
Education Over Distances
Penn State’s geographic reach grew in part out of practical barriers. Undergraduate branch campuses provided a solution for students who could not move during the Great Depression. Students now have options for moving through the university, such as completing eligible programs at one campus or transferring campuses. Its largest campus remains University Park.
Distance education took a similar pragmatic path. Long before it was possible to teach digitally, agricultural correspondence lessons were offered in the 1890s. World Campus, which launched in 1998, took that a step further, offering online degrees and certificates, especially for learners attempting to balance education with a job, military service or family responsibilities.
Research and graduate education grew up together. When yhe Graduate School was founded in 1922 the Pennsylvania State University Diploma options grew. Medicine eventually became another major field and a medical college and teaching hospital were established at Hershey in 1967. In addition to classroom teaching, extension and outreach programs continue the university’s founding promise to make academic knowledge useful beyond campus.