



Courtesy of Marywood University
Marywood University is a private Catholic university founded in Scranton, Pennsylvania, in 1915 by the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. It began as a college for women; that history remains part of its identity even though it now enrolls students of all genders.
Marywood later expanded its academic offerings and became a university in 1997. Today it combines undergraduate education with graduate and professional programs, including fields such as architecture, health care, education, and social work. Its religious founding helps explain the continuing emphasis on service and ethical responsibility in its stated educational mission.
Marywood offers undergraduate and graduate study across the arts and sciences, business, education, health professions, and other professional fields. Prospective students should compare programs individually: admission standards, required placements, and professional credentials can differ substantially by major.
Examples of undergraduate fields include architecture, biology, business, communication, computer science, nursing, psychology, and the visual and performing arts. Graduate and professional offerings include areas such as social work and education. The School of Architecture is a particularly identifiable part of Marywood's academic organization.
Program names alone do not establish a path to licensure. Applicants considering architecture, nursing, teaching, or another regulated profession should check the exact degree, its current accreditation or approval, and the requirements in the state where they intend to work. Marywood reports a student-to-faculty ratio of 12 to 1; that institution-wide figure does not describe the size of every class or studio.
Marywood's main campus is in Scranton, in northeastern Pennsylvania. Its address is 2300 Adams Avenue, in a residential area near the Scranton-Dunmore boundary rather than in Scranton's downtown core.
The setting gives students access to a city with health-care providers, schools, arts venues, and other potential sites for placements and part-time work. Travel to an internship or clinical assignment may still require a car or another transportation plan. Scranton is served by regional bus routes, but students should check schedules against their own class and placement hours rather than assume that every destination is convenient by transit.
Marywood describes its mission in terms of Catholic education, academic and professional preparation, service, and responsibility to others. Its connection to the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary is a continuing institutional affiliation, not a requirement that every student share a religious identity.
Prospective students can expect that service, ethics, and reflection may appear in campus programming and parts of the curriculum. Those stated priorities describe what the university intends to emphasize; they do not, by themselves, measure the experience of every student or the outcomes of every program.
Name of the institution
Marywood UniversityLevel of institution
Four or more yearsControl of institution
PrivateSetting type
City: SmallInstitutional Category
Degree - granting, primarily baccalaureate or aboveInstitution size category
1,000 - 4,999Religious affiliation
Catholic (Roman Catholic Church)School type
UniversityMain student body
CoeducationalCalendar system
SemestersFoundation year
1915Marywood University is institutionally accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, an accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Accreditation confirms that the school meets quality standards and is required for students to receive federal financial aid.
Certificate of less than 1 year
Bachelor's degree
Postbaccalaureate certificate
Master's degree
Doctor's degree - research/scholarship
Doctor's degree - professional practiceData last updated on November 5, 2026
Data sources: IPEDS 2024-25, Peterson 2026, College Scorecard 10/2026, Clery 2024 (2023-24), OpenAlex 2026
Figures on this profile come from federal and third-party datasets in the editions listed above and are refreshed periodically, so they may differ from what the institution currently reports. Confirm costs, deadlines and requirements with the school before making decisions.