West Chester University of Pennsylvania is the largest of the 14 public institutions in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education and the fourth-largest university in the Philadelphia area. According to U.S. News & World Report, WCU is one of the top regional universities in the north. West Chester also is one of only three Pennsylvania schools ranked in the top 100 Kiplinger “best buys” in American public higher education.

The University offers more than 100 graduate and undergraduate programs in the arts and sciences, business and public affairs, the social sciences, visual and performing arts, health sciences, and teacher education. In fall 2013 the University began offering its first doctorate, the doctorate of nursing practice.