Pennsylvania Western University, Edinboro (abbreviated as PennWest Edinboro) is a campus of

Pennsylvania Western University Pennsylvania Western University (PennWest) is a public university in Pennsylvania, United States. It has three campuses in the Pennsylvania boroughs of Pennsylvania Western University, California, California, Pennsylvania Western University, C ...

Edinboro, Pennsylvania Edinboro is a borough in Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 4,920 at the 2020 census. It is a small college town, home to Pennsylvania Western University, Edinboro. It is part of the Erie metropolitan area. Histor ...

. The campus had an enrollment of 2,259 as of fall 2024.

History

PennWest Edinboro was founded in 1857 as Edinboro Academy, a private training school for Pennsylvania teachers, by the region's original Scottish settlers. It is the oldest training institution west of the

Allegheny Mountains The Allegheny Mountain Range ( ) — also spelled Alleghany or Allegany, less formally the Alleghenies — is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the Eastern United States and Canada. Historically it represented a significant barr ...

and the second-oldest in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. Edinboro Academy initially consisted of a modest two-story building that featured six classrooms. The school began with three instructors, 110 students, and one principal. The original building, known as Academy Hall, is currently used as the undergraduate admissions office. In 1861, Edinboro Academy affiliated with the state government of Pennsylvania to become the second State Normal School in Pennsylvania, also known as Northwest State Normal School. In 1914, the state purchased the school from the original stockholders and renamed it Edinboro State Normal School. By 1927, the advancement of academic programs to include

liberal arts Liberal arts education () is a traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''skill, art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the fine arts. ''Liberal arts education'' can refe ...

study required the school to rename itself Edinboro State Teachers College. Further development of the liberal arts to include degree programs outside the field of education resulted in another renaming, the school becoming Edinboro State College in 1960. Continued development of undergraduate liberal arts programs and advanced graduate degrees earned the school university status in 1983, at which point it was renamed Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. In July 2021, the university merged with two other western Pennsylvania institutions,

Clarion University of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Western University, Clarion (PennWest Clarion, formerly Clarion University of Pennsylvania) is a campus of Pennsylvania Western University in Clarion, Pennsylvania, United States. The institution was founded in 1867 and offers as ...

and

California University of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Western University, California (abbreviated as PennWest California) is a campus of Pennsylvania Western University in California, Pennsylvania, United States. The campus had an enrollment of 2,717 as of fall 2024. Founded in 1852 ...

. On October 14, 2021, the state officially adopted the new name of the combined universities:

Campus

The campus is located from

Erie, Pennsylvania Erie is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, fifth-most populous city in Pennsylvania and the most populous in Northwestern Pen ...

and within of the educational and population centers of McKean,

Waterford Waterford ( ) is a City status in Ireland, city in County Waterford in the South-East Region, Ireland, south-east of Ireland. It is located within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster. The city is situated at the head of Waterford H ...

, and

Albion Albion is an alternative name for Great Britain. The oldest attestation of the toponym comes from the Greek language. It is sometimes used poetically and generally to refer to the island, but is less common than "Britain" today. The name for Scot ...

. The main campus has 18 buildings on a campus which includes a lake, open fields and woods, 8 on-campus residence halls, and the seven-story Baron-Forness Library. PennWest Edinboro offers 150 degree programs and 57 minors. The student-faculty ratio is 18:1. In 2007, the university announced a plan to build dormitories for $115 million. The new dormitories, called the Highland Complex, featured eight halls, with the first four opening to students in 2008 and 2009, and the last four following suit in 2010 and 2011. They opened at a time when enrollment was at a peak. By 2022, enrollment had sharply declined, and the school was in the process of merging with two other universities. That year, PennWest Edinboro announced that buildings 7 and 8 of the Highland Complex were to be sold; at the time the two buildings housed no students.

Athletics

PennWest Edinboro offers 17 varsity sports: women's basketball, cross country, lacrosse, volleyball, swimming, soccer, softball, tennis, and indoor and outdoor track and field; and men's football, wrestling, cross country, basketball, swimming, tennis, wheelchair basketball, and outdoor track and field. All but the wrestling and wheelchair basketball are

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is the intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environment ...

programs, and members of the

Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. The conference was originally formed in 1951 as the State Teachers C ...

. Wrestling competes on the

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

level. The wheelchair basketball team competes in the NWBA Intercollegiate Division. The football stadium on campus is called

Sox Harrison Stadium Sox Harrison Stadium is a football stadium in Edinboro, Pennsylvania, on the campus of Pennsylvania Western University, Edinboro (PennWest Edinboro). It is home to the Edinboro Fighting Scots of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC). ...

Notable alumni

Alumni and attendees of PennWest Edinboro include politicians such as L. C. Hughes (governor of

Arizona Territory The Territory of Arizona, commonly known as the Arizona Territory, was a territory of the United States that existed from February 24, 1863, until February 14, 1912, when the remaining extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the ...

), Milton W. Shreve (member of the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

), and several members of the

Pennsylvania House of Representatives The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts. It ...

; academics such as

Robert Carothers Robert Lee Carothers (born September 3, 1942),Robert Lee Carothers. The Complete Marquis Who's Who (R) Biographies, Copyright 2017 Marquis Who's Who Ventures, LLC. a writer and poet, served as chancellor of the Minnesota State University System ...

(president of

University of Rhode Island The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of Rhode Island. The univer ...

) and

Eugene Eubanks Eugene Emerson Eubanks (June 6, 1938 – November 20, 2011) was an American professor and school administrator focused on school desegregation. He was a longtime professor at the University of Missouri–Kansas City's School of Education, eventua ...

(professor at

University of Missouri–Kansas City The University of Missouri–Kansas City (UMKC or Kansas City) is a Public university, public research university in Kansas City, Missouri, United States. UMKC is part of the University of Missouri System and has a UMKC School of Medicine, medic ...

and leader of

school desegregation In the United States, school integration (also known as desegregation) is the process of ending race-based segregation within American public, and private schools. Racial segregation in schools existed throughout most of American history and ...

efforts); artists and entertainers such as photographer

LaToya Ruby Frazier LaToya Ruby Frazier (born 1982) is an American artist. Early life From Braddock, Pennsylvania, Frazier began photographing her family and hometown at the age of 16, revising the Social documentary photography, social documentary traditional of ...

Train A train (from Old French , from Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles th ...

lead singer

Pat Monahan Patrick Monahan (born February 28, 1969) is an American musician. He is best known as the lead singer and sole constant member of the band Train. He has also collaborated with multiple artists and has recorded a solo album, '' Last of Seven''. ...

, and actress

Sharon Stone Sharon Vonne Stone (born March 10, 1958) is an American actress and film producer. Known for primarily playing femmes fatales and women of mystery on film and television, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1990s. She is the ...

; and Vicki Van Meter who at age 11 was the youngest aviator to fly across the continental United States.

References

External links

*
Athletics website
{{authority control 1857 establishments in Pennsylvania Public universities and colleges in Pennsylvania Universities and colleges established in 1857 Universities and colleges in Erie County, Pennsylvania