If you have a Penn State degree, you’re in good company. One out of every 9 Pennsylvanians with a college degree is a Penn State graduate, but our alumni can be found in every state in the country and in nations around the world.

Since the first class of students graduated in 1861, Penn State has become one of the largest and most academically diverse institutions of higher learning in the world, and today it offers more than 275 majors and more than 11,000 courses. It is also  graduating students at an increasingly efficient rate; from 2013 to 2021, Penn State’s four-year graduation rate went from 52.6% to 60.5%, while the five-year rate climbed from 68.8% to 72.5% from 2013 to 2020.

As Penn State celebrates the conferral of its millionth degree, we look back at the origins and growth of the university, at how it responded to changes in higher education and society, and at some of the recent trends among the more than 20,000 students who graduate each year.

1861

First class

Eleven of the students pictured here earned Bachelor of Scientific Agriculture degrees; the other two withdrew before graduation to join Gen. William T. Sherman’s bodyguard in the Civil War.

1863

First graduate degrees

Alfred Smith and Augustus King, Master of Scientific Agriculture

1867

The class with no graduates

For more, see My Thoughts Exactly, p. 88

1873

First female graduate

Rebecca Hannah Ewing, one of six women enrolled in the first co-ed class in 1871

1906

1,000th degree

1926

First doctoral degree

Marsh William White, physics. Read the 1986 Penn Stater article about White.

1928

10,000th degree

1941

25,000th degree

1953

50,000th degree

1965

100,000th degree

1981

250,000th degree

2001

500,000th degree

Fall 2002

First online degree Bachelor of Arts in Letters, Arts, and Sciences

HISTORY

A Developing Curriculum

The Farmers’ High School of Pennsylvania was chartered by the state legislature as an agricultural college in 1855. Four years later, classes focusing mostly on agricultural skills began. (Students were also required to perform manual labor as part of their studies.) In 1861, the school conferred its first degrees to 11 students. In 1863, the school became the state’s sole land-grant university, adding engineering, science, and liberal arts to the curriculum, and in 1874 it was renamed the Pennsylvania State College.

In 1896, the Board of Trustees unanimously approved the executive committee recommendation from the previous fall and established seven schools at Penn State—Agriculture; Engineering; Mathematics and Physics; Mines; Natural Science; History, Political Science, and Philosophy; and Language and Literature. These would be the precursors to the 12 existing academic colleges, the most recent the College of Information Sciences and Technology, which was established in 1999.

The graduate school was established in 1922. In the 1930s, Penn State began to establish campuses across the state, in part to give access to students who were location-bound during the Great Depression. In 1953, at the behest of president Milton Eisenhower, numerous campuses added associate degree programs, expanding opportunities for students around the commonwealth and spurring postwar growth; from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s, the university enrollment doubled, reaching 19,300 in 1962, which made Penn State the 12th-largest institution in the nation at the time.

Between 1956 and 1962, under the leadership of president Eric Walker, the number of major baccalaureate fields and options grew from 68 to 130. During that same time, the Hammond, Wagner, Fenske, and Chambers buildings, a second electrical engineering building, and a fine arts building were added, with expansions made to Rec Hall, Sackett, Henderson, and the Agricultural Engineering buildings. By 1964, thanks to the additions of East Halls and Pollock Halls, there were 11,000 students living on campus.

In 1967, a college of medicine and teaching hospital were established in Hershey, and in 1989, the Pennsylvania College of Technology became a university affiliate. Penn State Dickinson Law is a unified law school with locations in Carlisle and University Park.

MULTIPLE DEGREES 

Making the Most of Opportunities

Many of the university’s 800,000-plus living alumni have earned more than one Penn State degree, whether that was taking on a master’s or doctoral degree after completing a bachelor’s degree or taking advantage of a variety of programs that allow students to receive multiple degrees in one time period, typically five years. Penn State offers 40 integrated undergraduate-graduate (IUG) programs, which combine a bachelor’s degree with a master’s degree in a continuous program of study. The Schreyer Honors College offers custom IUG programs that emphasize research and connections with graduate faculty. The J. Jeffrey and Ann Marie Fox Graduate School offers 103 graduate dual-title degree programs, which allow students to define a problem that combines both the graduate major and dual-title fields. It also offers 19 graduate joint degree programs, which integrate a graduate degree program and a professional degree program.

COMMENCEMENT TRADITIONS

Celebrating With Pieces of History

Penn State includes traditional academic regalia in commencement ceremonies, including caps, gowns, and hoods. Other ceremonial elements have a uniquely Penn State history.

The University Mace
A baton made of wood and brass is carried by a faculty representative at the head of the academic procession and recession during commencement ceremonies. The large mace used in the Bryce Jordan Center was carved in 1957 from a newel post saved from the original Old Main building when it was rebuilt in 1929. Smaller replicas were made from balusters of the roof of University House and are used at Eisenhower Auditorium.

The University Chain of Office and Medal
Worn by the university president at commencement, the University Chain of Office and Medal was introduced in 2002 as a symbol of the responsibilities of the Office of the President and the continuity of that position, as one president passes the chain and medal on to the next. The links of the chain are engraved with the names of all of Penn State’s presidents, with the current president’s name on the link directly above the medal.

WORLD CAMPUS 

Graduates From All Over the World

Since it launched in 1998, more than 40,000 Penn Staters have earned a degree from World Campus, which is a leader among its national peers and offers more than 200 online undergraduate and graduate degrees and certificates guided by the same faculty who teach in residence at the university. World Campus held a celebration in person and online in September to commemorate the 40,000-degree milestone it reached earlier this year.

2024-2025

Types of Degrees

Bachelor's 74.9%
Master's 16.4%
Doctoral 3.9%
Professional 2.7%
Associate 2.1%

Top 10 Bachelor’s Degrees
Psychology 954
Finance 722
Computer Science 562
Mechanical Engineering 559
Business 550
Accounting 460
Marketing 448
Nursing 443
Biology 438
Biobehavioral Health 427

Top 10 Master’s Degrees
Business Administration 466
Accounting 176
Engineering Management 130
Human Resources and Employment  
   Relations 116
Data Analytics 102
Supply Chain Management 101
Computer Science and Engineering 85
Mechanical Engineering 85
Software Engineering 73
Systems Engineering 71

Top 10 Doctoral Degrees
Materials Science and Engineering 38
Mechanical Engineering 37
Informatics 29
Biomedical Sciences 28
Computer Science and Engineering 28
Architectural Engineering 26
Chemical Engineering 26
Chemistry 25
Nursing 25
Physics 24

Top 10 Associate Degrees
Business Administration 121
Multidisciplinary Studies 62
Physical Therapist Assistant 34
Occupational Therapy 31
Radiological Sciences 30
Information Sciences and Technology 27
Turfgrass Science and Management 27
Criminal Justice 15
Human Development and Family 
   Studies 14
Wildlife Technology 14