Temple University

What is the history of Temple University?

Temple University began in Philadelphia in 1884, when Baptist minister Russell Conwell started teaching evening classes for working people. Its early emphasis on access for students who could not attend conventional daytime classes remains an important part of its institutional identity.

The school became Temple College in 1888 and Temple University in 1907. Pennsylvania designated it a state-related university in 1965: Temple is publicly supported but is not one of the campuses of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. Over time, it expanded into a research university with professional schools, a Health Sciences Center, and international campuses. Charles Library, which opened on Main Campus in 2019, is a more recent example of that expansion.

What are the faculties and departments at Temple University?

Temple offers undergraduate, graduate, and professional education across a broad group of schools and colleges. Applicants should identify the school that houses their intended major because curricula, supplemental requirements, and some tuition charges can differ by program.

Its academic units include the College of Liberal Arts, College of Science and Technology, College of Engineering, College of Education and Human Development, College of Public Health, Fox School of Business, Klein College of Media and Communication, Tyler School of Art and Architecture, Boyer College of Music and Dance, and the School of Theater, Film and Media Arts. The School of Sport, Tourism and Hospitality Management adds programs focused on those industries. Professional education includes the Beasley School of Law, Lewis Katz School of Medicine, Kornberg School of Dentistry, and School of Pharmacy.

Undergraduates can study subjects ranging from biology, computer science, engineering, and nursing to accounting, journalism, music, and architecture. Temple also offers research opportunities; its reported research expenditures were approximately $257 million in the referenced fiscal-year data. That institution-wide figure does not mean every undergraduate program requires research participation.

What is the location of Temple University?

Temple University's Main Campus is in North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in an urban neighborhood rather than a secluded college town. That setting gives students access to city institutions and employers while making transportation, commuting time, and neighborhood awareness practical parts of planning an academic week.

The Broad Street Line serves the campus at Cecil B. Moore station, and SEPTA regional rail serves Temple University station. Bus, bicycle, and other city transportation options are also available. Temple has additional Philadelphia locations, including its Health Sciences Center, as well as an Ambler campus in suburban Montgomery County. A student's classes or clinical placements may therefore involve more than one location. Philadelphia International Airport is the principal nearby airport for longer-distance travel.

What is the mission and vision of Temple University?

Temple describes its mission in terms of accessible education, research, and service to Philadelphia and communities beyond it. Its stated priorities include providing educational opportunity to a diverse student body and applying scholarship to public needs; these are institutional aims, not measures of every student's experience.

Temple's origin in evening instruction helps explain its continuing attention to working, transfer, and other nontraditional students alongside full-time first-year students. Although a Baptist minister founded the institution, Temple today is a state-related, nonsectarian university, not a religious college.