Arcadia University is a

private university Private universities and private colleges are higher education institutions not operated, owned, or institutionally funded by governments. However, they often receive tax breaks, public student loans, and government grants. Depending on the count ...

in Cheltenham Township, Pennsylvania, with a Glenside mailing address. The university enrolls approximately 3,200 undergraduate, master's, and doctoral students. The 94-acre (380,000 m2) Glenside campus features Grey Towers Castle, a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

; the university also includes a campus in Christiana, Delaware, as well as several centers around the world.

History

Beaver Female Seminary

Arcadia's history began with two students, Sylvania Jones and Juliet A. Poundstone, who left their family homes in Lafayette County, Pennsylvania, to pursue an education. The students accompanied Sheridan Baker, principal at the Brownsville School they had attended, to the newly-chartered Beaver Female Seminary. Led by Baker, Beaver taught liberal arts, ancient history, rhetoric, logic, and analogy. In 1872 the school renamed itself Beaver College and Musical Institute.

Beaver College

In the late 19th century, the college became coeducational for the first time. In 1907, Beaver College and Musical Institute was simplified to Beaver College. Enrollment was again limited to women. In 1925, the college moved east across Pennsylvania to

Jenkintown, Pennsylvania Jenkintown is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is approximately north of Center City Philadelphia. History The community was named for William Jenkins, a Welsh pioneer settler. The borough was settled in abou ...

, to the Beechwood Hall estate. This location afforded larger facilities, an adequate campus, and greater development opportunities, increasing enrollment but maintaining the advantages of a small college. In 1928, the trustees secured a nearby estate in Glenside, Pennsylvania. This spacious property offered unique stone buildings, including the now iconic Grey Towers Castle. Beaver College constructed eight new campus buildings, established the Center for Education Abroad, and, in 1973, became coeducational again. In the mid-1960s the institution consolidated all campuses to Glenside. In 1985, Bette Landman was appointed president, the first female president in the institution's history. Her tenure saw the dedication of the Kuch Athletic and Recreation Center, the establishment of Preview, joining the

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is the lowest division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that do not offer athletic scholarships to student- ...

, and, in 1992, membership of the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference. Under her leadership, Beaver College achieved university status and was led through the transition from Beaver College to Arcadia University.

Arcadia University

On November 20, 2000, it was announced that Beaver College would become Arcadia University. The official change of name and status occurred at a formal ceremony on July 16, 2001. During the first quarter of the 21st century, the university established six academic colleges and schools, including the College of Global Studies as the first college of a university dedicated to international education. In July 2022, the university expanded its campus size, purchasing 125 Royal Avenue, the site of the former Bishop McDevitt High School.

Campus

The university is in Cheltenham Township. It has its own

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

, named Arcadia University, and some university property extends into the Glenside CDP. The university has a Glenside mailing address. Arcadia University.JPG, Campus Arcadia Univ.jpg, Gateway Blankley Hall, Arcadia University 02.JPG, Blankley Hall Boyer Hall of Sciences, Arcadia University 02.JPG, Boyer Hall of Sciences, Arcadia University Health Sciences Center, Arcadia Unversity.JPG, Health Sciences Center Heinz Hall, Arcadia University 01.JPG, Heinz Hall Knight Hall, Arcadia University 02.JPG, Knight Hall Landman Library, Arcadia University 01.JPG, Landman Library Taylor Hall, Arcadia University 01.JPG, Taylor Hall Fine Art Center, Arcadia University 01.JPG, Fine Arts Center Easton Hall, Arcadia Unversity 01.JPG, Easton Hall

Academics

Undergraduate programs

The university offers more than 65 fields of study in its undergraduate programs. Undergraduate majors are offered through the College of Arts & Sciences, College of Health Sciences, School of Education, and School of Global Business.

Graduate programs

Graduate and professional studies at Arcadia University range from liberal arts to professional degree programs. In May 2023, Arcadia launched fully redesigned hybrid and fully online graduate programs. The Doctor in Physical Therapy program can now be completed in hybrid mode of delivery, combining engaging online sessions, on-campus immersions, and hands-on clinical experiences to allow students across the country to earn their DPT without relocating. The School of Global Business’ online MBA program consists of a business core and a specialization in one of three concentrations.

Student life

Athletics

Arcadia athletics wordmark Arcadia University teams compete in the

within the MAC Freedom of the Middle Atlantic Conference. Men's and women's sports teams include

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

, cross country,

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

, and

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

. In 2025, the university has announced the addition of men's and women's

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

. Arcadia also competes in esports leagues for games including Overwatch, Valorant, Rocket League, Hearthstone, and Super Smash Bros.

Notable people

Alumni

* Anil Beephan Jr.,

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Ass ...

member * Julianne Boyd, former theater director * William Evanina, former director of the U.S. National Counterintelligence and Security Center * Catherine Gunsalus González, religious author and professor emerita at Columbia Theological Seminary * Joe McKeehen, former World Series of Poker champion * Dorothy Germain Porter, amateur golf champion * Abbey Ryan, artist (painter) * M. Susan Savage, Secretary of State of Oklahoma and former Mayor of

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa ( ) is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, second-most-populous city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the List of United States cities by population, 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The po ...

* Edith Schaeffer, religious author and co-founder of the L'Abri study center * Oliver B. Shallenberger, electrical engineer * Anna Deavere Smith, actress * Marjorie Smith, New Hampshire state legislator * Florence Wickham, contralto and composer * Cosmo DiNardo, Perpetrator of the July 2017 Pennsylvania murders / (He attended Arcadia University for only one semester in 2015)

References

External links

*
Athletics website
{{authority control 1853 establishments in Pennsylvania Universities and colleges established in 1853 Former women's universities and colleges in the United States Universities and colleges affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA) Universities and colleges in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Private universities and colleges in Pennsylvania