Peirce College is a

private college Private universities and private colleges are higher education institutions not operated, owned, or institutionally funded by governments. However, they often receive tax breaks, public student loans, and government grants. Depending on the count ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, Pennsylvania, United States. It focuses on adult education.

History

19th century

In 1865, Thomas May Peirce, a

educator, founded the Union Business College. The curriculum was designed to provide returning

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

soldiers a business-focused education in anticipation of post-war business growth and expansion. Different from many colleges and universities of the era, Union was co-educational at its founding. Originally housed within Handel and Haydn Hall on Spring Garden Street, the college moved to its present location at 1420 Pine Street in 1915.

20th century

In 1917, the school was renamed the Peirce School of Business Administration. In 1964, Peirce School was renamed Peirce Junior College as it received approval to grant associate degrees. In 1997, the college was approved to grant

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degrees and was renamed Peirce College.

21st century

In 2000, the college began offering online courses. The Pine Street facilities have twice been awarded the General Building Contractors Association's Best Institutional Project in the under $5 million category; in 2001 for improvements made to College Hall, and in 2011 for the new library. In September 2022, after 107 years at 1420 Pine Street, the college announced it was moving its main campus to the 19th Floor of 1608 Walnut Street. In August 2024, Peirce announced plans to merge with Lackawanna College in Scranton due to declining enrollments.

Academics

Peirce currently has undergraduate programs in Business, Healthcare, Information Technology, General Studies, and Paralegal Studies. The college offers graduate programs in Healthcare Administration and Organizational Leadership and Management. Within the Business Administration degree, concentrations are offered in accounting, entrepreneurship/small business, human resource management, marketing, and real estate management. The Information Technology degree offers concentrations in desktop applications for business,

information security Information security is the practice of protecting information by mitigating information risks. It is part of information risk management. It typically involves preventing or reducing the probability of unauthorized or inappropriate access to data ...

, network administration, network security, technology management, and programming and application development. Peirce has specialized educational programs for those who wish to seek an accelerated education during the evening and weekend on campus, earn their degree online, or earn their degree while at work (The Peirce Corporate College). Most courses are in an accelerated 7-week format, with some general education and paralegal courses following a standard 14-week format. Peirce uses a 3 semester calendar (fall, spring and summer) with two 7-week courses or one 14-week course each semester. The college is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. The School District of Philadelphia and Peirce have a partner program which provides an off-campus general studies degree program for parents with children enrolled in Philadelphia public schools.

Notable alumni

* Charli Baltimore, Grammy-nominated American rapper and songwriter * Clair Blank, author, '' Beverly Gray'' mystery series * James A. Gallagher, former U.S. Congressman * Benjamin Guggenheim, businessman and member of the Guggenheim family * Simon Guggenheim, former U.S. SenatorFassl, Carl. ''Perice Means Business''. Philadelphia: Peirce, 1990. * Arthur Seligman, former New Mexico governor * Anastasio Somoza, former President of Nicaragua from 1936 to 1956 * Christine Tartaglione, Democratic member of the Pennsylvania State Senate * Bill Tilden, former U.S. tennis champion

References

External links

* {{coord, 39.9455, -75.1663, region:US-PA_type:edu, display=title 1865 establishments in Pennsylvania Chestnut Street (Philadelphia) Private universities and colleges in Pennsylvania Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia Walnut Street (Philadelphia) Universities and colleges established in 1865