Temple University
A comprehensive public research university, Temple University enrolls more than 34,000 students, is the 27th-largest university in America and is one of the nation’s leading centers of professional education.
Founded in 1884 by Dr. Russell Conwell as an informal adult-education outgrowth of his Baptist Temple ministry, Temple College was chartered in 1888 and was incorporated as Temple University in 1907. In 1965, Temple became a member of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education.
Temple University offers 300 academic degree programs. There are two associate degree programs (Horticulture and General Studies), 125 bachelor’s programs, 113 master’s programs, 52 doctoral programs and eight first-professional degree programs in the fields of dentistry, law, medicine, pharmacy and podiatric medicine. There are also ten certificate programs.
Four of Temple’s eight Pennsylvania locations are in Philadelphia: Its 115-acre Main Campus and its 17-acre Health Sciences Center will be the primary sites of more than $500 million in construction and renovation over the next several years. Center City is the home of the School of Podiatric Medicine and Temple University Center City, which serves the credit and non-credit education and enrichment needs of area corporations and residents.
The 186-acre campus in suburban Ambler offers programs in community and regional planning, horticulture, landscape architecture and other majors; the Tyler School of Art occupies a 12-acre campus in Elkins Park, PA, until its planned 2009 relocation to a new facility on Main Campus; and the location in Fort Washington, PA, hosts a graduate and professional center featuring graduate and non-credit courses for adult learners. An eighth Pennsylvania location is located in the heart of the state’s capital, Harrisburg.
Temple has campuses in Rome and Tokyo, and the university operates prestigious study abroad programs in London, Beijing, Paris, Mumbai and other locations worldwide.
Housing
Nearly 10,000 students now live on or near the Main Campus in Philadelphia—more than twice the number who lived on or near campus in 2002. Temple’s growth sparked $200 million in private residential development and the arrival of new restaurants and shops to the neighborhoods surrounding the Main Campus and the Health Sciences Center.