
Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Great Valley is Penn State's graduate-focused campus in Malvern, Pennsylvania. It developed to serve working professionals and employers in the Philadelphia region rather than to operate as a conventional four-year residential college.
That purpose still shapes the campus: its academic offerings center on graduate degrees, certificates, and professional education. Applicants should distinguish Great Valley's history and programs from those of Penn State's much larger University Park campus.
Penn State Great Valley concentrates on graduate and professional study, particularly in business, technology, and engineering. It is not organized around the broad range of undergraduate majors available at some other Penn State campuses.
Representative offerings include an MBA and graduate study in areas such as data analytics, information science, software engineering, and engineering management. Graduate certificates and professional-development courses provide narrower options for people who do not need another full degree. Program names, delivery formats, and available start terms can change, so applicants should use Great Valley's current program directory to identify the credential that matches their goals.
A program's academic home matters when comparing Penn State campuses: admission to a degree offered at University Park or through World Campus should not be assumed to mean admission to the same degree at Great Valley.
Penn State Great Valley is in Malvern, a suburb in Chester County west of Philadelphia. Its address is 30 E. Swedesford Road, in an area with substantial office and business development.
The setting is useful context for students considering evening classes or combining school with a regional job. Drivers should account for traffic on nearby suburban roads. SEPTA's Malvern station provides regional rail service, but students relying on transit should check how they will complete the trip between the station and campus, particularly after an evening class.
Penn State Great Valley's educational purpose is graduate and professional education connected to the needs of working adults and the region it serves. As part of Penn State, it also operates within the university's broader land-grant mission of education, research, and public service.
Its emphasis on applied study and professional learning describes an institutional priority, not a promise of a particular job outcome. Prospective students can assess how that priority appears in a specific program by examining its curriculum, course schedule, faculty expertise, and opportunities to work on practical problems.
Name of the institution
Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Great ValleyLevel of institution
Four or more yearsControl of institution
PublicSetting type
Suburb: LargeInstitutional Category
Degree - granting, graduate with no undergraduate degreesInstitution size category
Under 1,000Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Great Valley 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.
Postbaccalaureate certificate
Master's degreeData last updated on November 2, 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.