Founded in 1891 by Philadelphia financier and philanthropist Anthony J. Drexel, The Drexel Institute of Art, Science and Industry became Drexel University in 1970. Today, Drexel is Philadelphia's technological university. And it continues to move up the rankings as one of the best national doctoral universities, Drexel has once again been ranked as one of the best national doctoral universities by U.S. News & World Report.
The University is located on 50 acres within walking distance of Center City Philadelphia. The campus includes 25 academic buildings, eight residence halls and four outdoor recreation fields. Ten fraternity and sorority houses, as well as other off-campus housing, are located adjacent to campus in the historic Powelton Village section of University City. An 18-acre outdoor athletic complex, with two lighted artificial turf fields, nine tennis courts and a softball field, is located just west of Powelton Village. On July 1, 2002, Drexel formally acquired the former MCP Hahnemann University, which now includes the Drexel University College of Medicine, College of Nursing and Health Professions and School of Public Health.
The University offers 73 bachelor’s programs, 41 master’s programs, 31 doctoral programs, a doctor of medicine program, a juris doctorate and 13 graduate-level certificate programs, and enrolls more than 12,000 full-time undergraduate and nearly 18,500 total students from 49 states and 118 different countries in its eight colleges and three schools. The school also has a highly qualified faculty, and with a 12:1 student to faculty instructional ratio students ensured a quality education. Drexel’s colleges include: The College of Arts and Sciences; LeBow College of Business; Drexel University College of Medicine; Engineering; Information Science and Technology; Media Arts & Design; Nursing and Health Professions; The College of Law and Goodwin College of Professional Studies. The schools are: Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems; Education; and Public Health.
In U.S. News & World Report’s 2005 rankings, the University placed 106th, advancing 17 positions and surpassing 13 institutions that were ranked higher than Drexel in 2004, the University is now 55th among the nation’s private doctoral universities.
The publication ranked Drexel’s College of Engineering’s undergraduate program 50th among engineering schools that award doctoral degrees. LeBow College of Business is ranked 120th in undergraduate business programs. Drexel’s School of Education graduate program places 66th nationally and the College of Engineering is 61st in the nation among graduate programs of study, according to the publication.
Both Drexel’s undergraduate and graduate programs of study are among the nation’s best. For the fourth consecutive year, Drexel has been ranked in the top category in U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” publication. Drexel joins The University of Pennsylvania as the only two Philadelphia universities ranked in this category. In the latest ranking, Drexel placed 109th overall with the University’s College of Engineering ranking 57th among undergraduate programs and the LeBow College of Business rated 116th out of all undergraduate business schools. The School of Education’s graduate program is 16th among national private universities.
Individual programs of study offered at Drexel have also been recognized on a national level as quality educational tracts. The College of Information Science and Technology’s library and information science program was ranked 11th by U.S.News & World Report for library and information studies specialties. The college is ranked No. 5 nationally for specialized programs in information systems and No. 6 in the nation for specialized programs in digital librarianship.
Drexel’s online programs are ranked among the best online graduate degrees in business, engineering and library science. The LeBow College of Business’s MBA program is ranked 100th overall and its Techno MBA program ranks nationally as one of the best online graduate programs in business.
In the College of Nursing and Health Professions, the school’s physician assistant program is in the top 25 and the nursing anesthesia program rounds out the nation’s top 50. And the burgeoning College of Medicine now ranks 88th overall in the research category, 92nd in primary care and 16th in women’s health programs. In addition, Drexel’s biological sciences program is 125th nationally.
One of the trademarks of a Drexel education, since its establishment in 1919, has been the school’s co-operative education program which gives students a chance to work in the “real world” as part of their college education. The only mandatory co-operative education program in Pennsylvania and one of three in the United States, Drexel's 86-year-old experiential learning program is among the nation's oldest and largest. More than 4,500 Drexel students are placed with 1,500 employer organizations in the business, government, health care industry and education sectors in 42 states and 20 international locations to fulfill their co-op requirements.
Drexel’s co-op program was ranked among the nation’s top 10 experiential-learning programs by U.S. News & World Report.
