University of Pennsylvania -

University of Pennsylvania

Overview

The University of Pennsylvania, commonly called Penn, was established in 1740. This private Ivy League university sits in West Philadelphia, with nearly half of its full-time students enrolled at the undergraduate level. Around 19% of the student population comes from outside the U.S., representing over 100 countries. In a recent year, more than 40% of Penn’s international undergrads were from Asia, 20% from Europe, and close to 15% from Canada and Mexico. The academic year follows a semester system, and all classes are taught in English. First-year undergrads must live on campus and can continue as upperclassmen, though housing isn’t guaranteed after the first year. Some graduate students also have access to on-campus housing.

Penn consists of 12 schools specializing in:

Arts and Sciences
Business
Communication
Dental Medicine
Design
Education
Engineering and Applied Science
Law
Medicine
Nursing
Social Policy and Practice
Veterinary Medicine

Four of these schools offer undergraduate programs, while all 12 provide graduate studies. The medical school is linked with the highly ranked Hospitals of the University of Pennsylvania-Penn Presbyterian. Penn’s research funding exceeded $875 million in a recent year. The Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships helps students find research opportunities and funding. The university also houses over 130 research centers, including the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, and the Penn Institute for Urban Research.

University Data

Total students: 22,422
International students: 5,857
Academic staff: 3,383
International staff: 1,018
Undergraduate degrees awarded: 2,618
Master’s degrees awarded: 4,667
Doctoral degrees awarded: 1,295
Research-only staff: 1,744
New undergrad students: 2,415
New master’s students: 3,208
New doctoral students: 1,378

Rankings

The University of Pennsylvania ranks #15 in Best Global Universities, based on performance across key excellence indicators.

Global Universities Rankings

#15 – Best Global Universities

Subject Rankings

#162 – Artificial Intelligence
#17 – Arts and Humanities (tie)
#18 – Biology and Biochemistry
#11 – Biotechnology and Applied Microbiology
#19 – Cardiac and Cardiovascular Systems
#12 – Cell Biology
#102 – Chemistry
#7 – Clinical Medicine
#93 – Computer Science
#194 – Condensed Matter Physics (tie)
#8 – Economics and Business
#72 – Education and Educational Research
#347 – Electrical and Electronic Engineering
#20 – Endocrinology and Metabolism (tie)
#260 – Engineering (tie)
#414 – Environment/Ecology (tie)
#237 – Food Science and Technology
#37 – Gastroenterology and Hepatology (tie)
#5 – Immunology
#50 – Infectious Diseases
#104 – Materials Science
#27 – Mathematics (tie)
#22 – Microbiology
#11 – Molecular Biology and Genetics
#162 – Nanoscience and Nanotechnology
#8 – Neuroscience and Behavior
#6 – Oncology
#58 – Pharmacology and Toxicology
#225 – Physical Chemistry (tie)
#47 – Physics (tie)
#173 – Plant and Animal Science (tie)
#220 – Polymer Science
#13 – Psychiatry/Psychology (tie)
#55 – Public, Environmental and Occupational Health
#8 – Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Medical Imaging
#25 – Social Sciences and Public Health
#99 – Space Science (tie)
#13 – Surgery

2025-2026 Indicator Rankings

Penn’s overall ranking is based on 13 performance indicators. Below is how it compares in each category:

Best Global Universities (#15)

Global Score: 84
Global Research Reputation: #17
Regional Research Reputation: #10
Publications: #20
Books: #37
Conferences: #132
Normalized Citation Impact: #92
Total Citations: #16
Top 10% Most Cited Publications: #15
Percentage of Top 10% Cited Publications: #65
International Collaboration (Relative to Country): #1125
International Collaboration: #1273
Top 1% Most Cited Papers: #15
Percentage of Top 1% Cited Papers: #98