Graduate Studies at West Chester
The mission of graduate education at West Chester University is to provide high-quality, accessible graduate degree, professional growth, and certificate programs responsive to students' needs for professional development and educational enrichment. The offerings reflect a wide range of master's programs as well as a selected number of specialist and professional growth opportunities. The quality of programs is enhanced by the graduate students' access to and interaction with faculty and by the richness of the diverse student body. The graduate programs are integrated with the research, outreach, and development functions of the University. The faculty fosters excellence in teaching and promotes an intellectual environment that actively supports quality graduate education. The goals of graduate study at this University are as follows:
- Foster an attitude of intellectual and creative inquiry and to develop research and analytical skills that are applicable to professional settings.
- Increase the professional skills and academic competence of students to enable them to make important contributions to their professions.
- Prepare students for further graduate study.
- Meet the needs of college graduates who are preparing for changing career roles in the future.
GRADUATE EDUCATION at West Chester has grown remarkably since its introduction in 1959. Approximately 2,200 students now attend during the fall and spring semesters; some 1,900 enroll for summer sessions. West Chester University's graduate program is one of the largest within the 14 Commonwealth-owned institutions of higher learning.
The University began as the West Chester Academy in 1812 and functioned as a normal school from 1871-1927. Since it became a four-year college in 1927, West Chester has grown steadily and is now one of the major comprehensive institutions of higher learning in the Philadelphia area.
Facilities for graduate education are excellent. The Commonwealth’s extensive building program led to the Schmucker Science Center, a block-long complex of buildings including a planetarium, an astronomical observatory, and modern laboratories; the E.O. Bull Center for the Arts; and the Francis Harvey Green Library, one of Pennsylvania’s principal university libraries. The Merion Science Center was added in 1995, the Swope Music Building and the Performing Arts Center in 2007, and the new Student Recreation Center in fall 2012. An undergraduate business center is in the planning stage.
The University offers the master of arts, master of business administration, master of education, master of music, master of science, master of public administration, and master of social work in more than 70 programs of study.
Master’s degree programs such as the M.B.A., the M.A. in communicative disorders, the M.P.A., the M.S. in computer science, and the M.S.W. are offered, as well as teaching certifications and graduate certificates in several areas, including computer science, counseling, human resource management, literacy (reading), public administration, and special education.
West Chester schedules most of its graduate classes during late afternoons and evenings.
The provisions of this catalog are not to be regarded as an irrevocable contract between the student and the University. West Chester University reserves the right to change any provisions or requirements at any time.
Office of Graduate Studies and Extended Education
McKelvie Hall
102 W. Rosedale Avenue
West Chester University
West Chester, PA 19383-2600
610-436-2943
Fax: 610-436-2763
E-mail: gradschool@wcupa.edu
Web site: http://www.wcupa.edu
Facebook: www.facebook.com/wcugrad
The Campus
The University is located in West Chester, a community in southeastern Pennsylvania strategically located at the center of the mid-Atlantic corridor. The seat of Chester County government for almost two centuries, West Chester retains much of its historical charm in its buildings and countryside but offers the 20th-century advantages of a town in the heart of an expanding economic area. The University occupies 406 acres with much of the campus situated within the Borough of West Chester while the south campus and other areas are located on tracts in adjacent townships. Five miles from the campus is the Graduate Center located on McDermott Drive in West Chester. West Chester was settled in the early 18th century principally by members of the Society of Friends. With a population of about 20,000, the borough is small enough to have the pleasant aspects of a tree-shaded American town, large enough to provide essential services and the substance of a vigorous community, and old enough to give the student first-hand contact with America’s early history. The heart of West Chester is its courthouse, a Classical Revival building designed in the 1840s by Thomas U. Walter, one of the architects for the Capitol in Washington, D.C.
How to Reach West Chester
The Borough of West Chester is easily accessible from all directions both by car and public transportation. Route 3, the West Chester Pike, leads directly into town from center-city Philadelphia. From the Pennsylvania Turnpike, motorists traveling west should take Route 202 south from either the Valley Forge Interchange (exit #326) or the new E-Z Pass-only exit (#320), while those traveling east can arrive via Route 100 south from the Downingtown Interchange (exit #312). From the south, Route 202 from Wilmington and Routes 100 and 52 from U.S. Route 1 all lead to West Chester.