The publication also ranked Drexel athletics as No. 1 in the nation in athletic gender equity in 2002. A member of the Colonial Athletic Association, Drexel offers eight men's and eight women's NCAA Division I varsity sports, in addition to 19 club and over 25 intramural sports.
Several other publications have recognized Drexel as a paragon of technological, scientific and business education.
C/O magazine presented Drexel with 2006 CIO 100 award for being among the nation’s top 100 organizations that have distinguished themselves by creating business value through the effective and innovative use of information technology.
LeBow College of Business’s undergraduate business program is 58th in Business Week’s inaugural rankings of the country’s best undergraduate business schools. The College ranks 14th in median salary of graduates, 24th in enrollment, 27th in academic quality, 48th in average SAT score and 15th in cost.
The Princeton Review ranked Drexel among America’s “Top 25 Most Connected Campuses” in 2006.
The Intel Corporation ranked Drexel No. 22 out of 100 in the country on its “Most Unwired College Campuses” survey.
In March 2006, the Financial Times ranked the LeBow College of Business’s MBA in pharmaceutical management program as one of the top 25 distance learning programs.
Entrepreneur Magazine ranked the LeBow College of Business entrepreneurial program among the nation’s top 25 in entrepreneurial emphasis.
A leader in curricular and technological innovation, Drexel became the first university to require all students to have microcomputers in 1983. In 2000, Drexel became the first major university to operate a fully wireless campus. In 2002, the University launched Drexel One Mobile, the first wireless Web portal service for students.
One of the main reasons for Drexel’s recent innovation and expansion is President Constantine Papadakis, Ph.D., who has been the president of Drexel University since 1995. Since becoming president, Papadakis has seen undergraduate applications, the endowment and co-op employers triple and full-time undergraduate enrollment, research funding, philanthropy, net assets and number of co-op students double.
The University’s endowment is now in excess of $450 million, which ranks 97th among all U.S. colleges and universities, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education. Government grants and contracts for 2004 totaled $90 million, placing the University 73rd nationally and 32nd among private colleges and universities in the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s “Philanthropy 400.” With more than 5,600 employees, Drexel is Philadelphia’s sixth largest private sector employer. The University has an annual operating budget of more than $530 million.
After modest beginnings in 1891, today's Drexel University boasts more than 90,000 alumni worldwide and is known internationally as one of America’s best technical universities.
Drexel can be found on the World Wide Web at www.drexel.edu.
• With eight NCAA Division I sports each for men and women, Drexel is one of the few colleges or universities in the nation that enjoys total parity between men’s and women’s athletics. Drexel men and women student-athletes receive the same athletic financial support overall.
• Drexel has had an Academic All-American in seven of the last nine years. Most recently, men’s soccer player Tim Mochan and field hockey player Karie Walton were named to the national Academic All-America Team, which is just the second time in school history that two players have earned the honor in the same year.
• Three Drexel student-athletes have won the conference’s highest honors in academics and leadership in the past five years, chosen out of thousands of athletes. Men’s Basketball Captain Robert Battle was awarded the 2003 Colonial Athletic Association’s Dean Ehler’s Leadership Award, while Women’s Basketball standout Michelle Maslowski received the award in 2002. Softball pitcher Lori Swanson was recognized as the 2001 America East Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
• Drexel’s student-athletes also rank among the best in the Philadelphia area. Twelve Dragons were named to the Philadelphia Inquirer’s inaugural Academic All-Area Team in 2004-05. Three Drexel student-athletes were named the Performer of the Year for their respective sports: Karie Walton for field hockey, Keith Snyder for men’s golf and Michael Sousa for men’s crew.
• As a team, Drexel field hockey was ranked fourth in the nation academically, based on grade-point average, and won the National Field Hockey Coaches Association’s team academic award for the third year in a row. Last season, the women’s soccer team also garnered the team academic award from the National Soccer Coaches Association.
• Drexel University’s ten-year graduation rate is 91% for student-athletes who have received athletics aid and exhausted their eligibility.